What’s on the iPod: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
What a lot of deadlines, and Friday wasn’t going to be productive. Just as I sat down to write an executive summary, the lawn service next door started up their leaf blowers. I’m with Devon Ellington on this — it’s a noise that makes one homicidal. It took them two hours with two handheld leaf blowers, a big standalone fan blower, and a lawn mower. How exactly is that easier than using rakes and a mower with a bag attachment? The lawn looks amazing — much better than ours, so at least there’s a good outcome.
Today starts a busy week. Three projects (four if you count the article due at the end of next month) and a ton of holiday stuff threatening to get in the way. We spent a nice weekend at the Firebird Festival on Saturday and I went with one of his coworkers on a holiday house tour on Sunday.
Last week I was discussing with other writers a faux pas or two we’d seen — writers bending facts, repeating nearly verbatim other writers’ articles or blog posts, or other practices that make paying customers cringe.
And writers, know that your customers are looking.
If you’re trying to get an assignment from a magazine editor, any one of those practices I’ve just mentioned will kill your chances outright. While a few writers have reported editors who want sources to look over articles before publication (say what?), the majority of educated, trained editors won’t work with writers if they don’t have the right attributes.
Having sat in the editor’s chair at a national trade publication for just under four years, I know firsthand what editors want from their freelance writers. Here are the big six:
1. Accuracy. What you present in your finished piece should be as accurate as any human can possibly guarantee. That means if you find one resource in your research that’s contradicting every other resource, dig deeper. It could be that resource is wrong, outdated, an opinion presented as fact, an outright fabrication, or an advertorial that has no basis in fact. (If you find two resources saying the same thing, you can present it, but be damn careful not to generalize.) Your editor wants facts to be current and accurately stated.
2. Reliability. I nearly listed this one first as for me, it was my number one expectation of my freelancers. Sketchy copy can be fixed — missing copy has to be generated by someone in house and often in a rush. Magazines plan pages around expected content. If you miss your deadline or simply decide you’d rather not bother (without informing your editor), you’re never getting hired by them again. And you’ll be lucky if they don’t talk with other editors about you.
3. Relevance. You may not have been hired because that killer idea — which may in fact be a great idea — missed the mark entirely. Your editor at that men’s magazine isn’t going to buy an article on breast feeding, nor is that editor at a technology publication going to pay you if you’re to deliver a piece on cloud computing and you give her a piece on fashionable tech accessories.
4. Ethical standards. You’d think you don’t have to say this to working writers, but too many freelance writers think it’s okay to change quotes, insult interview sources, lift copyrighted content and rewrite it (the heinous “mashup” idea that’s all too popular online), and make up statistics or quotes because they want the story to go the way they want it to go. It’s a fatal mistake that will get a writer blacklisted in the magazine world, for editors do talk with other editors, and those lax ethical standards are putting their companies in danger of legal action.
5. Knowledge of the audience. You might think you understand what the audience wants, but unless you’ve studied the last five or six issues of the magazine, you could miss something. I once had a writer offer a great piece on how risk managers could improve their cost savings through use of a certain technology. The piece I got from the writer was how technology is changing the way consumers are saving money. Not the right audience (or topic) at all. Know the audience and give them what they want to read, not to what you’d like to present.
6. Compelling, error-free writing.This should be a no-brainer and it shouldn’t have to be on this list. Yet how many times have you seen articles in print or online that have serious mistakes? I’m not talking about one or two misspellings — that happens even with the best writers. I’m talking about writing that looks like it came through a third-world country or writing so dull the title puts readers to sleep. Always proofread. And do your best to write like you’re interested in what you’re writing. Don’t try mimicking the styles of the columnists whose words are so dry the pages are dusty. Write like yourself. Plenty of editors are starved for fresh voices and new perspectives.
What sins have you seen that would cause editors to run the other way?
Let’s turn the tables. What attributes must your editor possess?
3 responses to “6 Writer Attributes Your Editor Wants”
When I was editing, in addition to those I hated dull writing… often hard to quantify or explain, but easy to recognize and reject.
Also missing deadlines… two very different problems.
Re leaf blowers. When 'they' finally put me in charge of the world those will go, I promise. (And that's irony in case someone misses it.)
Anne, I'll nominate you as Head of the World if you promise to eliminate leaf blowers. (Last year, a neighbor walking his dog saw my nextdoor neighbor's low-rent lawn guy blowing their leaves into my yard. He said he confronted the guy who told him to "F" off – claiming the leaves had come from my tree. Right. My tiny little maple…that I'd already raked up after at least once by then.) Yeah….they didn't hire him again.
I have to say I for one am glad there are so many unreliable writers out there. Many times over the years my editors have called or emailed asking if I could take an assignment another writer had bailed on, without informing them until it was already past due, of course.
Anne, great point. Dull writing makes no sense — why bother if you're not going to put your stamp on it? Never understood that.
Paula, your reliability is why they love you (and your talent is why they call you again and again).