There are many different kinds of writers. Some writers have graduated from Journalism school. Others have taken different kinds of writing classes. There are also the aexperta writers, people who only write articles about a subject they have special knowledge in (a pediatrician about childhood diseases, for example). There is also the writer who does not have formal training or any specific field of expertise but is still successful in getting articles published.
This third kind of writer needs to have specific qualities. They need to have a strong streak of creativity, good writing skills, and the desire to be a good writer. Also, a thick skin is needed. Every writer a piece writing rejected at some point. If you canat take rejection, you wonat last long. With the desire to write, and the willingness to work on writing skills, you can be successful.
There are many places you can look for topics. Yourself would be one of them. Look at your life, your childrens life, your neighbors life. What are your favorite hobbies? Your favorite foods, clothes, etc. What can you pull from their experiences?
There are side benefits to writing articles. You get to decide what you want to write about. If you need your afternoons free for family reasons, you can write whenever works best for your schedule. You also get to write wherever you want. Your writing life can bend around the demands of the rest of your life.
Now, there are some good guidelines to follow if you are going to get serious about this sort of thing. It is good to set a specific time everyday to sit down and brainstorm and write your articles. By doing this you are treating it like a business, which if you are earning money by doing so, it is. It also helps you plan anything else going on in your day and gives you a sense of accomplishment and organization. Also, get all of the tools you will need ready so you won’t have to keep getting up and looking for them. Pencil, computer and most importantly a dictionary and thesaurus.
The good thing about writing articles as apposed to writing books is the turnaround time for payment is much quicker. It could take you months or years to hear back from a publishing company but only a few weeks for an article.
To get started I would start some sort of journal and carry it around with you everywhere. Write down anything you think is interesting, cut clippings of articles you like and put them there, pictures that inspire and so on.
After youave written the article, youall want to get it published. The Writers Market is full of ideas about places to submit your article. It is available for purchase online and in bookstores. Best of luck with this exciting new career!
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