The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

writers guidelines

Hone your craft by writing magazine articles. Here are 7 options.

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Magazines on a rackLet’s admit it, writing a book is hard work and takes time. It’s not something you can do in a day or two. But you can write the draft of a magazine article in a day, and then spend the next few days revising it.

And one of the best ways to hone your skill as a writer is to write for magazines. (Tweet this.)

You can also make greater use of your time by first querying magazines with your idea. Then when a magazine buys your idea, you write the article.

Finding magazines for your article ideas [Read more…] about Hone your craft by writing magazine articles. Here are 7 options.

The Myth of Synonyms

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Precise verbs are important to every great book, be it fiction or non-fiction. In fact, where preciseness is concerned I can say that about nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and . . . Okay, all parts of speech.

During the draft process, you are focused on getting the ideas out of your head and into the computer. Don’t stop to struggle over a word choice during your draft. Hone in on your word choices when you start the revision.

Today, let’s take a look at 3 myths about choosing synonyms. [Read more…] about The Myth of Synonyms

Writer’s Guidelines for 5 Christian Publications

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Here are today’s markets. Read the writer’s guidelines thoroughly and study at least one sample issue before submitting.

Prism Magazine, a publication of Evangelicals for Social Action, http://prismmagazine.org/writers-guidelines/

The Lookout is designed to provide Christian adults with true-to-the-Bible teaching about current topics to help them mature as believers and live in the world as faithful witnesses of Christ. http://www.lookoutmag.com/about-us/write-for-us/

RELEVANT covers faith, culture and intentional living. Their readership is culturally savvy, mainly Christian twenty- and thirtysomethings who are looking for purpose, depth and spiritual truth. https://relevantmagazine.com/write

Light & Life Magazine, http://fmcusa.org/lightandlifemag/writers/

Faith Today, a Canadian publication, http://www.faithtoday.ca/writers

Listing here does not constitute endorsement of magazine.

 

The Dreaded Rejection Letter & Why Editors Write Them

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Rejected manuscriptRejection letters.

Most writers dislike them. At least most of my writer friends do.

Rejection letters are discouraging and leave a nasty feeling in the pit of your stomach.

As the editorial director for CrossRiver Media, I can tell you I don’t like writing rejection letters anymore than I, as a writer, like getting them.

And, I will venture to say, [Read more…] about The Dreaded Rejection Letter & Why Editors Write Them

Database of Writer’s Guidelines

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Formatting your submissions according to a publication’s writer’s guidelines is essential. Finding those guidelines isn’t always easy, and even in this day of digital everything you often have to request guidelines via email.

For easy reference, FreelanceWriting.com provides a database of 836 writer’s guidelines, by category. http://www.freelancewriting.com/guidelines/pages/