snoopy – Almost An Author

MAGAZINE ARTICLE IDEAS INSPIRED BY CHARLIE BROWN

“Wah wah woh wah wah” Is all I hear at times. I feel like Charlie Brown, a blockhead. My brain refuses to think. Does that happen to you when you are trying to come up with article ideas? Well, Charlie Brown never gave up and neither shall I.

Writer’s block is a common occurrence. So how do we brainstorm ideas to keep magazine editors interested in our articles and not pull the football out from under us when we try to punt?

As Charlie Brown helped his little sister Sally do her homework, I have received help from many amazing writers. Here are just a few of their suggestions to keep the creative juices flowing. I have narrowed them down to three block buster activities: read, listen and observe.

Read

Read magazines. Chose a favorite. Read it cover to cover before you submit an article or query. Magazines have a target audience. Each magazine has a rhythm to it. Make sure you express the voice of that magazine. Ask yourself, “What would I like to read in this magazine”? Research their archives to see if an article exists. Even if it does, you might have a different point of view on the topic. Step up to the plate and pitch your idea. You may get a home run.

Read magazines that don’t interest you. I now read Trade Magazines. These are periodicals that are specific to a company or organization. While I read one of these publications I got an idea. I submitted an article, and they published it.

Read the Newspaper. It has current news upon which you could expand. It also contains press releases on books and events. Find a good press release feed or website to keep up with current information. They can be a solid source of article ideas.

Blog and blog comments– Your blog may have great ideas for a magazine article. Comments on your blog may give ideas also. Follow blogs in the area of your writing expertise for inspiration.

Google Alerts– Set an alert for each keyword on the topics that interest you. When you are alerted, don’t read the entire article. Scan the titles to see the popular topics. Many great article ideas are birthed by using Google alert. Here is a link for more information on Google Alerts.

http://google.about.com/od/personalizegoogle/ss/createAlertSBS.htm#step1

Books will give great insight for articles. Read fiction, non-fiction and even children’s books.

LISTEN

Listen to TV or radio talk shows so you can have your finger on the pulse of what is popular and trending. Watch morning shows or popular television talk shows for current ideas. Radio is a great source to get the brain working. Talk radio will give you an inside ear to what issues concern people.

Listen to webinars or podcasts on topics that intrigue you. There are many free audio downloads on line.

Listen to conversations around you. God has placed a variety of personalities, cultures, and opinions on this earth. Go to the mall, coffee shop or sit on a bus and just listen. You will be astounded by all the ideas.

Observe

Observe Surroundings. Nature, people, and situations are a wealth of ideas. I watched a bird hit my kitchen window and get knocked out. My husband picked him up. The warmth of my husband’s hands and the fear the bird must have felt gave life and flight to this little chickadee. I can think of at least three articles I can write about the situation. I bet you can think of one right now.

Personal experience. Don’t ignore your daily routine. There are great stories in the mundane. We all experience similar situations in life, but we all don’t tell the story the same way or live it out with the same emotion. A unique point of view makes for great reading.

There are many ways to brainstorm ideas. Charlie Brown went to his friends Linus and Lucy for advice. He contemplated the world as he listened to Schroeder play Beethoven.

We all need friends that can help us. A friend like Snoopy who fights the battle for us. Through prayer, he keeps the Red Baron from attacking our mind. We need to stick together as a writing community and celebrate one another’s success. We must give encouragement to one another when Writer’s block hits or our article does not get published. Remember what the other Peanuts did when Charlie Brown picked a horrible Christmas tree? They gathered around and made it beautiful.

One of my go to teachers is Edie Melson. Check out her post. “Tips for Catching and Storing Writing Ideas, right here on A3. She is one of the amazing writers that I mention in my article. http://www.almostanauthor.com/tips-for-catching-storing-writing-ideas/

She continues to teach me daily through her blog The Write Conversation.

www.TheWriteConversation.com

How do you get ideas for writing?

Please share in the comment section. I look forward to learning from you.

My 5 Rules for Writing

My favorite canine writer, Snoopy of Peanuts fame, received a boatload of rejection slips in his pursuit of a publisher over the years, and some of them are gems.

“Dear contributor, thank you for submitting your story to our magazine,” one publisher wrote to Snoopy. “To save time, we are enclosing two rejection slips…one for this story and one for the next story you send us.”

In publishing, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.

That’s why there is no shortage of advice on writing and getting published. For instance, five commonly quoted rules on writing and finding a publisher came from Robert Heinlein, the famed science fiction writer. Heinlein’s five rules are:

You must write.
You must finish what you write.
You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
You must put the work on the market.
You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

Four of these rules are excellent for both beginning and experienced writers, but I find Rule 3 on the strange side, as do many people; in fact, one online post about these rules comes with an Aspiring Author Warning—“Don’t try #3 at home.” From what I understand, Heinlein admitted that he did revise and rewrite, so I’m not sure where that rule even came from.

Regardless of the oddness of Rule 3, this time-tested list got me thinking about what rules I have subconsciously followed during my 38 years of writing since graduating from journalism school in 1977. So I came up with my “5 for Writing.

Get writing. Find the time to write. Then do it.

Learn by listening—and doing. Solicit feedback, discern what helps you.

Finish your story. Edit and rewrite, but don’t tinker forever. Reach the finish line.

Thrive on rejection. Get your story out there. Be fearless. Accept rejection.

Become a juggler. After one story is finished, be ready to start another. Consider writing two at once.

Note that my Rules 1 and 3 correspond to Heinlein’s 1 and 2. Every list of writing rules probably needs those two because starting and finishing are the two greatest obstacles. As the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.”

As for Rule 2, it takes time to find a reliable circle of friends and colleagues who give you honest and helpful feedback. But it’s critical. Rule 5 may not be for everyone, but I work best when I’m juggling several projects. And if the idea of writing more than one story at a time makes your brain hurt, at least try to get multiple manuscripts on the market; it only increases your odds of finding a publisher.

Finally, my “thrive on rejection” rule was inspired by an old episode of the TV show M*A*S*H when Hawkeye Pierce said something to the effect of “I thrive on rejection.” Hawkeye was talking about not giving up when it came to finding a woman, but I have found that this philosophy also applies to finding publishers. (Both can be heart-breaking pursuits.)

In my forthcoming blogs, I intend that each installment will fall under one of these five rules—and if it doesn’t I’ll find a way to shoehorn it in. In the meantime, try to maintain the same indefatigable spirit of Snoopy—the only writer to ever have a mailbox run away from him when he tried to send off a new manuscript.

So what was Snoopy’s response to his many rejections? He once wrote back to a publisher by saying, “Gentleman, regarding the recent rejection slip you sent me. I think there might have been a misunderstanding. What I really wanted was for you to publish my story, and send me fifty thousand dollars.”

After a pause, Snoopy added…

“Didn’t you realize that?”

Now that’s a dog who thrives on rejection.