My advice on writing a great article!

For my internship, Judy asked me to act as her editorial assistant when we received a very puzzling submission to be reviewed for publication on the Garden State Woman website. I won't share any names, but the girl who submitted this piece was my age, going to a competitive school in Pennsylvania, and majoring in creative writing. She wanted an opportunity to write and get her work published, so Judy asked her to send something in.

The article began with her explaining how she is constantly paranoid about the certain doom of being assaulted by a man. She talks about her parents lecturing her to put her hair up with a hat on and wear baggy clothes when she takes the train home so that no one will approach her. She also speaks of hiring a body guard, and hooking her friends up to a lie detector to make certain they can be trusted. Then she says this:

You can imagine that when I read this I was extremely confused. Her article had no clear purpose, and I couldn't tell if she was being serious or sarcastic. I'm not posting this to make fun of her; in fact, I spent a lot of time on my response to her to help her become a better writer, and I wanted to share it with you. Writing and helping others become better writers is something I enjoy. So, here are a few tips I've come up with.

1. Tell a story

It's always nice to open a piece of writing with a story. The girl who wrote the article is a creative writing major, and the first piece she sent me didn't have a single story in it! People connect with stories. I could tell she was very passionate about this topic, but I couldn't tell why she was or where she was coming from. The questions I asked her was, "Have you ever been assaulted? Do you know someone who has?" I told her that giving real-life situations makes it a lot easier for the reader to feel just as emotional about the topic as you do. We want to be put in your shoes so we can understand. 

The second time around, she did this very nicely. She used all sorts of details about walking alone in the dark across campus, the feelings of fear she felt, the sounds she heard, which helped put me in her mindset. 

2. Have a clear purpose

If no one can figure out what your point is...well...what's the point? You don't have to explicitly say: "I'm writing this because..." but make sure the reader isn't left feeling like they were just dragged through a maze of similes and metaphors only to find themselves right where they started, still having no clue how to get out. After reading the article this girl sent me, I really couldn't tell you what she was aiming at.

3. Use facts

After you've told your story and made your purpose clear, what facts do you have to back up what you're talking about? She did a good job of bringing up a relevant court case, but that's all she did: brought up the case. I told her to expand on it. Perhaps the reader has never heard of the case? You should always assume the reader has no idea what you're talking about.

I told her that especially when she is writing about a controversial issue, her argument must be supported by cold hard facts, otherwise it is not credible. I told her to bring up some statistics about assaults that go on without any real punishment, assault rates in America, or maybe there is a poll out there about how safe women feel in certain situations. Accompanying an emotional story with facts and statistics makes for a solid persuasive argument.

4. Have a call to action

Once you have got the readers right in the palm of your hand through the use of an emotional story and the facts to back it up, what should they do about it? In this case, is there a place we could go to for more information about how to protect ourselves from being assaulted? Is there an organization we can join that works to educate people about assault, or fights for harsher punishment for assault? Is there a way both girls AND boys can be educated about this? 

I was so happy that the revised article she sent me was SO much better and followed all these rules. It was a great feeling knowing that I had helped someone improve their writing, and I hope to continue doing so with this blog.

With all that being said, I'm proud to say that MY first published article is up on the Garden State Woman website! Check it out here. Do you think I followed all my own rules?

Dana