Magazine Journalism

How to write an Article

It is a piece of writing usually intended for publication in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

It is written for a wide audience, so it is essential to attract and retain the readers’ attention.

It may include amusing stories, reported speech and descriptions.

It can be formal or informal, depending on the target audience.

It should be written in an interesting or entertaining manner.

It should give opinions and thoughts, as well as facts. It is in a less formal style than a report.

What is an Article

Describe an experience, event, person or place

Present an opinion or balanced argument Compare and contrast Provide information Offer suggestions Offer advice

An Article should

An eye-catching title which attracts the readers’ attention and suggests the theme of the article. (Think about why you read a magazine or newspaper article recently - what made you read it?) Articles can also have subheadings before each paragraph.

An introduction which clearly defines the topic to be covered and keeps the reader’s

The main body of two to five paragraphs in which the topic is further developed in detail.

The conclusion

A realistic article should consist of

Where is the article going to appear - in a newspaper or magazine?

Who are the intended readers - a specific group such as students or teenagers, or adults in

What is the aim of the article - to advise, suggest, inform, compare and contrast, describe, etc.?

Before you begin

Where is the article going to appear - in a newspaper or magazine?

Who are the intended readers - a specific group such as students or teenagers, or adults in general?

What is the aim of the article - to advise, suggest, inform, compare and contrast, describe, etc.?

These three points are the deciding factors in the layout of your article, its style, language and level of formality.

Determine the information you are going to use and organize your ideas carefully into paragraphs.

Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence.

Before you begin

The article could be formal, semi-formal or informal, depending on your intended audience.

Use vocabulary and descriptive language appropriate for the article.

DO NOT use over-personal or over-emotional language or simplistic vocabulary.

DO NOT talk about yourself. You are writing for the general public, not a close circle of friends.

Your opinions are only interesting to other people if you can make them amusing, justify them or explain them.

Before you begin

A title is absolutely necessary when writing an article, and should be a concise summary of the information which is going to follow in the article.

Stimulating the reader’s interest is also essential. While writing a description of a place, use adjectives e.g.

“The Tranquility and Peace of an Island that Time Forgot”.

When proposing a solution to a problem you can use e.g. “What You Need to Do to Be Successful”, or use a question such as “Is Learning English Really Necessary Today?”

In more formal articles, it is more common to just summaries the topic in a short statement, e.g. “Laughter Can Improve Our Health”.

WRITING TITLES

Your headline and kicker can wait until you have written the feature article – don’t forget to include a headline that gains the reader’s attention and a kicker to kick-start the story by posing a question or summarising the feature article. You will also need to add the by-line (the writer’s name) at the beginning.

The Intro: The purpose of the intro or lead is to capture

the attention of the readers and entice them to read further into the story.

STRUCTURE OF A MAGAZINE FEATURE ARTICLE

The question intro poses a question of the readers. If they want to find out the answer, then they must read on.

The anecdote intro uses a short account of some interesting or humorous experience to get the readers interested.

The quote intro lets the subject of the article do the talking right from the beginning. It is often used in personality profiles.

The action/adventure intro begins with a high point of excitement.

The description intro can describe either places or people. The summary intro gives details about the subject in a brief

lead. These details have to be interesting enough to made the readers want to continue.

The shock/horror intro uses sensational information to get the readers to read on.

The Introduction

Am I allowed in? A magazine writer can use ‘I’ in certain circumstances. However, writers must remember the readers are not interested in them, but instead in the subject of the article.

Quotations can be used to add life and personality to an article. However, a quote should appear only when necessary. Long, drawn out and ordinary quotes should be avoided. Quotes normally give a sense of getting to know a person and readers expect a quote to reveal something important.

Pace. A magazine feature article should develop to give the reader only as much information in each paragraph as is needed. Too much too soon kills the article and has the effect of boring the reader.

How long should a paragraph be? It should not be so long as to discourage readers from reading it, but unlike the newspaper feature article, it can be of any length. Nevertheless, a regular pattern is usually preferred.

Moving right along…Paragraphs should flow so that the reader does not feel any sudden jolting changes of subject. The trick is to use a transitional/connecting word or phrase.

The Body

A conclusion should tie everything together and sum up the article. There are many ways to conclude. A few are listed below: An anecdote or story that explains the point of the

article. A return to some earlier statement that now means

more than it did. Saving an explosive piece of information until the

last paragraph. An unexpected twist. A ‘call to action’ or a recommendation.

The Conclusion