c littledan77
… you want me to do what?
It is not difficult for an editor to know whether a writer has researched their subject. Editors tend to avoid writers who ‘wing it’ and write off the top of their head. Taking the casual approach when writing articles or special features, can and will cost you dearly.
Search engines are a Godsend, with the likes of google, among others, research can be conducted from the comfort of your own home. There is no excuse for submitting copy that has no ’support’ material like facts, figures or supportive quotations from experts in the field.
Whilst it is much easier and quicker to forego research and write from the heart, lazy writing is filled with the author’s opinions, and at the risk of repeating myself, no body cares what you think! Readers want to hear what experts have to say, and so does the editor.
Almost all articles require research and supportive quotes, so online research and investigative journalism, should be high on your list of skills.
If you lack these skills www.ijnet.org provides valuable resources for jounalists and writers. The article Back to Basics by Kay Mills, formerly an editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times, and author of A Place in the News: From the Women’s Pages to the Front Page and This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, provides a wonderful, real-life account on how the basics of research provided her with rich, winning material for her latest novel.
Remember, unless you have been commissioned by an editor to write a comment piece, keep yourself out of your article and get stuck into some serious research. The rewards could be a long term relationship with an editor who sees the value in your work.
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