A few days ago I mentioned a number of strategies for sending articles to the media. Many of the examples I have used are in the mass media published in Indonesia, but overall they are not much different in any country.
After the big names of the authors and interesting themes, here are some important points in sending articles to the media.
c. Enchanting writing
Big names are no guarantee. When just starting to write, build confidence that writing will be interesting and it is part of the process of becoming a great writer. Unleash all the ability to produce writing as attractive as possible so that - even though the editor has never heard our name - there is no other choice but to load the text.
Every day, editors receive dozens of writings on various themes. It is not impossible, even a good article is missed. In selecting opinions, editors may experience boredom, and that is human. Saturation, loss of concentration, can make a good piece of writing unmonitored or a bad one pass the selection.
Some writers overcome this problem with certain tricks. For example, making a title that is interesting (eye catching) and unique, with an opening sentence that explodes, or a combination of both. If the opening sentence is interesting and is followed by an intriguing paragraph, then the reader's eyes will be fixed until the writing is finished. Maintaining the reader's desire to finish reading to the end is one of the tough challenges facing the writer.
For opinions, compelling writing is not only delivered in beautiful language, but also with strong and logical messages and arguments. It also means that there is accurate data support from sources that can be accounted for, regardless of whether the reader agrees or disagrees with our data and arguments.
d. The timing is right
Many good posts but cannot be loaded because the issue has passed or is not up to date. Specifically for opinion, the moment is so important that no matter how good the writing is, if the moment has passed or it is too fast, it cannot be loaded.
The formula for maintaining the moment; not too fast, but not too late. Must be right. If the writing is delicious, it must be published.
Remember, that moment is sometimes just one day so give editors time to select it. Some writers sometimes give "warnings" to editors if the opinion is not published until such date it will be sent to other media. For example, if until December 26 the writing about 11 years of the tsunami was nothing else, maybe he would retract the opinion and send it to online media, for example. This assertion is considered important to avoid loading the same writing in different media, and this is considered taboo in the world of writing.
e. Strong community
Currently developing various writers' communities in various regions in Indonesia. Lingkar Pena Forum (FLP) is one of a large community of writers and is spread in various regions in Indonesia where 70 percent of its members are women (Mahayana, 2012). There is also the Utan Kayu Community with Gunawan Mohammad and Ayu Utami as its icons, there is the Indonesian Literature Community, and there are many other writers communities that can be a place to share knowledge and information. In fact, teachers also have authorship communities such as Agupena.
Community is just a forum that does not produce creativity because creativity is born from individuals (Mahayana, 2012). However, in the community various ideas, thoughts, criticisms, and exchange of ideas occur that change the mindset of an individual. However, don't let the community of writers get caught up in mere organizational activity and underwork.
Why is it necessary to join the writing community?
- Get a variety of information both training and writing competitions.
- Correcting each other's writing so that it gets better.
- Maintain the spirit of writing.
- Promote works.
f. Reading hard
There are only two ways to become a writer; write on and read on. There is no writer who doesn't like to read. Writing and reading are one package, like two sides of a coin that cannot be separated. Reading not only adds insight and knowledge about a particular field, it also increases writing, vocabulary, and grammar knowledge. Reading also included one step in getting the idea of authorship and saying the writing block. An American writer born in the Soviet Union, Vladimir Nobokov (1899 - 1977) said, good readers have a wealth of imagination, memory, vocabulary, and a number of artistic wealth.
Before sending articles to a mass media, read lots of other people's writings that have been published in the media. It does not mean plagiarism or imitating other people's writing styles, but every media has a different vision, so does the writing style. In fact, a writer who is observant, until a small problem is noticed. For example, in Kompas (the largest newspaper in Indonesia) written "Lhok Seumawe" and in other media "Lhokseumawe". Or in Kompas it says "Sumatra" and in Republika "Sumatra". Which is right, every media has their own arguments. Large media usually has a language director.
There are writers, before producing an article already intended to which media the article will be sent. There are also writers who don't want to think about that. For him, write first so as not to be constrained by the existing limitations. After the writing is complete, it will be sent to the appropriate media. Now, which type are we?
Don't be afraid of being rejected
An article is rejected not forever because of poor quality. It could be that the writing is too long / too short, or the moment has passed, or it could be scattered (for example getting into spam). So, don't be too quick to convict yourself of being gifted when 10 or 20 writings are rejected. Don't depend on the future of authorship on the tastes of an editor. Not always good writing is loaded, and not always bad writing was rejected. Remember it...
All writers have felt rejected. The difference is, aspiring great writers never give up when rejected. Re-read the article, revise it, and if the issue is still current, send it to other media. Even if it is not suitable for other media, just save the article because we never know when we need it back. It could be that the moment is repeated so that the article gets the chance to be published with some adjustments. []
