5. Your Story Must Be Interesting
Make sure the story flows smoothly with good structure and don’t stray from the subject. You want to maintain the reader’s interest from your first sentence all the way through to the last. Give them a sense of the sights, sounds, smells and feelings you experienced. Make them feel like they are there with you or want to go where you’ve been.
This is the worldwide web, so pay attention to cultural differences, so the
readers from around the world will fully understand what you are saying.
Since I live in
Japan, I
have to pay attention to any Japanese words that I use and provide the
meaning of those words.
Remember, online, your story is just a click away from being history. On a
plane, I may read something boring in a flight magazine just because there’s
nothing else to do. Online, nothing gets a chance to bore me--CLICK,
they’re gone!
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Copyright © Michael Lynch 2010
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6. Proof Read Your Text
There are many programs available that will check your spelling and sentence structure. Get one--they make life a lot easier. But, don’t rely entirely on them! I've pulled some doozies when my Spell-check was sleeping on the job. It doesn't know the difference between “years” and “tears”, “goof” and “golf” or an “amateur” photographer from an “armature” photographer! Without proof reading, words can slip right through into your text. It takes a human to see that in the article—to catch words that make no sense (or cents)! Don’t trust a machine unless it’s your camera.
Read what you wrote out loud and then if possible, have at least 2 other
people read it. Did your story hold their attention? Was there any
emotional reaction to the story, such as laughter? Did it bring forth a
memory or engage their senses? Make adjustments accordingly and then read
it over again before sending it to an editor.
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Copyright © Michael Lynch 2010
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A Bridge to Nowhere: |
7. Pay Attention to Details
Look closely at any site to which you plan on submitting and pay attention to their style and format.
Make sure you are not doing an article on a topic that was just published recently, unless you have a totally different angle.
Each publication has their Writer’s Guidelines or Submission Requirements and it’s your responsibility to make sure they’re followed, not someone else’s. You may have to meet these requirements before an editor will even look at your submission. If you don’t see them on the web site, be sure to ask for the details.
Make choosing your photos an easy task for the editors. There are many sites available on the web where you can display and organize your photos into groups. And sometimes, I’ll display a group of pictures and just send an editor a query with a story idea before ever writing the article. That makes things easier for everyone. Easy is good!
And do whatever you can to make the editor's job easier. It could be typing in the html codes for your links or putting them in parentheses—again, just ask.
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Copyright © Michael Lynch 2010
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This photo, taken in the northern mountains of Okinawa, Japan during the Azalea Festival, not only gives you a glimpse at the rolling landscape of these mountains, but allows you to join in with nature's way of making them come alive through the bursts of color. |
