How to write

The writer of non-fiction is in the same boat with the editor who buys his articles; he calls himself a writer, but primarily he is up against a thinking job. The actual writing of his material is secondary to good judgment in selecting what is known as a “compelling” theme. If he can produce a “real story” and get it onto paper in some sort of intelligent fashion, what remains to be done in the way of craftsmanship can be handled inside the magazine office by a “re-write man.” Make sure, first of all, that what you have to say is something that ought to interest the large audience to which you address it.

Much as we may regret to acknowledge it, there is no way to get around the fact that the larger and more general the circulation of a periodical, the more universal must be the appeal of the material printed and the fewer the mainstays of interest, until in a magazine with a circulation of more than a million copies the chief classifications of non-fiction material required can easily be counted upon the fingers. The editor of such a publication necessarily is limited to handling rather elemental topics; so it is not to be wondered at when we hear that the largest publication of them all makes its mainstays two such universally interesting and world-old themes as business and “the way of a man with a maid.”

Examine any popular magazine which has a circulation of general readers, speaking to a forum of anywhere from a quarter of a million to ten million assorted readers, and you will find that the non-fiction material which it is most eager to buy may easily be classified into half a dozen types of articles, all concerned with the ruling passions of the average American, as:

     1. Career

     2. Home

     3. Politics

     4. Recreation

     5. Health

Examine a few of these types of contributions to arrive at a clearer understanding of why they are so justly popular. Your average American is, first of all, keenly interested in his job. It is much more to him, usually, than just a way to make a living. It fascinates him like a game, and you often hear him describe it as a “game.” What, then, is more natural than that he should eagerly read articles of practical helpfulness concerned with his activities in office or store, factory or farm? The largest of our popular magazines never appear without something which touches this sort of interest, stimulating the reader to strive after further successes and advancement in their chosen occupation. Many specialized business and trade publications and more than a score of skillfully edited technology magazines thrive upon developing this class of themes to the exclusion of all other material.

A second vital interest is the home–suggesting such undying topics as love, marriage and divorce, raising children, the household budget, the high cost of living, those compelling themes which have built up the women’s magazines into institutions of giant stature and tremendous power.

Politics is another field of almost universal interest, searching eagerly onward into international relationships.

As a fourth point, your average American these days is interested in recreational activities. As a consequence, much space is reserved in the big magazines for articles on society, travel, the theater and the movies, motor cars, country life, outings, and such popular sports as golf, baseball and tennis. Every one of these topics, besides being dealt with in the general magazines, has its own special mouthpiece.

Health always has been a subject constantly on the tip of everybody’s tongue, but never before has so much been printed about the more important phases of it than appears in the popular magazines of to-day. Knowledge of the common sense rules of diet and exercise are becoming public possession–thanks largely to the magazines and the newspaper syndicates.

The purpose of the suggestions sketched above is not to supply canned topics to ready writers, but to set ambitious scribblers to the task of doing some thinking for themselves. Instead of shiftlessly tossing the whole burden of responsibility for choice of topics to a hard driven editor, and whining, “Please give me an idea!”, search around on your own initiative for a theme worth presenting to the attention of a throng of widely assorted listeners–for a “story” that ought to appeal to America’s multitudes. If your topic is big enough for a big audience, your chances are prime to get a hearing for it. Dig up the necessary facts, the “human interest” and the national significance of the case. Then, rest assured, that “story” is what the editor wants.

Source: If You Don’t Write Fiction, by Charles Phelps Cushing