Some people might find it odd that I have chapters in Writing the Entertaining Story on what I call “related markets”: Essays and Articles. But my belief is that good non-fiction follows the same rules as good fiction. Well-written non-fiction is just stories about real things and real people. Storytelling rules make non-fiction saleable, and make it sing.
Perhaps this belief is a product of the path I came into the craft from: nonfiction. My fiction writing and editing career followed an odd path. I started with actually enjoying writing papers for various classes in school, and when I graduated that translated into writing letters to the editor, and an occasional paid editorial. Oh, so I could get paid for this writing thing? Cool. But I wrote to fill needs.
My first regular writing gig was for a newsletter for parents and educators working with children with Attention Deficit Disorder. As a volunteer, I wrote a very practical and helpful humor column that was a big hit with subscribers. I got a job doing construction safety management and did newsletter articles for the corporate rag. Then I started writing articles for my local American Society of Safety Engineers newsletter, which got reprinted at the regional and national level. Within two years I was editing their national construction division newsletter. I had an article published in ASSE's peer review journal, Professional Safety, the same month I graduated with a BS in Safety Science.
By this time I'd started to write fiction for pleasure. I joined an online writing workshop. I not only honed my craft there, but made many writer friendships, some of which have lasted for decades. From there I started publishing short stories and poetry, and once the time-pressure of things like single parenthood, caregiving for an elderly parent, and an 80-hr-wk job were removed, I started writing books. I have fiction novels on my hard drive, but considering my path to publication it's not surprising non-fiction books like Writing the Entertaining Story came out first.
So it was natural that I’d suggest that fiction writers consider writing nonfiction, too. After all, nonfiction pays much better than fiction, and if you’re a good writer of fiction you already have most of the skills you need!
I cover two kinds of non-fiction writing in the book: essays and articles. A large number of literary magazines that accept fiction also accept essays, usually university presses or those related to scholarship. Many of them are entirely regional or only publish a certain segment of the population. For example, Ricepaper magazine (Canada) is a literary journal that showcases the work of emerging Asian-Canadian writers.
It’s best to stay within your lane when writing essays for literary journals. If you’re a disabled writer, there are literary journals just for you. If you are a writer of color, live in a particular region, are someone of Norwegian descent, or are a member of any other distinct group, it’s just a matter of finding a place that would prefer to showcase your work.
Obviously, if you are a fiction writer who has a scholarly background, these will be an easier market for you to break into than other people. But I know writers without scholarly backgrounds who have gotten into prestigious literary magazines writing essays, and made good money doing it.
Please note that many literary magazines require a submissions fee, but this is offset by the fact that they can pay pretty well — much better than fiction. The decision to pay an entry fee is entirely up to the writer, but in this case it is not a cause for concern. There are also legitimate essay and fiction contests that have entry fees. Just be aware that it is customary for many literary journals to have submissions fees.
As far as articles are concerned, in Writing the Entertaining story I give a short excerpt from an extremely well-written piece about Mike (Dirty Jobs) Rowe’s testimony before congress, regarding getting more people into the trades. It uses all of the fiction writing tools and tricks I mention earlier in the book, including a hooky opening line and engaging characters.
There is absolutely no reason writers cannot use their fiction-writing skills to write nonfiction magazine and online articles. Again, one of the sad, unavoidable truths of the writing life is that nonfiction pays better than fiction. Unless, of course, you give it all away.
And sometimes giving away articles will actually make you money in the long run. For example, what is a typical blog post except an article? As Samuel Johnson said, “Only a fool doesn’t write for money,” but that’s not entirely true. Johnson didn’t live in the digital age, and one of the first rules of internet marketing is that you have to give people a taste of whatever it is you’re selling, for free. Digital marketers say that a certain percentage of those who read a writer’s blog or — better yet, sign up for their newsletter or Patreon — will spend money on whatever it is they’re trying to sell. In the case of fiction writers, they’re trying to get people to buy their novels, or anthologies that contain their short fiction. So that “taste of free” can be an excerpt from a work-in-progress, a chapter from a novel, or a teaser for one of their short stories.
Blog posts, newsletters, and a Patreon articles are a way that writers can keep in touch with their fans and build the online friendships that make them into deeper fans. And they are a great places to practice learning how to write articles for pay.
Writing articles for pay is not all that hard to break into. Most, if not all, print or online magazines have sites with a submissions guidelines link, and you follow their guidelines in the same way that Writing the Entertaining Story suggests you follow the guidelines for short fiction markets.
You can find more in my book, here: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Entertaining-Story-Wendy-Delmater-ebook/dp/B07WZ6V87Z/
Writing the Entertaining Story is available for purchase at the link below. If you click my link, I get compensated with a percentage:
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