Seven Tips for Writing Your Personal Experience Story

Do you blog or journal your experiences? Do you have a story to tell? Here are seven tips to follow as you develop your story for publication.

1. Consider what magazine you would like to submit your story to. Get a copy or two and study its style, departments and columns so you can suggest how your article will fit into their periodical. Find their writer guidelines. Do they want queries first? Do they want submissions by U. S. Mail or e-mail?
2. Think of an attention grabbing title.
3. Start with a powerful hook--action, problem, or conflict.
4. Use fiction techniques--show (don't tell), multiple scenes, plot, climax, dialogue, description.
5. What is the point of your story? Make it your takeaway. Christian editors are looking for takeaways.
6. Write your query or cover letter. This has to be every bit as good as your manuscript or better. Make the editor want your article.
7. If the publisher sends you an assignment from your wonderful query letter, submit your story exactly as assigned and within the prescribed deadline. Sometimes assignments are on a speculation basis. Make your story excellent so it will be accepted and so you can get more assignments with this publisher and build a working relationship.

Here are some great books on writing:
Writers on Writing-Top Christian Authors Share Their Secrets
Writing for the Soul by Jerry B. Jenkins
On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Ending Your Query Letter

You've grabbed your editor's attention with a great opening and outlined your take on an area of interest for her readers. In the closing you must sell yourself. This is the part of the letter that is cousin to a resume. Tell what qualifies you to write the story whether it's life experience or writing clips. If you're a beginner, do not say you have not been published. Instead, describe your experience or research on the topic.

This is the place for experienced writers to say where you've been published and include clips with your letter. If you submit your query by e-mail, be sure to include links to your clips and/or your website.

Don't miss the opportunity to ask for the assignment. I usually end my queries with something like, "I appreciate your consideration of my story "Title," and I look forward to hearing from you. All that is left is a polite closure. I like to use "Blessings" for the Christian market and "Kind regards" for the general markets. Be sure to include your contact information in your signature.

If you haven't already done so, I hope you'll purchase your copy of Queries and Submissions by Thomas Clark.

The Heart of Your Query

Stay focused on the purpose of your query. Remember to include these eight ingredients:

1. Gain your reader's attention with an opening most appropriate for your story.
2. Awaken a need for your idea.
3. Tell how readers will benefit from your story.
4. Use facts, opinions and statistics from experts or other reliable sources.
5. Don't overdo details in your letter. Those are for your story.
6. Give the reader a reason to respond. Then make a confident request.
7. Don't assume your reader is convinced by prefacing your statements with, "As you know," or "I'm sure you agree."
8. Reveal your plan by with an outline of your story idea.

This is a chapter well worth the time and energy to study it in Queries and Submissions by Thomas Clark. In my next post, I'll discuss how to end your query. Until then, happy writing.

Six Ways to Open Your Query

The opening of your query letter should have all the impact of an article hook. Consider using a variety of techniques.

1. The straightforward lead jumps right into the topic with statements, contrasts, or quotes.
2. The surprise opening could be a clever turn of a phrase, a startling statistic, or a shocking situation. Overplaying or overacting this hook could have a negative impact on the editor.
3. Leading with a question can be tricky. What if the editor's first response is, "Who cares?" To use this opening, your answer must come quickly so the reader won't lose interest.
4. Opening with your article's lead is good if you're selling reprints of something you've already written. Otherwise it's like thinking backwards, since the query is used to see if there is an interest in the topic.
5. Starting with "why you" and "why now" will establish yourself as the right person to write on the topic. This works for specific stories, but is usually later in the letter.
6. A complimentary comment about an article you read that the editor wrote is another trick to have in the ways you open your queries.

Which of these is best for you? Which one is best for your story idea? More in depth descriptions of opening your queries are in the book Queries and Submissions by Thomas Clark. This is a must-have for your writing library.

Approaching the Query Letter

In the next few posts, I'll be gleaning important information from Thomas Clark's Queries & Submissions. The book isn't new, so if you follow along, you'll find it amusing to read about putting fresh ribbons in your typewriter before typing your queries. Part of Writer's Digest's "Elements of Article Writing Series," and recommended by Terry Whalen, I'm finding it a great writing tool.

The query letter is the most important manuscript you'll ever write to get the results you pray for. Editors judge your qualifications and fitness for assignments by what you say in your initial sales letter. It is considered a handshake or an application for employment. Your letter must show the following:

• Confidence in your idea, your talent and ability to meet the publisher's demands.
• Qualifications and credentials to write the manuscript.
• Immediate connection in your approach.

Although the query letter is written in business letter format and could be considered a business letter, it is much more. It's your opportunity to demonstrate your style and appropriate tone for the project. Do a little homework by researching as much about the editor as possible, so you can make a relevant comment. Maybe he/she or the magazine recently received an award.

Instead of mail-merging your query letter to several publishers, take time to study every magazine. Use the appropriate slant and tone for each editor. A stuffy business letter that reads more like "Dear Occupant" will find its way to the editor's round file.