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GETTING STARTED IN COLUMN WRITING
by Mridu Khullar
You’ve
written many articles for Websites, newsletters and now you’ve even
conquered the territory of getting published in a magazine. What’s the
next step, you ask? How to I make the editor ask for my work weekly or monthly?
Enter: the column.
Before you march up to an editor’s
office or send her unsolicited mail asking to write regularly for a
publication, learn all there is to know.
A column is written weekly,
monthly or bi-monthly, and must be focused on one particular topic. You have to
be consistent in what you write, maintain the same tone of voice, and stay
focused on the issue at hand. If you’re writing a column for the writing
parent, don’t delve into issues of parenting in general. You’re
readers will probably be parents who write, and they will be more interested in
learning how to find time for their writing, rather than how to take care of
their children.
A column can last from three to four months to ten or
maybe even twenty. I know of a writer who wrote a column in a leading daily for
more than twenty years.
When you decide to write a column, make sure
that the topic you choose is of interest to readers and will keep them coming
back for more, week after week. If your topic is boring or uninteresting,
chances are you’ll have no readers, and the editor will soon wrap up your
column with a short goodbye note.
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Make
sure that you can keep the commitment. Writing a column takes more than just a
bright idea and good writing. It needs dedication, discipline and the ability
to meet deadlines. If you can’t meet deadlines, you’ll soon be out of
a job, and out of the publication—for good. A columnist has to make sure
that she provides an on-topic, interesting, timely article each week (or
month), interesting enough to make the reader come back to read it.
If
you decide to delve into the world of column writing, your best bet would be to
start with a regional daily or weekly newspaper. Not only will this market be
easier to break into, but will give you a lot of exposure. Columns for cooking,
astrology, inspiration and living in the city run frequently in newspapers and
are the best places for starting off. However, try to avoid topics that have
been done to death. Put a unique and interesting spin to a topic, and
you’re bound to get the editor’s interest.
Websites too are
now beginning to open up to columns. Just like their print counterparts,
Websites, e-zines and even online versions of print magazines ask for original
material on a weekly or monthly basis. The biggest advantage of writing online
is the short acceptance and publication period.
The best way to query
an editor about writing a column is by sending clips of your work and your
column topic. If the editor likes your query, you’ll be asked to send in
an article, and you’ll soon be on your way to publishing glory. Keep in
mind though, that column writing is not like writing an article—it’s
not *your* convenience and *your* time constraints that matter. The only thing
the editor wants from you is a good quality article each week, submitted on
time. Do that, and you’ll have a regular income from at least one source.
© Mridu Khullar
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mridu
Khullar is the editor-in-chief of
www.WritersCrossing.com, a free online magazine for
writers. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter to get a complimentary e-book
with 400+ paying markets. Also check out her e-book, "Knock Their Socks Off! A
Freelance Writer's Guide to Query Letters That Sell," available at
http://www.writerscrossing.com/queries.html
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1)
Successful Syndication: A Guide for Writers and Cartoonists
by Michael Sedge
2)
You Can Write a Column by Monica
Mccabe-cardoza
3)
You Can Be a Columnist: Writing and Selling Your Way to
Prestige by Charlotte Digregorio
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