HOW I WRITE ARTICLES

Over the years, I've written mostly how-to or informative articles. But I am still learning and enrolled in a course about non-fiction magazine article writing. I am learning more about the use of slant in articles, the particular angle on the subject matter the article covers. It is difficult for me to think of ideas for article topics which stems from my confidence problem. I think that nobody would want to read about that topic or someone else has certainly already written an article on the topic or I'm not qualified to write about that topic or a variety of other negative messages. I am learning that the key to solving this problem is slant.

It is true that hundreds of thousands of articles have been written and chances are they have covered every single topic anyone could ever think of, but, just as there are dozens of ways to drive from point A to point B, there are dozens, if not more, angles an article topic could tackle. The key is finding the angle nobody or not many people have covered.

My son just had a dental appointment for an abscess so lets take dentistry as a magazine article topic. Here are some possible angles:

• New technology for cavity detection
• Calming patient fears
• The importance of good ergonomics for dentists and hygienists
• Dentistry use of social media
• The role of cell phones in dentistry
• Recent changes in dentist education
• The role of waiting room decor in a dental practice
• Legal concerns for dentists

I'm sure you can think of others, probably even more original than these. The point is that there are numerous ways to tackle a topic. Something I've been making a conscious effort to do lately is pay attention and note my questions. The fact is that I'm not all that unique so the chances are if I have a question about something - let's say how a non-profit organization can efficiently and cost-effectively publish an electronic magazine - and I cannot readily find my answer online or in print, others have the same or similar questions. The answer can then turn into a properly slanted non-fiction magazine article.

Even this blog post has a slant; it is not generally about how I write articles but about the very specific topic of how I find ideas for slants for articles. Do you have any additional tips for finding article ideas or developing slant? If so, please leave a comment.

Happy slanting!
The Wordsy Woman

WORDS OF LOVE

In honor of Valentine's Day this past Thursday, I thought I would share some original love poems with you. These come from my book, Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls, and are exclusive samples for this blog post. I hope you enjoy them.

From Chapter 1: The Crush

INFINITY

All languages of the world

Do not contain enough words

To describe how I feel

About you.

All the emptiness of space

Could not symbolize

The hole my life would have

Without you.

The tallest mountain on Earth

Could not rise to meet

The height of importance you

Amount to.

From Chapter 2: The Relationship

ESCAPE

Tear drops to the water,

Face flows far away.

Unaware where to go

Or what to do today.

But forever I will hold you,

As forever we will learn.

We will travel together

And leave our fears to burn.

From Chapter 3: The Goodbye

LOST

Memories sweet as

Candy.

Tears hot like fire.

Smiles bright as

Noon-time summer

Sun.

Beauty every moment.

Love every touch.

Loss and strength

In every teardrop.

Crying through pain

And anger;

Words cannot take

The day away.

Change attacked.

Souls soaring

Side by side.

Everything upon this world.

I lost you.

From Chapter 4: Closure

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Gone but not forgotten,

Your memory lives on.

Time erases the pain

But never breaks the bond.

Gone but not forgotten;

The days you shared with me.

Time hides the love away

And never sets it free.

Gone but not forgotten;

The promises we made.

Time dilutes the vow

And never finds it paid.

Gone but not forgotten;

Your laugh, touch and smile.

Gone but not forgotten;

Existing for awhile.

Thanks for reading!

The Wordsy Woman

HOW I WRITE ... IN MY JOURNAL

"December 31, 1984

     Today is New Year's Eve. I still want to go with Jim Jones (not his real name). I've never really liked anybody like I like him. I am going to start a diet tomorrow. I want to lose from 10-20 pounds, at least 10 lbs.
     ...

     My grandma just left for the evening. Tonight (Monday) we get to have snacks and kiddie cocktails. I go with my dad January 5, 1984. It is the first time since August, 1984. On January 5, we get to celebrate Christmas [with] our dad. Bye for now and Happy New Year. Bye for 1984. Talk to you in 1985."


This an excerpt from my very first journal entry in the journal in the picture which I bought on the stocking stuffer clearance rack at Target. I was 11. I still have it and every journal I've had since then, including those in plain spiral notebooks and those I was "forced" to keep by inspiring teachers. I've read through them at times over the years. They tell me not only what was going on in my life at the time but how I felt about what was going on, and it told me more than I can explain about who I am and how I became this way.

As you might imagine, my early journals talked about what was happening at school and who I crushed on. As I got older, I talked more about my feelings and just practiced writing poems, story snippets, and images. In my high school and college days, my journals are full of expressions about how I was meant to become a writer, that writing was my passion, and how it was what I was destined to do. I guess I forgot about that as I got my community and regional planning degree, got married, had kids, and became a paralegal. I didn't forget it all at once, though; at first, I dismissed writing as a career in lieu of needed income and then it was gone. I still wrote in journals in starts and spurts throughout that time but I totally forgot how I thought writing was my fate. I found my way back, of course, about five years ago. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't abandoned it, but, ultimately, I think I needed those life experiences to be a writer.

How I write in my journal is simple: I am me, warts and all. I don't hold back. I strive to be completely honest, though sometimes I've avoided difficult subjects, because, when I write the words, the problem is real and I must deal with it. Today, my main journal is a turquoise blue 8 1/2 X 11 perfect bound journal with a place-keeping ribbon. I write everything in it, sometimes regularly and sometimes with weeks in between entries. I work out problems, sort out feelings, work through ides for my novel or articles, and write images or just words that pop into my head. This is where most of my poetry was born. I write in different colored pens and date my entries.

I believe writing in a journal is one of the healthiest, most rewarding things a person can do for himself or herself. Even if nothing comes out of it or you never re-read it, you will gain more peace, self-awareness, and mental well-being than you can imagine. I swear by it - and I've got the stacks to prove it.

-The Wordsy Woman

HOW I WRITE ... NOVELS

I have two completed novel manuscripts and one in progress, my process for writing which have similarities and differences.

First, I think of an idea. It is just a tiny speck of thought with no development or detail. My first manuscript's idea extended from the job I had at the time as a paralegal. At first, I had the idea to write a story around a U.S. Supreme Court case supposing it was decided the opposite of what it was. So I found interesting court cases on the Internet and read books about famous Supreme Court cases. Eventually, I settled on a story about a teenage attorney.

The idea for my second novel, Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters, came to me after meeting my friend from Croatia. In June of 1991 when civil war broke out in her country, I had just finished my junior year of high school; my baby cousin had died about 1 1/2 years before; and my boyfriend, a foreign exchange student, returned home and didn't write to me like he said he would. And I was so wrapped up in my own problems, I had no idea that there were children, like my friend, living through civil war, awake at night afraid someone would break in to slit their throats in their sleep. I thought about what might have happened if my friend and I had contact during that time. The idea was born.

My current novel takes place in 1860 - 1861 in Camanche, Iowa, where I grew up. A tornado ripped through the town on June 3, 1860, which, legend has it, prevented the town from growing larger than the neighboring and currently largest city in the county, Clinton. For this book, I chose the setting and time frame and then worked to build a story around that.

I love to research and did so for all three of my books, though less on the first one when I just looked up court cases to find a realistic one to base the story around. For Missing Emily and my current work, I performed extensive historical research. Missing Emily's involved several conversations with my friend, books, newspaper articles, and documentaries on the breakup of Yugoslavia. For my current book, I researched newspaper articles about the tornado and then books about the civil war, Iowa and Clinton/Camanche history, and life in the 1800s in general. Even as I write the book, I'm researching by reading novels written either in or about that time period, the civil war, and other young adult historical novels.

I had an outline for my first book; I developed the characters as I went along. I performed more character sketching for my two most recent books by writing character profiles, descriptions, and thinking about their personalities. I had a difficult time outlining Missing Emily; it was hard to invent a way to tell both of their stories using just correspondence while still showing rather than telling. I went back and forth with it and then finally threw out my outline and just plowed through it. I am working from a bare-bones outline for my current book. For all of my books, I've known generally where I wanted the story to go and how I wanted it to end but had varying difficulty figuring out how to do it.

I type my novels directly into the computer, saving backups of backups and emailing the partial manuscripts to myself to serve as an additional backup. Though it takes me longer than I would like, I strive to just get the whole story out and then go back to add to it, fill in any holes, and revise. If I think of a question while I'm writing, I make a note to myself and move on. I have a critique partner for my current book and have participated in some additional feedback sessions but I am still just striving to get the story down. When I'm done, I'll go back, gather all of the comments and suggestions and incorporate them into the manuscript.

So that is how I've written my past and current novels. My future novels may or may not follow the same formula.

Any questions, suggestions, or tips? Feel free to leave them as a comment.

Thanks for reading,
The Wordsy Woman