When an Editor Wants a Rewrite

"Editors are frantically busy -- single-working-mother-with-eight-kids busy -- they don't have time to make every piece into exactly what they want it to be.  By delivering a rewrite and otherwise leaving the editor alone, you turn your editor's time poverty to your advantage."  (http://www.helpingwriters.com/newsletter-archives/when-an-editor-wants-a-rewrite)

When an editor requests a rewrite of an article, it's usually a minor rewrite, where the bulk of the piece can be saved.  While it's frustrating to have to rewrite your work, keep in mind that an editor is trying to anticipate the needs of the magazine.  It doesn't necessarily mean that your writing is poor; it might just mean that you and the editor are coming at the piece from a different angle.

Keep in mind what Online Health editor Kathleen Donnelly advises:  "Writers who are intractable and fight with us probably won't get another assignment".  Unless you are Pierre Berton, who flew in the face of editors, you have to have at least some respect for the process.

What steps should you take to rewrite your article?  Michelle Ruberg suggests these steps.  First, re-read your query to see what you promised the editor.  Second, re-read your assignment to see what the editor requested of you.  Third, re-read your article and look for the following.  Did you do one of the following?

-overshoot/undershoot your word count?

-write news that already appears elsewhere in the newspaper or magazine?

-cite too few sources?

-conduct garbage in/garbage out interviews?

-write a piece that is too close to what the competition is publishing?

-come at the article from the wrong angle?

-under/overwrite the piece for the target audience?

-use too many qualifiers, digressions or prepositional phrases?

-use too many quotes regarding a point already made?

What happens if you rewrite the piece and the editor still doesn't like it?  Michelle Ruberg recommends asking the editor to rework one of your paragraphs.  You follow the model for the other paragraphs.  Use the three P's:  patience, persistence and adherence to procedure.  Don't focus just on the structure of the writing.  Brian Smith of Indianapolis Monthly warns:  "Some writers worry so much about getting individual facts straight that they don't hear the flow and what it does to the cadence of the story."

Michelle Ruberg says that any extra calls or extra trips on behalf of the magazine should be compensated.  Request to see the galley of your piece before it goes to print.  That way you're not attaching your name to something that you don't agree with.  Stop at three rewrites.  Enough is enough!

Blogger Scott Edelstein recommends that you don't mindlessly follow the editor's suggestions. Make changes that seem reasonable, but at the same time, do what's best for the piece.  "Editors are frantically busy -- single-working-mother-with-eight-kids busy -- they don't have time to make every piece exactly what they want it to be.  By delivering a rewrite and otherwise leaving the editor alone, you turn your editor's time poverty to your advantage." 

Note:  For more information, read Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing (Michelle Ruberg).

https://www.pinterest.com/jilllynneness/writers-quotes-literary-advice-articles-more-to-ke/

Researching Your Feature Article: Diligent Investigation and Inquiry

All I`m armed with is research. (Mike Wallace, former 60 Minutes correspondent)

As a columnist with the Toronto Star, Pierre Berton pounded out 1500 words a day, 5 days a week on his Smith Corona typewriter.  It would have been easy for one article to roll into the next, for his writing to become tedious.  But that didn`t happen.  In his lifetime, Mr. Berton received over 30 literary awards, a dozen honourary degrees and a companion of the Order of Canada.  Key to his success was his attention to detail, his commitment to the facts.  For more about Pierre Berton, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/11/tapping-keys-on-smith-corona.html.

As a feature article writer, research is tantamount.  It involves "diligent investigation and inquiry into a subject", according to writer Bruce Garrison in Professional Feature Writing

(http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Feature-Writing-Routledge-Communication/dp/0805847650). Research doesn`t mean making one visit to the library and then calling it a day.  Or reading one article about a subject.  Garrison suggests that for every ten hours of research, put in one hour of writing.  Therefore, the bulk of your time should be spent gathering information. 

How do you know how much research is enough?  "When you feel that one more fact will be a fact too many, you`ll know it`s time to stop," according to Bobbi Linkemer (http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/writing-feature-articles-that-sell.php).  

When you are writing your feature article, remember that readers need repetition.  Layer your writing with your reporting.  Fiona Veitch Smith recommends using a cue sheet on which you record relevant page numbers, paragraphs from books, highlighted sections of Internet articles and clippings from the newspaper (http://non-fiction-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/how-to-write-a-feature-article/).

William Blundell, in The Art and Craft of Feature Writing, talks about the Rule of Threes (http://journalistsresource.org/syllabi/syllabus-feature-writing).  First of all, when checking facts, make sure you corroborate at least three different sources.  When stating a thesis, back it up with three different examples.  And when presenting your case, offer each point in three different ways;  a fact, an example and a quote.

Remember to give credit where credit`s due.  Cite your sources.  For information on how to cite print or online sources, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Newspaper_articles.

Keep these points in mind before you write your next article.  While you may not be Canada`s next Pierre Berton, at least you will be well informed.

Today, there are a plethora of resources right at your fingertips, including:

1.  Media libraries ex. large newspapers & magazines (http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/databases/)

2.  Public Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-212-e.html)

3.  University Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-210-e.html)

4.  Museum Libraries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Ontario)

5.  Historical Society Libraries

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_societies#Canada_societies)

6.  Government Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-211-e.html)

7.  Specialty Libraries (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gateway/s22-213-e.html)

8.  Reference Books ex. World Almanac and Book of Facts

9.  City Directories ex. names, addresses (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/directories-collection/Pages/directories-collection.aspx)

10.  Atlases or Gazetteers ex. National Geographic Atlas of the World

11.  Encyclopedias or Yearbooks ex. specialized encyclopedia with experts sources like the Encyclopedia of Associations

12.  Abstracts ex. summaries of books, articles, theses (http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_abstracts_examples.html)

13.  Chronologies ex. a list of events in chronological order

14.  Dictionaries ex. Black`s Law Dictionary

15.  Books of Quotations ex. Bartlett`s Familiar Quotes

16.  Handbooks ex. Guinness Book of World Records

http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/uphp/mclaren/mclaren_web/science_files/research.jpg

How to Become an Expert in Your Field

"Be all that you can be." (United States Army motto)

An Ivy League study concluded that it takes 1000 hours to become an expert in any given field. However, in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, he begs to differ.  He quotes a study conducted by Berlin's Academy of Music which followed three groups of musicians.  Group one was called the elite group, group two was the good group and group three was the average group.  For fifteen years, from age 5 to 20, the musicians practiced.  Group one practiced for 10,000 hours, group two for 8,000 hours and group three for 4,000 hours.

Only the elite group members were considered to be worthy of the term "expert".  As Malcolm Gladwell concluded, 1000 hours qualifies you as "efficient", but 10,000 hours qualifies you as "genius".  The moral of the story is:  Practice, practice, practice.  Becoming an expert is not a quick process, but a lengthy one.

Bobby Fischer, world chess champion from 1972 to 1975, took nine years to perfect the game. Author Pierre Berton spent a lifetime writing newspaper and magazine articles as well as 50 history books, qualifying him as a Canadian history expert.  According to Julia Child, if you want to "master the art of French cooking", you need to start by trying the 524 recipes in her first cookbook.  Even if each recipe only took an hour to follow, that's over 500 hours.  

When I think of an expert, my grandad comes to mind.  In Grade 7, he wrote a math test in which he received a poor grade.  His teacher posted it on the black board and mocked him.  Grandad vowed to get revenge on his teacher by becoming a math expert.  He devoted hours to mastering the subject.  In Grade 8 his math marks slowly improved. In high school, he started to receive A's.  He majored in math in university where he graduated with Honours in both Math and Physics.

Teacher's College followed.  During a recession in the mid-1920's, Grandad was offered not one but three math teaching positions in Toronto high schools.  He was promoted to the Head of the Mathematics Department.  He taught for forty years for the Toronto Board of Education and became an expert not just in math, but in teaching.  With his perfect geometrical shapes, the Ontario Education Inspector said that he had the "neatest blackboards in Ontario" -- not bad for a boy who couldn't even pass a basic math test.    

If you want to become an expert in your field like my grandad, here are ten tips offered by Brian Tracy:

1.  Commit to excellence.  As someone once said:  "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well."

2.  Be a lifelong learner.  Upgrade your knowledge and skills regularly.

3.  Turn driving time into learning time.  The average driver spends 500 to 1000 hours in the car. Listen to audiotapes.  You'll be well on your way to becoming "efficient" in your field.

4.  Attend workshops.  A one day workshop can give you valuable tips.

5.  Identify the key skills you need to become an expert.

6.  Practice those skills daily.

7.  Be observant like a journalist.  Being observant helps you learn.  It also helps you network.  You may be in the right place at the right time with the right person to create the right opportunity.

8.  Read a book a week in your subject area.  That translates into 50 books a year and 500 books in ten years.  

9.  Be passionate about your subject.  My grandad always recommended that to me as a teacher.  Passion is infectious; it translates to your students.  Passion brings you closer to the title "expert".  As cardiologist Dr. Mani says on his website:  "Passion fuels expertise which in turn keeps passion  burning."  

10.  Find a mentor.  We all look up to someone.  Pierre Berton's mentor was News-Herald editor Jack Scott.  He patterned his early newspaper columns after Jack's.  Bobby Fischer's mentor was Carmine Nigro of the Brooklyn Chess Club.  The young chess protege would come to his house for games every weekend for two or three years.  Julia Child studied under the tutelage of the great French chef Max Bugnard in Paris in the early 1950's.  

For more information, read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.