{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang3081{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Courier New;}}
\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs2 The Artistic Skills The Commercial Skills Re-writing/Abbreviating/ Extending Articles STRENGTHEN THE WEAK LINK! MAXIMISING ARTICLE IDEAS AND QUERIES RE-WRITING/ ABBREVIATING/ EXTENDING ARTICLES FINDING FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS BREAKING THE ICE: MAKE IT A BIG ONE FIRST! COPYRIGHT THE MYTH OF THE STARVING ARTIST DEVELOP A SYSTEM TO KEEP TRACK SHOW US THE MONEY! HELP CURE EDITOR'S BLOCK! Re-writing/Abbreviating/ Extending Articles "I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again." Oscar Wilde REWRITES ARE INEVITABLE Approach your rewrites as dispassionately as possible and critique yourself honestly and brutally, as you would another writer. WHY YOU MIGHT NEED TO REWRITE Rewriting will help you sell your story to competing publications, update and refresh it or tailor it to fit the needs of other publications. NEWSWORTHINESS AND ITS VALUE Adding new information will make the story current and topical and thus, as marketable today as it was when originally written. LISTEN TO THE EDITORS! Obey every instruction to a T when an editor requests a rewrite, and ask yourself why the editor wants it rewritten in this particular manner. REWRITES ARE INEVITABLE The rewriting of articles is an inevitable part of making multiple article submissions. Do it effectively, efficiently and on time and you will be in the editor's good books. The refashioning of articles remains a principal niggle among freelancers. There are few more dreaded tasks than the systematic tearing apart of what the writer perceives to be a perfectly good article - and here lies the danger. You must ALWAYS dispassionately view your work as a product that needs to be changed to suit different markets. It might be tempting to think that the editor or other publication staff will take your text and miraculously tailor it to their preference. But this isn't going to happen, unless the editor is your mother! Remember, although the word 'editor' implies a cleric who spends his/her days rewriting copy to suit their pages, those days are long gone. Editors these days expect professionalism and a product that will slot neatly into their pages. The problem for most writers is that the process of writing and then polishing their articles is difficult enough in itself, and then the prospect of wholesale restructuring of a piece that works 'just fine as it is' is often too stressful to contemplate. Every writer will have to learn, sooner or later, to relentlessly and ruthlessly edit their work before presenting it to others. The same holds true for photography. It's no good sending in 250 pictures when there might be just eight that really get to the heart of what the article is about. Think focused. Think specific. In the same way, a writer may have great difficulty in omitting their favourite paragraphs or words. New writers often use too many adjectives, because they just can't decide which of the ones they have in mind is best. Yes, it's fine to leave both words in at the article creation stage but when the piece is being prepared for sale, such redundancies must be resolved. It's a sad, sad fact, but often you will have chop out whole paragraphs - paragraphs that you have fallen in love with. Stop! You're getting too close to your writing. Read it as if you were critiquing another writer's work. Be brutal, and honest. Above all, clarify your work. Pages of elaborate prose are of no use to anyone if they don't really have a point or make sense. In the case of having to abbreviate a 4,000 word article to a 1,000 worder, you might be better off writing the piece again from scratch. Otherwise, it's so easy to go insane looking over the long piece and agonising what to leave in and what to omit. Few writers have the capacity to be dispassionate when it comes to abbreviating their work. It always seems so much easier to extend an article, but the real killer is in abbreviation. This partly explains why writing a query letter that encapsulates the 'meat' of the article can be so problematic. Some writers are able to do all their editing on-screen, where others prefer to lounge in an easy chair with a printout. It's definitely worth trying both approaches, especially when you find yourself 'zoning out' at the screen. In the case of a radical rewrite, one useful approach is to list the article's main elements in point form and then pick up the threads from there. This can help shortcut the agonising process, as there may be several paragraphs in the original article that only cover one element of the story. Thus, these vital elements can more easily be summed up if you can actually put your finger on what they are. Just remember that rewriting articles is never easy. But you need to be disciplined, and set a deadline to complete the re-write. Otherwise, the project will drag on ad infinitum and nothing will ever get submitted. Do read your completed edit at least five times, but don't hold on to it too long. Let it go! OFFBEATIP #1: If a story needs to be cut radically, writers are best off writing the story from scratch again rather than cutting text from the original. Rewriting reminds writers to view their work dispassionately and to be brutally honest with themselves. WHY YOU MIGHT NEED TO REWRITE There will come a time when you will want to sell an article to two competing publications, but to do so would land you in hot water. What's the solution? A rewrite, of course. It will have to be radically different in content and style to qualify though, and you would be well advised to keep both editors informed of your intentions - delicately. In the case of identical article submissions to competing publications, the preferred approach is to submit your package to one Editor at a time, giving the opportunity of first refusal. If, after a reasonable period of time has elapsed, Editor #1 does not bite, then you can offer your story to the competition). Quite apart from fulfilling the needs of competing publications, you will always need to re-write articles :To keep them up to date as the months and years roll by; to shorten or lengthen them to fit a publications' slot; to change the style of a piece to fit the format of a publication, to spice up an article in line with current journalistic trends (the Web is very hip and fluid and thus demands frequent changes to style); to overhaul the text in line with another countries' requirements, or simply because you are not happy with the way you wrote the article to begin with. OFFBEATIP #2: By mastering rewriting, you will be able to offer separate stories to competing publications, using the same material. Rewriting also helps you update your stories and makes stories more flexible in style and word-count. NEWSWORTHINESS AND ITS VALUE You may think that one visit to a place only entitles you to write about what you saw and did on that trip. Wrong! You can continue to research the location indefinitely, with a view to gleaning news stories that may spawn a fresh topical piece, or otherwise yield valuable 'insider' knowledge that you can use to flesh out an article, or at the very least some extra background info for sidebars. Just try it! No matter what the location, there are sure to be news updates that can trigger fresh material. For example, on January 10 2003 Stephen Rothwell conducted a search on Google's 'New News' tab: http://news.google.com for 'Kamchatka' (almost three years after he last visited the region) which yielded news of three fresh volcano eruptions - one of which was Asia's highest, Kluchevksky. A follow-up of this news story secured enough information to carve out a fresh travel article, called 'Ice Cones' which explored the possibilities for live volcano tours, led by prominent vulcanologists. Another news story from the same source revealed that microbiologist Karl Stetter had discovered the world's smallest genome of any self-reproducing entity, and possibly the world's simplest organism - a nanoarchaean, in Kamchatka. A follow-up of this info could result in some useful material to add interest to an eco-tourism article. Yet another report revealed that scientists studying heaps of white bones in Kamchatka's Kronotsky preserve discovered that birds, bears and other animals had succumbed to low-lying volcanic cyanic gases, which paralayse the respiratory tract. Such a snippet is not significant enough to base a whole article on, but clearly any new material provides more background info and intrigue into an area. The next time you find it hard to think of new story ideas, just expand your knowledge base and see what's happening around the world. You will frequently be surprised and enlightened and you will nearly always stumble across some viable story leads. OFFBEATIP #3: By updating information in a major article, you can often make the story 'newsworthy' again and re-sell it as a topical piece or to present new information. LISTEN TO THE EDITORS! Editors often request re-writes, and are usually very specific in what kind of changes they would like to see in any given piece. They might ask for a change from first person to third, or a change from past tense to present tense. Editors might request that you omit paragraphs of text that aren't really relevant to a story, or that belabour a point that the audience don't really need to know. This is very important: ALWAYS pay close attention to what Editors say, and follow their suggestions to the letter. Sure it's a chore to re-write articles, but it's also good practice. Ask yourself WHY the Editor requested the edit, and keep that in mind when submitting future articles. Learn from your style and direction errors and don't rely on Editors to tell you when a piece works and when it doesn't. Pay very close attention to Editor's tips and directives - they have taken the time to suggest how you might improve your work, and thus are helping to mould your writing into a more saleable format. OFFBEATIP #4: Learn from a rewrite request from an editor! Ask yourself WHY an editor has asked you to make the changes in a particular way, and follow instructions to a T! IN A SNAPSHOT: * Be as dispassionate as possible when rewriting, and critique yourself as you would an unknown writer. * By rewriting, you will be able to tailor your work to the needs of other publications and other markets, update and refresh your initial story and correct any mistakes. * Updating a story with newsworthy elements will make the story current and topical, thus finding a new market for it. * If asked by an editor to rewrite, obey every instruction, and learn by asking yourself why the editor has requested the rewrite be done in a particular manner. BACK (MAXIMISING ARTICLE IDEAS AND QUERIES) NEXT (FINDING FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS) BACK TO TOP BACK TO INDEX SCREEN Offbeatrips Travel and Tourism Journalism 9 Compass Close Edge Hill, Cairns 4870 Far North Queensland Australia Email: info@offbeatrips.com Web: http://www.offbeatrips.com Tel: (In Australia): (07) 4032 1708 Mob (In Australia): (040) 1135 372 Tel: (Outside Australia): (617) 4032 1708 Mob (Outside Australia): (6140) 1135 372
\par
\par }
|
Have Something to Write Home About... |
 Learn how to transform your travel blogs, 'unsung' emails and travel photos into published travel articles, with The Complete Travel Writer® course.
Enjoy maximum freedom and fulfilment as you discover how to create and market travel articles and photos to magazine, newspaper, guidebook and book publishers worldwide - for fun AND profit. Travel writing course by Offbeatrips Travel and Tourism Journalism
Whether you want to learn how to spice up your travel journal and photographs or to launch into a fully-fledged career as a freelance travel writer, this University-approved course offers all the tools for success. Join the most successful online Freelance travel writing course in the world... |
|
Travel writing is but one aspect of travel journalism. Today's freelance marketplace demands that writers supply quality photographs with their submissions, and that each article package is strongly tailored to the title in question. However, anyone who hopes to succeed in the field of travel journalism must not only become proficient in the creative fields of writing and photography, but also develop commercial strategies for securing sponsorship from carriers and tourism organisations. Freelance travel journalists must also learn how to market their work effectively.
It is the purpose of this course to provide a thorough grounding in all essential facets of travel journalism, so that graduates can enjoy both the personal satisfaction and financial return of a successful hobby or career in freelance travel journalism.
Quite simply, this course is THE definitive and complete manual for the budding freelance travel journalist. Download The Complete Travel Writer® course NOW, and kick-start your career or hobby in travel journalism with the most successful, qualified and complete travel journalism manual in existence - and all for just $45, including the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date database of over 1000 global magazine and newspaper Editors. Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed. Click HERE to start fulfilling all your destination dreams! |
Cover All Bases: The Total Travel & Tourism Journalism Training Solution
|
The Creative Skills |
|
The Commercial Skills |
 WRITING:
This course will show you how to write compelling material that magazine and newspaper Editors will pay you to publish. |
|
 PHOTOGRAPHY: Discover how to provide high-impact, targeted photography to accompany your article packages, and to provide an additional income stream. |
|
 SPONSORSHIP:
Learn the professional approach to sponsorship pitches, and experience your wildest travel aspirations ... without paying a cent. |
|
 MARKETING:
Learn how to sell your pictures and stories to editors hungry to fill their pages, and do it again, and again... and again! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
