Nobody for any mag or newspaper simply writes things without first checking that someone is going to run it. The way writers do this is by writing an email to their editor where they PITCH an article for consideration that they want to write. It's a vital part of pre-production for a magazine (often pitches are discussed at editorial meetings - remember the preproduction stage for print media products?) so it's something that I feel is essential for you to do also. I want you to pitch the article you're going to write and design for your proposed magazine. You'll do this as follows.
1. OPEN UP A NEW BLOGPOST. Call it 'PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION: WEEK 2'
2. Add the heading 'THE PITCH'. Then using these headings tell me the following . . . .
WHAT I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT . . .
Self-explanatory - give me a one sentence summary of what your article is going to be about. Try and include what TYPE of article it's going to be (review/news-story/opinion-piece/listicle etc)
WHY THIS WILL APPEAL TO THE READERS . . .
Go back to your magazine proposal -tell me why the article you're pitching would appeal to the target audience you've outlined in your proposal. Why would the article appeal to that audience/readership in terms of their age, gender, income etc
TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE I WILL NEED TO . . .
Tell me what combination of research - primary research/secondary research - you'll be using for your information and your images.
I WILL BE WRITING TO A WORDCOUNT OF . . . .
Bearing in mind that one side of A4 is about 400 words and one page of indesign can sustain about 800 words give me a realistic wordcount you will stick to for now - you might find yourself increasing/decreasing the wordcount as time goes on and you realise how much you've got to say/write but you can always reflect those changes in the ongoing production diary posts you'll be doing every week.
MY DEADLINE WILL BE . . .
Have a look at your proposal - what launchdate did you give your mag? Your piece should be written at least 2 weeks before that date which will give you enough time to edit it and design the layout. Give me your deadline and tell me why you've given yourself that deadline (what are you giving yourself time to do).
3. Add the heading "PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 2' and then explain to me exactly what you've done today. Are you confident you'll be able to write this piece? What kind of research sources will you need to start looking at - will you need to make surveys or use anyone else to complete your article? Do you have a good focussed sense of what your article's gonna be about? What is your wordcount and deadline? Are you confident you'll hit both?
4. PUBLISH THIS POST and start writing your article ready for editing in next week's print production lessons.
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