There are many times when a woman wants to know something, and she turns to magazine articles for advice and guidance. The problem with this is that most articles are very one sided, and really only tackle a problem from one angle. There is nothing wrong with that, and that is the way articles are supposed to be. When you read something like that, you are getting that writer’s point of view, and the information they provide is what they thought was relevant. As with any type of writing, you have to know that any one piece on its own is never the complete story.
That is why it is always a good idea to read many magazine articles on one subject to get a well rounded view of the entire subject. No two writers are going to present the same information in the same way, and as hard as anyone tries, it is hard not to show some sort of bias. I have noticed this in my own writing. Now matter how hard I try to remain down the middle on a subject, you can almost tell my opinion just from the way I present the information, even if I am doing everything I can to give the facts in a neutral manner.
Perhaps that is why magazine articles are so popular though. I think many readers want a personal slant on something, because it makes the information more real to them. It doesn’t feel like it’s written by a robot, and it shows a touch of humanity. Magazine articles have a great way of telling you what you need to know while still showing the human side of the story. Sometimes you can read more than one on the same subject and come away with completely different sets of information.
If you are a writer hoping to break into writing magazines, you can find advice in many places, but the best advice comes from those who already do it. I have a friend who routinely writes magazine articles for quite a few publications in Australia, and she says that no matter how dry the information is, the articles that have a decidedly human approach always seem to be more well received by her editors. You might be counting down the warning signs of alcoholism, or talking about how to keep your Tupperware in a great shape, but you still have to make the magazine articles decidedly human.
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