How to Write & Sell Short Pieces
The 30-Minute Writer Helps Busy Writers Use Time Effectively
Jun 16, 2009
Connie Emerson's book was created for the writer who has only short bits of time to devote to writing. It is timely because more short articles and items are being published by magazines today.
The 30-Minute Writer: How to Write and Sell Short Pieces is divided into fifteen chapters, each written in simple, easy to follow language.
Getting It Together
Whether the writer has thirty minutes each day or a few hours once a week, Emerson shows shortcuts to coming up with new ideas, how to keep thoughts in order and focusing on the short forms that will bring the largest returns.
Short Takes and One Pagers
The second and third chapters of the 30-Minute Writer are devoted to the types of articles that can be read quickly. These are usually articles that are from 500-1000 words long, written for people who don't want to take a lot of time to learn something new or quickly read for enjoyment.
Types of Articles
Emerson describes the types of articles that can be written quickly and are popular with readers.
- Personality pieces are miniprofiles that are 700 words or less and this chapter shows how to cut research and writing time effectively.
- Opinion pieces that are geared to a targeted audience, such as a magazine aimed at working women or a fitness mens' magazine, reflect the writers own point of view on a specific subject.
- Humor is the the hardest type of writing. Emerson describes the differences between light humor, irony,exaggeration, satire, parody and off-the wall.
- Hot tips can be how-to-articles, which are always in demand, especially on Internet magazines. These can be everything from household tips to how-to repair instructions.
- Inspirationals that are meant to brighten the readers days are often in demand in religious and spiritual magazines.
- Personal confessions are always in style in which the writer shares a slice of their life. Often these can be combined with inspirationals.
- Book reviews can be either objective or subjective, depending on whether on what the magazines prefers. The difference is described by Emerson.
- The last three chapters of the book cover entering contests, writing for children, writing little stories and writing weekly columns.
Emerson emphasizes that this type of writing requires a brighter and snappier style and tight writing. To help with that, she shows how to create today's short forms and provides what she calls a game plan for each of the various kinds of writing . It reflects her own experiences as a freelance magazine writer and includes suggestions and examples from other writers, editors and contesters.
Connie Emerson has been a freelance writer for three decades. She has published more than a dozen books on writing and hundreds of magazines articles.
Emerson, Connie. The 30-Minute Writer. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest Books,2000.
