Saturday, March 21, 2020
Easy How-to Articles
Easy How-to Articles Do you enjoy writing personal essays but find there arent enough markets for your manuscripts? Dont leave them on your hard drive. Instead, use your personal experiences and turn your essays into how-to articles When reviewing the sales Ive had over the years, from the first manuscript I sold to my most recent sale, I discovered that a good portion of them were personal essay/how-to articles. In these articles, I shared anecdotes of what worked for me in certain circumstances and the insights I gained. I then gave tips on how readers could apply the knowledge to their own situations. IDEAS For example, one of my how-to articles described how my husband and I co-owned a water ski boat with another couple. I pointed out how well our arrangement worked and why it made sense because of the high cost of new boats. I then outlined what should be included in a written contract, such as how many weeks of vacation per year each person can use the boat and what to do if one person wants to sell his part of the co-ownership. I also included a photo of our co-owned boat. I sold the article and photo to a water ski magazine, followed My most recent how-to article shared how meaningful it was when friends and family waited with me during my husbands brain tumor operation and how Ive waited with friends while their loved ones were in surgery. I offered tips on providing support during this anxious time, such as bringing a snack basket, offering encouragement, and praying with them. We all have our own unique personal experiences and areas of expertise. I draw on my experiences from water skiing, parenting, church activities, volunteer work, living with a chronic illness, and working as a teachers aide. Where does your expertise lie? What experiences have improved your life? What knowledge have you gained from your experiences that you could share through tips or insights to help readers going through similar situations? THE WRITING A good way to get started in the how-to genre is Start with an anecdote of your personal experience, lead into your insight in conversational paragraphs or bullet points, and offer tips. Finally, summarize the main point of the article and leave readers with words of encouragement. You can also include a sidebar with additional information on your subject matter. When I wrote about the joys of sponsoring needy children, I included a sidebar listing organizations that offer sponsorship and included contact information, along with the associated monthly costs. SELLING HOW-TO ARTICLES How-to articles are ideal for reprint sales, bringing in extra income without a lot of extra effort. An article sharing how I improved our familys dinner hour sold to five publications one womans magazine, two family magazines, and two regional parenting magazines. As long as the circulation doesnt overlap, submit to as many markets as possible, following each magazines guidelines. You dont need to give up writing personal essays because of limited markets. Turn those essays and personal experiences into how-to articles and watch your sales grow.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
College Essay Topic #1 7 Essay Tips for Writing a College Application Essay About Your Grandmother
College Essay Topic #1 7 Essay Tips for Writing a College Application Essay About Your Grandmother One of the most popular topics for the college application essay is â€Å"My grandmother.† If you are planning to write an essay about your grandmother, you have a challenge ahead of you. How will you make your essay stand out amongst all the other grandmother essays? How will you make the admissions committee remember your essay and not just yawn over it? Here are some essential tips to write a college application essay about grandma: 1.      Focus on you, not on your grandmother.  When you wrote your first grade school essay about grandma, it was all about grandma. Now its gotta be all about you. Write about your experience, your thoughts, and your opinions as they relate to your grandmother. 2.      If you find you have written more than one sentence in a row that is all about your grandmother instead of about you, add the word â€Å"I†or â€Å"me†to at least one of the sentences! 3.      Use very specific examples of conversations you had with your grandmother. That way you can’t possibly write the same essay someone else has written. 4.      Know your starting point and ending point, and show growth. Perhaps your grandma used to give you help and advice, and now that you are older you have become her advisor. Perhaps you used to judge certain things as negative that you now see as positive. Or maybe you didn’t understand something as a young child that you now understand. Any growth or changes of perspective are great to write about. 5.      Keep it real. Although a certain amount of description is necessary, if you get overly flowery with your language you’ll lose the reader’s attention. 6.      Consider writing about an object or activity that is related to your grandmother, but isn’t directly your grandmother. For instance, let’s say your grandma was a gardener. You could write about an aspect of gardening as your theme, so your grandmother would be part of the essay but not the sole focus. Grandma may have taught you about gardening and you may have used some of those lessons in other parts of your life.  Your essay would then be about gardening as a metaphor. 7.      Want to write about grandpa instead? He’s less popular but the same principles apply. For examples of successful college essays, The Essay Expert recommends Accepted! 50 Successful College Admissions Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe. Still not sure how to write a great college application essay about your grandma (or grandpa)? Contact The Essay Expert for a FREE 15 minute consultation.
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