How to Write an Engaging Magazine Article

Magazines are unique from newspapers because they focus on niche topics that interest their readership. They also have more room to discuss issues, stories and people in greater depth and tell stories more multifaceted than those on the local daily’s front page. The key to magazine writing, however, is the ability to pen an engaging as well as informative article. By using good research techniques, descriptive prose and a lot of self-editing writers can compose magazine articles that can hook the publication’s readers from the lead to the closing sentence.

Instructions

1. Do more than the appropriate amount of research. Find out as much as you can about your subject. Even if you don’t use all of it in your article, it will give you a better understanding of what you are writing on. It is always far better to have too much information than not enough.

2. Interview good sources. One-on-one interviews are your greatest weapon: they lend credibility to your piece and bring added insight to the situation. However, the interviews must be with people with educational and professional training pertinent to the article. Make sure that your sources have credentials that will strengthen the piece--such as respected doctors or college professors who are knowledgeable about the focus of your article.

3. Ask interesting questions. Finding great sources isn’t enough. If you only ask them the same questions you ask all of your sources, or the same questions all the other writers ask, you won’t gain any new or insightful information about your subject.

4. Find a person to help tell your story. Even if the focus of the article is on a larger, more encompassing issue or subject, find a person to tell your story through. For example, if your story is about cocaine addicts, find someone who has recovered from the addiction. Change names and revealing details but maintain the other salient details.

5. Write an engaging lead. The first your reader will glance over is your lead sentence or paragraph. Be sure to make it as interesting as possible in order to hook your reader into continuing with the rest of the story.

6. Tell a story. Frame your article in a way that tells the reader a story or arranges the events in a way that seems logical and linear. Have a good idea of where the story will take you before you begin, but don’t be afraid to veer from your outline as the prose takes you.

7. Use only necessary quotes. Interviews and quotes are extremely important to your story, but be sure to only include ones that add something to the piece. And, of course, be meticulous here. Contact sources to fill in gaps if your notes do not give you enough information. Paraphrase if you cannot use exact verbatim quotes that reveal only the words actually spoken by your source. Be precise.

8. Describe people. Did the subject laugh as they said the quote? Did he or she take a sip of coffee? Was he or she distracted?What was he or she wearing? Adding these kinds of details can make your story come alive and give your reader a greater sense of who the person you interviewed is.

9. Set the scene. Describe where this issue is important, or for profiles of people, describe the scene of the interview. Description of places makes them come alive in the readers mind, or, for local stories, reminds the reader of places he or she has been to or seen and forces them to make a personal connection with your article.

10. Put yourself in the story. Did something interesting or unique occur during your investigation of the subject? Did your interview subject connect with you, personally, while in conversation? Readers can be drawn in by your unique point-of-view. If there is a legitimate reason to bring yourself into the story, try it, but be consistent. If there is nothing new to learn about your presence within the story, take yourself out.

11. Use good transitions. Make sure your article flows from one paragraph or one part to the next without jarring the reader. You want to pull them along from paragraph to paragraph without losing them.

12. Use frank, but descriptive, prose. Don’t be dry, but don’t spend three paragraphs describing the color of the tree leaves outside the store where the interview took place. Find a balance between creative, expressive writing and informative journalism.

13. Mention all sides of an issue and use sources from all sides. Even if the focus of your article is to support one side, be sure to mention, even briefly, the other side’s position. This will make your argument, however small, stronger and give you better credibility as a writer.

14. Don’t be afraid to cut. Sometimes the best way to make a piece more engaging or interesting is to cut sentences and paragraphs that don’t help. Editing it will give you more words to work with to focus on saying something new, and, chances are, your editor will cut it anyway.

15. Check your facts. Although many magazines have editors to fact check your work, plenty do not. Don’t submit work if you are not 100 percent confident in your facts, or, if you aren’t, let your editors know so they can help you. Double check the spelling of names and places, too. Submitting factually inaccurate work can hurt your chances of writing again for that publication and will hurt your credibility with your readers. Accuracy always matters.

Tips & Warnings

• Although the Internet is a great place to find information, it shouldn’t be your only source of research. Try going to the library or picking up magazines that may have covered similar issues or subjects.

• Get as much detail out of a phone interview as you can. Be sure to ask where the interviewee is and what they are doing. Make notes of the sound of their voice or any background noise. These notes can help liven up your article.

• Gage the publication you are writing for. Although description may be used excessively in one magazine to engage readers, others may put greater emphasis on facts and quotes from research to draw in their readers.

• Be familiar with the publication you are writing for and what they view as an engaging article to fit the tone and style of that magazine.

• Take any information you do find on the Internet with a grain of salt unless it is a highly respected website. Don’t take anything you read on Wikipedia as fact until you can corroborate it with a more reliable source.

Resources

• Media Bistro