Ideas are Everywhere — And They’re Yours for the Taking

What shall I write about? That may be the most asked question in my house. The second is, usually, “What should I make for dinner?”

Deciding what to write about is not due to a lack of ideas. Exactly the opposite. Writers can’t go anywhere without tripping over ideas, hundreds of them. The problem is choosing just one. So many ideas, so little time.

When people ask where I get my ideas, they are, I think, actually wanting to learn where they can find something to write about. Maybe they haven’t learned that ideas are everywhere, and maybe they don’t know the difference between an idea and a subject. Travel, for instance, is a subject but not an idea. An article about “Visiting historic sites with children” is an idea that several editors might be interested in seeing.

Any writer could take that idea, put his or her own unique spin on it, and come up with an article completely different from what another person would write. Thousands of ideas like that are out there, waiting to be spun into compelling articles. You have to limit yourself to the ones that jump out at you, the ones you find so interesting you have to make them your own.

Here are a few places where ideas have jumped out at me and turned into saleable articles: An airport newsletter, the Sunday newspaper, an antiques show, a young child’s classroom, the Yellow Pages, the county archives, a college classroom, and a flower show. These publications, Airport Services, Collector’s Weekly, Momentum, Memphis Business Journal, Downtowner, and Memphis Home & Garden all bought one of those articles, and Grit bought several.

The whole point of this is to show that ideas are everywhere and so are the markets. When you find an idea that interests you, turn it into an article an editor may buy. The trick is to be alert and open to ideas. Ask yourself, “Would this make a good article?” and “Who might want to read about it?” An example: The Yellow Pages article was a business story about a vinegar factory, so a good market for it was Memphis Business Journal, which is read by business men and women..

Look for potential markets in Writer’s Market or Writer’s Handbook, or one of the Internet sites with market listings. A Google search for “Writer’s Guidelines” plus a word or phrase closely associated with your idea can also turn up possible markets. The magazine section of your local library can be another source for ideas and potential markets. If you live near a college or university, you may find that their libraries often have more magazines — and ideas and potential markets — than your local library. And most will give writers free access to browse their holdings.

You can take any idea you find there or elsewhere and use it. That’s because ideas can’t be copyrighted. (Neither can titles. You could even use “Gone with the Wind” as a title for an article — or a book — if you wished.) If you trip over an idea today, you may want to grab it and run. It could mean a byline in the near future, plus a check with your name on it.

Please leave a comment.

© 2007 by Laverne Daley

writing,
articles,
editors,
markets,
publications,
ideas

A Look at The Renegade Writer

Revisited: Writers Inspiring Writers

The Renegade Writer arrived on schedule and I’ve spent every spare minute enjoying its wisdom. Finished it early this a.m. Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell have done a fine job on this book. I expected to gain a lot from their writing and I wasn’t disappointed — proving to me once again that, even after more than 25 years as a selling writer, I can learn from others.

What Linda and Diana have done is demonstrate how to break outdated rules by using savvy techniques and up-to-the-minute thinking. They use their own experiences and those of other freelancers to show how to do it.

I’ve used some of their ideas during my freelancing years. For example, I’ve found that a query letter is not always necessary to get an assignment. As Linda says, sometimes an impressive letter of introduction will earn you an assignment. The book even includes a template introductory letter that Linda uses when approaching new online magazines for assignments.

There are scores of tips you can pick up in this book. Here’s one I really like: If a great idea hits when she’s in the car and she can’t juggle pen and paper, Diana uses her cell phone to call home and leave the idea on her answering machine. Now that’s a tip I’ll certainly use!

If you’d like to learn more about the book or take a look at their blog, go here: http://www.therenegadewriter.com/

Please leave a comment.

©2007 by Laverne Daley

TAGS:
freelance.writing,
writer,
writing

Exclamation Marks!!!!!

Exclamation Marks!!!!

Do you have a problem with punctuation? Wonder where to put those commas? Debate when you should use a colon or a semicolon? Fed up with exclamation marks?

During a recent lunch with a freelancer friend who used to be an editor, she told me how fed up she became with writers who sent in manuscripts with excessive punctuation, especially exclamation marks.

I could understand her frustration. I had just finished copyediting a national consumer magazine, so the topic was fresh in my mind. The magazine usually offers no pay to contributing writers. As a result, before editing, a majority of the submitted articles reflect their beginner status. (Professional writers usually do not contribute to publications that don’t pay for their work).

When I receive manuscripts for copyediting, many of them contain multiple exclamation marks. Some writers use three or four marks at a time to stress a point or to convey emotion. That’s the exact opposite of what stylebooks like the Chicago Manual of Style advise: “To avoid detracting from effectiveness … the author should use this punctuation sparingly.”

While aspiring writers may love multiple exclamation marks, other people hate them, including readers of blogs and forums. Look at the words of one person (calling himself/herself Jaffa Cake) who posted this opinion on the Mac Forum boards some time ago:

“People who use exclamation marks really wind me up. You can make your point well enough by using just one of them at the end of a sentence; there really is no need to go all !!!!!!!!!!! on us. Multiple exclamation marks are the sign of an untidy mind or something.”

So what’s the right way to handle exclamation marks? According to the Chicago Manual of Style, “An exclamation point is used to make an outcry or an emphatic or ironic comment.”

In certain usages, the mark is extremely valuable. Oklahoma! would not convey the excitement of that hit musical if its title were merely Oklahoma. The exclamation mark (a single mark) is a useful tool when you want to write something like, “Watch out for that truck!” he yelled. Or, “How could you possibly believe that!” Or, “How wonderful!” she exclaimed. Or, “Fire!”

Using multiple exclamation marks would not make these expressions stronger or more exciting. They would merely brand you as a writer who does not know better (or you have an untidy mind or something).

Please leave a comment.

©2007 by Laverne Daley

TAGS:
writing,
writer,
editing,
copywriting,
punctuation