Writing Articles Offers a World of Opportunity
Perhaps undertaking the commitment to write a book of several hundred pages that can be years in the making is not what you have in mind — at least not for now. You prefer addressing a number of subjects or even just one general topic approached from different perspectives, and the best way to do this would be something shorter than book-length and more to the point. If this rings true, you should seriously consider writing articles.
It is not unusual that following a series of articles on a particular subject, the writer authors a book. What can also occur is that after a book, the author writes “spin-off” pieces in the form of articles based upon different sections of the book or backed by the authority of having written a book on the subject.
Before writing an article, you must satisfy one or more of the following:
You must be an “acknowledged expert” in the field.
You have the requisite credentials such as a PhD or professional/ occupational background.
An authority in the subject serves as a coauthor with you.
Interviews with experts are included in your article.
You have “life experiences” that qualify you to write the article, such as being a cancer survivor and writing about surviving cancer.
Everything you need to know about writing articles is developed more fully in Chapter 13, but the bottom line is that if it is your desire to inform and you wish to do so in something less than a book-length project, you should seriously consider writing articles.
