Feature and Magazine Writing

Preface vii About the Authors x PART I: Reading, Writing and Relevance 1 1 What Makes a Story Interesting? 3 2 How to Find an Original Idea 14 3 Strong Angles and Focused Ideas 26 4 Digging Deep for Original Stories 39 5 Talking Pointers: How to Conduct Great Interviews 55 PART II: Taking Your Articles to the Freelance Market 73 6 To Market, To Market: Shopping Your Words Around 75 7 Pitch-Perfect Query Letters 91 PART III: Adding Action and Anecdotes 107 8 Where to Begin: The First 100 Words 109 9 Action, Brevity and Style 123 10 Anecdotes: Mining for Gold 138 PART IV: Different Formats, Different Results 151 11 Briefs: Shortcuts to Publication 153 12 Profiles: Slices of Life 167 13 Writing Nonfi ction Narratives 186 14 Eliminating the Ho-Hum From the How-To 211 15 Making a Timely Calendar Connection 225 16 Writing About Trends and Issues 237 PART V: Exploring Digital Opportunities 253 17 Building a Story Blog 255 18 Long-Form Digital Storytelling 265 PART VI: Preparing the Final Draft 277 19 Advancing Beyond the Slush Pile 279 20 Before You Hit the "Send" Button: A Checklist 293 21 Careers in Magazine Publishing 299 Appendix: Shoptalk: A Glossary of Magazine Lingo 314 Index 325