TRANSFORMATION NEWARK MAGAZINE
The TNM Writing Guide: General Rules For FEATURE ARTICLES, DEPARTMENT ARTICLES, & QUICK TIPS. This guide will help you to write faster, because it provides you with a track to run on. K E E P 1
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Make the articles short. This may be your biggest challenge. You want to be thorough but not too thorough. Try to aim for between 200 to 500 words. And please Remember that 10-75 word Quick Tips are also welcomed.
2 Use short paragraphs. Try to stick to 3–4 sentences. If it’s more than this, the content looks too dense. Readers will give up and move on. (Newspapers usually follow this rule.) 3 Keep short sentences. As a general rule, try avoid compound sentences. A period gives the reader a natural stop—and a sense of progress as they pass one milestone after another. Shorter sentences make the articles a fast read. 4 Use simple (short) words. You may often be tempted to use big words. However, your goal should be to avoid this. Our goal is to communicate transformation, not to impress our readers with our vocabulary. 5 Provide external links (short-cuts). You can’t say everything in one article, so you might want to link to other online articles and blogs where your readers can find more details. This will increase the readership of your article. And will be genuinely helpful to your readers. While your template might be different, it is worth outlining and tweaking. This will allow you to write faster and more effectively.
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TRANSFORMATION NEWARK MAGAZINE
The TNM Writing Guide: Preferred Topics With these department topics we seek to give inspiration, share tips, and expand understanding for the growth of our audience. 5 TRANSFORMATION AREAS 1
Your Ministry. Give practical insights and tips about how to improve ministry work; such as preaching, teaching, youth, community outreach, leadership and other areas of ministry.
2 Your Business. Explain how to be a better business owner. How to start a business, share business tips and best practices for success and expansion. 3 Your City. Give examples of how to make the city better. Inspire your readers to get involved with their communities. Give tips as to what individuals can do & how to get started. 4 Your Relationships. Share insights on Dating, Love, Marriage, Sex, Divorce, Parenting, Workplace, Family, and Friend advice for building Godly nurturing relationships. 5 Your Life. How do we improve ourselves? With Education, Health, Employment, Technology, Computers, and Selfesteem building. So that you can be the best that God would have you to be. There are only 5 categories however the topics are endless. These are preferred, but by no means exhaustive. SELECT a Transformation Area, DECIDE on a Topic, READ the Guidelines, WRITE your Article, and SUBMIT for your article for Review & Publication.
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TRANSFORMATION NEWARK MAGAZINE
The TNM Writing Guide: Article Structure The ideal TNM Article template consists of five components: A GOOD STRUCTURE 1. Lead Paragraph. This is key. If you take too long on the intro, you will lose readers. You have to get into the subject of your article and make it relevant to your readers. After the title, this is the second most important component. 2. Relevant Image. We use images for the same reasons all publications do: We want to pull our readers into the article itself. Pictures do that. Occasionally, We may use a screenshot or link to a video or slideshow links. Don’t worry our editors will make sure that interesting images are in your article. 3. Personal Experience. Try to share your personal experiences. Why? Because readers connect with stories. The more honest and transparent you can be, the better. You may find that your most popular articles will come form relating to your life experiences. 4. Main Body. Everything to this point has been an introduction. Try to make the main content scannable. Use bullets, numbered lists—or often both. This makes the content more accessible to readers and more sharable via Twitter and Facebook. Our three primary types of articles are: The How-to, The List, and The Review. 5. Discussion Question. To keep readers engaged after reading and to create interaction with you article you could end your article with a question. We don’t want our articles to be a monologue but, the start of a conversation. As a result, you can measure effectiveness by the comments and questions you will receive. !
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TRANSFORMATION NEWARK MAGAZINE
The TNM Writing Guide: The Main Body Here are the main types of articles we look to publish in Transformation Newark Magazine. Others will be considered, but these are preferred. 3 MAIN BODY ARTICLE TYPES The How-to Article A How-to Article aims to teach the reader something, by taking them through a step-by-step process. It’s usually structured with numbered, sequential steps. And, where appropriate, these steps might include a screenshot or photo to show the reader what to expect at each stage. If you’re writing a How-to Article, the easiest way to begin is with a careful plan. Work out the necessary steps. You may find you need to break complicated procedures into several parts, or merge simple ones together. Get them into the best possible order. Once you’ve done that, your article will be straightforward to write —and straightforward for readers to follow. Variations: “How I ____ and How You Can Too”: Readers love to hear how you succeeded with something. This formula lets you explain your own steps and offer action points for them. “Why ___ Matters and How To Do It”: If you suspect your readers need to know the why before the how, spend the first third or half of your article explaining the why, then move on to practical steps. !
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TRANSFORMATION NEWARK MAGAZINE
The List Article A List Article offers readers a selection of ideas, tips, suggestions, or resources. These are normally numbered. If you’ve been around the blogging world for long, you’ll have come across this type of article—probably many times. The key difference between a List Article and a How-to Article is that readers don’t need to follow the list from start to end: they can dip in and use those points that seem most applicable to their own situation. As with a How-to Article, pre-planning is essential. Aim to come up with a couple more items than you need, and cut the weakest. Think about the order of your items, too: easiest to hardest works well, or you could alternate “do” and “don’t” tips. Variations: “The A–Z of ___”: You may well have seen this format used in magazines. An A–Z list Article usually aims to produce a comprehensive overview of a particular topic, in bite-size chunks. “Roundup: ___”: This form of article gathers together resources (generally blog articles) on a particular topic, meaning each list item includes a link. You could also use this to list, say, the top 20 tweeters in your niche. The Review Article Review Articles offer an informed opinion about a particular event, organization, product, or service. These are a great way to serve your readers, who might be debating whether or not to purchase a particular item or take part in a specific event. They also help establish your own knowledge and expertise in your field. !
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It’s up to you what you include in your reviews, but one simple structure you can use is this: ★ Overview—what’s included, what’s it all about, how much it costs, and so on ★ The good—mention the two or three aspects that were most enjoyable or useful to you ★ The bad—write about what didn’t work so well – this adds credibility, especially if you’re affiliated with the organization, product, or service ★ Verdict—should your readers participate in this event or buy the product or service? Variations: ★ “X vs Y”: Often, readers will be struggling to choose between two similar products or organizations. A comparative review helps them make up their mind. ★ “Top Ten Books On ___”: Similar to a roundup List Article, but with added opinion, a “top ten” of books or other products in your niche offers readers bite-size reviews—and a resource to return to. We look forward to reviewing your submission. Thanks
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