writing for magazines and the internet

Writing for magazines has come a long way. Back in the day, one was just writing for print publication but not anymore. Magazine writers are not only writing for print but also for online versions of their magazines. It is not uncommon for a magazine to have shorter versions of their articles on the Internet. This is because people scan web content. Time is of issue and despite the wonderful inroads we’ve made in monitor sizes, no one likes reading stuff on a computer screen. It’s laborious and wearying on the eyes.

 

Magazine writing and writing for the web are not so different. One is writing for a targeted audience and the initial interest level is round about the same. I believe it takes a person about 3 seconds to decide whether or not to stay on a website. The person’s decision is heavily influenced by one thing and one thing only; content. Annoying graphics and flash animations that take forever to download are definitely not visitor friendly. Web writers are aware of this and aim to hook your web time within the first 10 seconds of you landing on their site. The first 5 seconds is for download time and the other five is for identifying and viewing the particular item that captures your interest on the website. Time is of the essence. The same rule applies to magazine articles. They have to be clear, concise and to the point. I really hate it when I buy a magazine and I’m let down by the writing quality. It really ticks me off, especially when the articles are nothing but recycled ideas. I feel cheated.

Writers of all genres should stay well clear of such gimmicks on their writing websites. As a writer, your site will be visited by people who are purely interested in what you write not your graphics, cute as they may be.

 

Magazine articles have a beginning, a middle and an end. Don’t write ten words if you can write two. The beginning sentence must have a ‘hook’. That’s the bit that gets the reader’s attention. For example, if you’re writing an article on the invasion of privacy on the Internet, don’t start by reeling off privacy laws because your readers wouldn’t get past the first sentence. Try starting your article with something like; I hate the Internet and the people that use it. That’ll grab people’s attention. They’ll read on because they’ll want to know why you hate Internet users.

 

Magazine articles are short for a reason; they’re meant to be easy reads. That means you shouldn’t make assumptions about who’s reading your articles. If you’re writing about a specialist subject in a non-specialist magazine, don’t confound the readers by writing a 10,000-word treatise on your specialist subject. Keep it short and simple. I generally go by the 800-1000 words guideline. If more words are needed, then I serialise. Of course, all magazines are different and they all have writing guidelines that you should familiarise yourself with.

 

Go on. Get writing. Soon, you’ll find yourself writing articles in less time than it takes for you to brush your teeth.