Not As Easy As It Sounds

I write articles - nonfiction articles.  Sometimes historical fiction.  Its fun, I like the research, actually sometimes more than the writing.

And there lies the crux of the matter.  I find myself so immersed and caught up in the research that I lose sight of exactly what I wanted to write about.  Actually, what has happened is I have over researched the project leaving me with mounds of material to sift through.  Most of which doesn't even apply to the topic I started on.

However, there is a good in all of that.  When I sit down with my yellow marker and hi-light the facts, etc., that are pertinent to my present article I find I have plenty of material left over to create another article or another slant to the one I'm doing.  So my time wasn't really wasted.

Some writers would say my time was wasted and break it down into dollars per hour.  But if I can use that research for another article that sells, then my dollar per hour increases.

As the title to this blog says, all of this is not as easy as it sounds.  The research is time consuming,  it can be tiring, and sometimes not all of it can be accomplished on the internet.  Believe it or not you actually have to talk to people.

When I have all my material hi-lighted I spend some more time crafting a query letter to the magazine of choice.  I let the editor know what I want to write about, what slant I am taking, how many words, why it will fit in his/her magazine, and why I'm qualified to write it.  I may leave out the qualified to write part if I've only done research and I'm really not a clown in a rodeo.

After I have sent the query I wait, and wait and wait, and sooner or later I will get a acceptance or rejection.  Lately its been more rejections, but I will keep going and urge all of you to do the same.