1 – Join a reading or writing group. Ask members to bring in their
already-read magazines and have an exchange. Do the same with interest
groups you belong to or know about – playgroups (parenting, home, cooking, family mags), business networking groups (entrepreneurs, home business, finances magazines), church (religious, devotional periodicals).

2 – Offer to take a friend to the doctors office. Okay, that sounds goofy but I love taking my children to the orthodontist, pediatrician, and dentist offices so I can scan the table of contents and skim the articles in the parenting, childrens, family, travel and money magazines. I bring a notepad and take plenty of notes. Find an article in an old magazine that would help your research? Ask the office to make a copy of it; offer to pay.

3 – Subscribe. Remember if you subscribe to a magazine that is for business purposes, you can deduct the cost of the subscriptions if you itemize your taxes. I am a food writer so I keep all receipts for food and writing magazines, and food and writing books to deduct as business expenses.

4 – Take up publishers on their free copy offers. It used to be that all magazines would let your send in a postcard and check the “bill me” square and you will end up with two or three issues before they cut you off for not paying. These days, we cannot even be inadvertently dishonest. I get mailings from magazines offering me one free issue. I will send in the postcard and usually have a bill to pay before I have read the free issue. I then can decide to subscribe or put the bill in the postage paid envelope and decline to pay.

5 – Look for the online issues of particular magazines. It is true that many use original content online (another good market to explore) but even the different content will show you what type of material the magazine is looking for.

6 – Read newspapers online. Do you want to write travel articles? Visit the major newspapers online. Most hire freelancers to cover a great deal of their special interest articles. Contact information for, in this example, the travel section editor will likely be available on the website.

7 Send for the writer guidelines. Look in The Writers Market. If you are looking for parenting magazines and find one that sounds about right to you but you have never seen, send for the writer guidelines and request a sample issue. Double check the listing of the magazine to see if there is a reduced price or you have to send a stamped envelope to receive a free copy.

8 – Go to the library. This is so obvious! Make a bi-weekly appointment to go to the library and review the magazines you want to write for. Make notes. Use the librarys copier to photocopy the table of contents, or an article or two to review at home.

9 – If your public library does not carry the magazines you want to know about, travel to a college library. They are set up for your kind of research. While most require student identification to use the reference materials, you can read the periodicals unimpeded.

10 – Bookstores! Grab a pile of magazines, buy that over-priced latte and carefully review the magazines you have found to study (remember, if you spill on it, you buy it!)

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Ill figure that out . . . when I get the time.

I really dont know how to start!

I really should write my essay!

This common dilemma is expressed over and over again by many people everywhere. The good news is that anybody can write an essay!

There are three main reasons for essays:

1. To help you to cohesively construct an argument and defend it on paper.

2. To help you develop good written and oral communication skills.

3. To help you to figure out how to find information.

Not knowing how to write properly can make your academic life disorganized, stressful and chaotic. By improving your writing skills, you can confidently and quickly finish assignments and write properly throughout your professional career.

Writing an essay can be very simple when you follow these basic steps: choose a topic, define the scope of your essay, create the outline, write the essay and — proofread, proofread, proofread!

The Essay Topic

The first step in writing an essay is to select a topic (if one has not been assigned). In order to define a topic, you should think about the goal of the essay. Is the purpose of the essay to persuade, educate, or describe a topic — or for something else entirely? It is generally helpful to brainstorm ideas by jotting down favorite subjects or thinking of a topic that may be interesting to you.

Define the Scope of the Essay

The next step is to define the scope of your essay. Is the subject matter very broad, or will the essay cover a specific topic with detail-oriented examples? Thinking about the overall topic and scope will help you to begin the writing process.

Create an Outline

The next step is to create the outline. You may think that an outline is an unnecessary, time-consuming task — but this step will actually help save time! An outline will help keep you focused while writing your essay, and help keep you from wandering aimlessly in conducting your research. It should be composed of the main idea of the essay or thesis
statement, and the arguments that support it. The outline is often numbered and organized by paragraph, but more abstract outlines will also help to organize and focus your
ideas.

Writing the Essay

The subsequent step is writing the essay. The introduction paragraph should begin with an attention grabber. This is a statement the lures the reader into wanting to read the rest of the essay. The next few sentences should be very broad in topic, and should lead to the narrow focus of the thesis statement, which is usually the very last sentence of the introduction paragraph. There are typically three body paragraphs, and each one starts by tackling one of the main ideas presented in the thesis statement. The following sentences should describe and elaborate on the main point. Details of specific examples should be included to strengthen your main ideas. The conclusion paragraph summarizes the essay and provides a final perspective on the main topic. It often begins with a paraphrase of the original thesis statement, and sometimes includes a future prediction based upon the viewpoint presented in the essay.

Proofreading Your Essay

The final step in writing a thesis is proofreading. Proofreading is actually the most important part of writing the essay and is often skipped. A few items to consider when proofreading your essay are the order of the paragraphs, the flow of the sentences, grammar, spelling and the instructions for the assignment. Questions to ask yourself include:

Does your essay make sense?

Does each sentence flow to the next sentence well?

Are there any points that can be made stronger or clearer?

Are there words that are used frequently?

Are there any run-on sentences or fragments?

The proofreading process sometimes takes longer than the actual writing process, but this is what makes the difference between a concise and well thought out essay, and a bad essay.

When the process of writing an essay is broken into pieces, the process seems more manageable and easier to complete for the beginner. The process consists of thinking about a topic, creating an outline, writing the essay and proofreading the essay. This makes essay writing an interesting learning experience, and helps the writer express his or her thoughts more clearly, concisely and with more validation.

Author: Colleen Spiegel
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