Turn Activities and Hobbies into Articles

If you have a particular interest, activity, or hobby, there is a magazine out there that wants you to write for it.

Do you run? Play tennis? Like dogs? Fix bicycles? Play the piano? Attend church? Plant wildflowers around your house? Watch birds? Like rocks?

Anything you do and know something about can be fodder for an article that some magazine will be interested in.

My efforts at writing fiction have never gone anywhere. But I was involved in many activities and interests, and for some of them I found a magazine about them and subscribed. When I had an idea that one of the magazines had not addressed, I tried writing it up.

And I sent it out.

And I got a check!

Suddenly I was a writer! And non-fiction became my forte.

Find a source

All you have to do is find the market. If you have an interest, find the magazine that addresses it.

If you already subscribe, you know what they are looking for.

If you are not a subscriber, try looking up the subject on the internet and see what publications are out there. Visit the library and see if they have copies. Buy a copy at the newsstand.

Some publications will send a potential author a sample copy free or for a fee.

Subscribe. Study several copies. Read every article. Read the advertisements. Read the masthead.

Start small

So you have this great idea for Smithsonian Magazine or The New Yorker. Well, good luck.

Why not try something closer to home? Like the magazine for your city or even for your local newspaper.

If you have a subject that you can write a series of pieces for, you might be able to get a check every month. I wrote a monthly column for Orlando Magazine about people, and for a publication for senior citizens about nature, and for a horseman’s newspaper about — well, horses.

Then go bigger

Florida has a raft of magazines needing monthly material. Think about whether you can write about any of your interests for tourists and travelers.  Florida has so many unique features that need a Floridian to write about them knowledgeably.

Local publications sometimes are searching for material so badly that the editors will publish beginning authors or help them improve their writing. And each time you write something, you write better, whether you have help or not.

If your local and Florida publications use your material, try sending something about the subject you know best to a regional or national magazine.

Some publications send their own photographers or use stock photos, but if you can take photos to go with your text, you’ll be another step ahead (don’t forget to write a caption). I asked a high school kid to take photos to accompany a couple of my articles.

Proof it!

Be sure to check the magazine’s submission guidelines, and do it their way.  Submit your piece to the editor by name. Spell their name correctly.

And for Heaven’s sake, make sure your grammar and punctuation are faultless! Many magazines have a very small staff, and they don’t want to do your editing.  Clean copy is a big plus.

So read your piece. Let it sit for a day or two, then read it again, slowly. Make sure every fact is correct, every “i” is dotted, every “t” is crossed.

When you have written for every local, Florida, and regional publication, and they use every piece you send them, then send something to Smithsonian.