8

List Your Way Into Print

Writing brings out the best in me. My children can tell you that their mother is a much better person as a writing mom than just earning bacon for the table. It's a win-win situation for the family and for me.

~ C. HOPE CLARK, MOTHER OF TWO

List articles are fun, easy to write, and always in demand. Just as they sound, the organizational principle in a list article is a series of tips, anecdotes, or examples organized around a particular theme. Anyone who has ever stood in a checkout line has seen a list article: “12 Ways to Look Younger Today!” or “6 Secrets for Keeping the Love Alive in your Marriage!” Even television has its version of list articles. Take for example, the David Letterman Top Ten List. Who decides the order? Dave. How does he decide? It has everything to do with being hilarious to his late-night television demographic. (Even Dave has to think about his audience. At least his writers do.)

A good time to try your hand at list articles is when you see a published list article and think, “I could have written that!” Well, don't just say or think it; prove it! You can brainstorm your own lists and submit them with a cover letter (when asked for in the guidelines). Otherwise, in section three, you'll learn how to query to place your list article, by extracting the strongest elements from your list-in-progress and including them in a pitch. To get you started, take your tip ideas and expand them into list articles. You'll be publishing them painlessly in no time, and could continue publishing list articles as long as you like.

To get in the mood, check out these recent list article titles spotted on the newsstand:

“36 Speed Cleaning Tricks” — Women's Day

“10 Deadly Health Habits You Must Fix Today” — Redbook

“Our 12 Favorite Chocolate Desserts” — Good Housekeeping

“6 Ways to Feel Closer to Your Husband” — Parenting

“Best Ways to Dump the Stress and Feel Happier” — Parents

“12 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Pre-Term Birth” — Pregnancy

And don't be fooled by a list article just because it doesn't have a number in the title. “The best way,” “a new way,” or doing things “better” are common list article devices.

Want to know why else a mom would want to write list articles? Here are seven good reasons:

1. List articles are everywhere. The tagline for Wordstock, a local book festival in Portland, Oregon, is: “Change me, book. Please. Do it.” Alter that slightly to “Change me, list article. Please. Do it. And hurry up, I don't have much time!” and you will understand, in a nutshell, why readers love information presented in list form.

Need proof? Hit the newsstands. What kind of article do you see on magazine covers more than any other? List articles. Editors love list articles precisely because readers love list articles. Readers can scan a list on the run to glean ways to change or improve their busy lives.

Even books are written in list format: Dr. Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, for example.

illustration Collect Tip and List Books

If you have topics or audiences you write for over and over, see if you can't find a book of tips on that topic or for that audience to keep yourself rolling. There's nothing like reading some well-written list articles to spark more ideas. Let's say you like to write parenting tips — did you know magazines occasionally publish entire books of parenting tips? Check out The Parents Book of Lists (lists and tips) or Family Circle's 2000 Hints and Tips: For Cooking, Cleaning, Organizing, and Simplifying Your Life. It has lists of tips for parents that are not only handy but can jog your brain into cranking out some lists of your own.

And if you want to make your list articles juicier, pick up a copy of the The New Book of Lists: The Original Compendium of Curious Information by David Wallenchinsky and Amy Wallace. You will be amazed by the number of tips you can generate on one topic. Possibly enough for a list book of your own one day!

illustration Holy Paper Overload, Mama!

Yup, it's true. You will go through paper like crazy. Worse, you will be constantly collecting paper in the forms of newspapers, magazines, and journals, so you can consider writing for them. How in the world are you going to manage all this paper? By using systems that you customize. (And by conducting a quarterly paper purge!)

Along the course of your writing career, your paper flow will get larger and larger. Though I am very fond of trees, I can't do nearly as thorough an editing job without a piece of paper in front of me. But, of all the writer mamas I talked to about managing their work and paper flow, author Sharon Cindrich said it best,: “Just like there is not one way to parent, there is no one perfect system for parent writers.” As my family life and career have changed, so have my systems. Here's a list of organizational tools and systems you may find helpful:

2. You already know how to write tips. List articles are basically a series of tips, which you already know how to write. Take a closer look at a tip you wrote (and maybe even published), and you will find a potential topic for a list article. That idea I had about making fruit smoothies with my picky-eater-daughter's leftover fruit? As a list article it could become “Seven Strategies for Dealing With Picky Eaters.” The number is just a placeholder; I'll find out how many strategies there actually are, for me, after I write several drafts of the article. And I might change the number when I conduct research or add quotes.

3. List articles are easy to study and emulate. Once you find some example list articles, tear them out and put them in an accordion folder or plastic bin. This tickler file will help you warm up before you tackle a first draft. When you need inspiration for a list article, just peruse your collection. Studying sample list articles will help you catch their cadence — punchy, positive, helpful, and catchy.

4. List articles are often written by freelancers. Once you identify a publication that accepts list articles, determine if the articles are written by a freelancer or by a staff person. If you can't find the list article's byline on the masthead, you have discovered an article written by a freelancer. If an article doesn't have any byline whatsoever, it was probably generated in-house, which may mean the editor assigns freelance articles for that spot — or it may not. In other words, it's not a definite match. You don't want to waste your time on a publication that generates its list articles in-house. Stick with the best possible matches for now.

5. List articles begin off the top of your head. Here are some topics of list articles I have written recently: “12 Ways to Take Your Writing Career to the Next Level (That Don't Involve Writing),” “10 Ways to Spring Forward in Your Writing Career,” and “Summertime and the Writing Is Easy.” Each is a collection of tips that match the promise of the article. List articles can, but don't necessarily need to, be in any kind of sequential order. More likely, topics within list articles are ordered based on newsworthiness (something new), relevance (to the specific audience), and freshness (for the reader). The most integrated way to pull your list together usually evolves as you go through the rewrite process.

6. Adding research to your list articles is a snap. Research, news, and trend tidbits make your tips chewier and more engaging. For example, when I was writing “Hollywood Rx for the Holidays,” an article of holiday sanity tips gleaned from classic holiday movies, I chose the movies first, then the tips. Once I picked my movies, I dug deeper into each using the Internet to find plots, quotes, and trivia, until I had enough insight to uncover a tip like this one:

Detach From Family Drama

Remember Jodie Foster's 1995 film Home for the Holidays? The story begins with Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) flying home to spend Thanksgiving with her wildly dysfunctional family. How many of us empathized with the family reunion drama that prompts Claudia to explain, “Nobody means what they say on Thanksgiving, Mom. You know that. That's what the day's supposed to be all about, right? Torture.”

You can do the same: Come up with a list of tips any way you like and then start your research. If one doesn't pan out or you find a better one along the way, no worries. Let the final list evolve as you hunt.

7. Use personal experience to make your list articles universal. What makes a really good list article? Sharing details that bring the tip to life. Sometimes these details are personal, but in writing list articles you will learn to share specifics in a way any reader can relate to. How is this done? For “Hollywood Rx for the Holidays,” I remembered that when I had a day job, I sometimes spearheaded impromptu fundraisers among co-workers. So I turned my experience into a suggestion anyone could try. You can't tell it's about me because it's addressing the reader directly. Focusing on the reader's experience rather than your own can draw her in and make her feel involved:

Could you spearhead an impromptu fundraiser at your office or social group? You may decide to donate locally or abroad. Web resources such as www.altgifts.org or www.heiferproject.org make researching and selecting an international cause easy.

No List of Excuses

Lists are a great way to get started freelancing. In addition to the tips I've given you, don't forget to draw on the knowledge you already have just from reading list articles for years. Simply uncover the common denominator between your personal experiences and your readers, and you will find ample material for your future list articles. And there is no shortage of magazines that will publish list articles. So don't hesitate to get started listing your way into print today.

exercise

S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Tips Into Lists

Now you are ready to write a list article of your own. Choose a tip you already wrote and expand it into a full-blown list article. Formulate your title as a question and then answer it. For example, I might ask “What are ten ways to interrupt temper tantrums before they go too far?” Off the top of your head, jot down your top ten tips. Then do a bit of research on each tip. Want to know how much research you'll need? Look at the example articles in your target publication again. (Remember to check whether they pay freelancers for list articles before you start writing!) Then estimate the ratio of suggestion to facts, figures, quotes, etc. Don't forget to use “you” statements instead of “I” statements in your later drafts to draw your reader in. It may take you a whole week to pull a list article together and tighten it to the point that it will sell. Just have fun and make it enjoyable and educational for the reader.

How to Handle Procrastination

Writing, as a process, is as simple as three steps — preparation, process, execution — but human nature makes it complicated. Add motherhood to the mix, and a simple project, like writing an article and cover letter, can easily become bogged down with our resistance, fears, and excuses. Believe me, I've heard your reasons, and they are all capable of bringing your writing to a screeching halt. Here are some strategies to get you over the hump:

Call a trusted friend or ask your spouse to “just listen” for five or ten minutes. It's amazing how you can get nearly any frustration off your chest in lightning speed when you are not interrupted. If your friend or partner is a “fixer” or “troubleshooter,” give advance warning: You just need a listener, and then you'd like to get back to work. E-mail will also work in a pinch. Same caveat: No need to respond, I just need to get this off my chest so I can get back to work. I bet you do the same for others all the time.

Write about the weather. On days when my internal weather forecast is partly cloudy with showers expected by mid-morning, a half hour of journaling can wipe out those predictions and set me on a new course. Look outside your window. What's happening? That's as good a place to start writing as any.

Have other creative outlets. I make collages. Nothing fancy; more like the scrapbook's embarrassing little sister. But there is something about ripping up magazine photos into little pieces and then putting them back together in my own design that soothes me. When you think about it, it's not all that different than the writing process — and yet, because it is so visual, it relaxes my mind and helps me get back on track. Do you paint, scrapbook, knit? Any creative outlet that doesn't eat up all of your writing time can augment your writing practice.

Clear something out. I stood over our kitchen junk drawer a couple weeks ago and gained incredible satisfaction by dumping everything out and putting back in only what I really need. The rest got put away in the proper place or thrown out. As usual, when I organize something on the outside, my thoughts are more orderly afterward. When you're feeling stuck or confused, “sort it out.”

Of course, if I am talking about organizing, cleaning can't be far behind. But here's the key: If you're on a deadline, keep your cleaning projects small and manageable. For example, set the timer for twenty minutes and tidy and wipe surfaces. The appearance of order will clear your mind. Or fold one batch of laundry, do a load of dishes, or clean the shower and that's it. You will emerge with your mind clean and your thoughts more clear and this will be reflected in your writing.

Find a deadline while you are waiting to land one. Take a class, call a local editor, work with a published writing partner — whatever it takes to get you focused and motivated. Funny how when a deadline is looming, you simply don't have time for procrastination. You have to dive in and get to work. Go figure.