How To Write Special Feature Articles | Page 6

new Sunday magazine of the newspaper bids fair to be a crisp,
sensible review and critique of the live world. It has developed a
special line of writers who have learned that a character sketch and
interview of a man makes you "see" the man face to face and talk with
him yourself. If he has done anything that gives him a place in the news
of to-day, he is presented to you. You know the man.
It seems to me that the leading feature of the Sunday magazine should
be the biggest topic that will be before the public on the Sunday that the
newspaper is printed. It should be written by one who thoroughly
knows his subject, who is forceful in style and fluent in words, who can
make a picture that his readers can see, and seeing, realize. So every
other feature of the Sunday magazine should have points of human
interest, either by contact with the news of the day or with men and
women who are doing something besides getting divorces and creating
scandals.
I firmly believe that the coming Sunday magazine will contain articles
of information without being dull or encyclopædic, articles of
adventure that are real and timely, articles of scientific discoveries that
are authentic, interviews with men and women who have messages, and
interpretations of news and analyses of every-day themes, together with
sketches, poems, and essays that are not tedious, but have a reason for
being printed.
THE MAGAZINE FIELD. The great majority of magazines differ from
all newspapers in one important respect--extent of circulation. Popular
magazines have a nation-wide distribution. It is only among
agricultural and trade journals that we find a distinctly sectional
circulation. Some of these publications serve subscribers in only one
state or section, and others issue separate state or sectional editions.
The best basis of differentiation among magazines, then, is not the
extent of circulation but the class of readers appealed to, regardless of
the part of the country in which the readers live. The popular general
magazine, monthly or weekly, aims to attract readers of all classes in
all parts of the United States.

HOW MAGAZINES GET MATERIAL. Magazine articles come from
(1) regular members of the magazine's staff, (2) professional or amateur
free-lance writers, (3) specialists who write as an avocation, and (4)
readers of the periodical who send in material based on their own
experience.
The so-called "staff system" of magazine editing, in accordance with
which practically all the articles are prepared by writers regularly
employed by the publication, has been adopted by a few general
magazines and by a number of class periodicals. The staff is recruited
from writers and editors on newspapers and other magazines. Its
members often perform various editorial duties in addition to writing
articles. Publications edited in this way buy few if any articles from
outsiders.
Magazines that do not follow the staff system depend largely or
entirely on contributors. Every editor daily receives many manuscripts
submitted by writers on their own initiative. From these he selects the
material best adapted to his publication. Experienced writers often
submit an outline of an article to a magazine editor for his approval
before preparing the material for publication. Free-lance writers of
reputation may be asked by magazine editors to prepare articles on
given subjects.
In addition to material obtained in these ways, articles may be secured
from specialists who write as an avocation. An editor generally decides
on the subject that he thinks will interest his readers at a given time and
then selects the authority best fitted to treat it in a popular way. To
induce well-known men to prepare such articles, an editor generally
offers them more than he normally pays.
A periodical may encourage its readers to send in short articles giving
their own experiences and explaining how to do something in which
they have become skilled. These personal experience articles have a
reality and "human interest" that make them eminently readable. To
obtain them magazines sometimes offer prizes for the best, reserving
the privilege of publishing acceptable articles that do not win an award.
Aspiring writers should take advantage of these prize contests as a

possible means of getting both publication and money for their work.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNKNOWN WRITERS. The belief is
common among novices that because they are unknown their work is
likely to receive little or no consideration from editors. As a matter of
fact, in the majority of newspaper and magazine offices all unsolicited
manuscripts are considered strictly on their merits. The unknown writer
has as good a chance as anybody of having his manuscript accepted,
provided that his work has merit comparable with that of more
experienced writers.
With the exception of certain newspapers that depend entirely on
syndicates for their special features,