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