In a recent success story, T. Jensen Lacey had a curious thought, dared ask for an interview, and dared pitch the piece. See what resulted. Her daring-do got her a fantastic assignment. (See Below)

I once noticed a turf grass magazine. Keep in mind my degree is in agronomy, so there are still areas in the field that catch my eye. I had the idea to investigate odd ideas centered around turf management and came up with two ideas. One about green areas grown atop of university buildings for environmental and aesthetics, and the other about how to properly maintain cemeteries. Both sold.

It’s a matter of watching the world and seeing it in terms of feature stories.

How do they do that?
Why do they do that?
What made they think like that?
What if they didn’t do that?

Just basic questions like these can open your eyes to feature pieces that many magazines would embrace.

Feature pieces are about seeing the magic, creativity, and intelligence in the world. They don’t drop in your lap. They are all around you. You have to possess (or develop) the mentality that everything in your path is fodder for a story.

A man once knocked on my door, asking if he could offer advice on installing my new lawn (we’d just moved in). I let him talk. He spoke to me like I was some 50s television stay-at-home mom who just put dinner on the table everyday. Once he finished his talk-down-to-me spiel, I told him I had an agronomy degree, that the colors of flowers weren’t as important as the texture and ease of maintenance, and would he explain the soil composition to me so I’d have a better handle on how to manage my yard once it was installed. He was legitimately stymied, and I loved doing that to him. I did, however, ask him to start over and speak to me as if I had some intelligence. He did. He got the job.

And I immediately went inside and pitched the story about “Know Your Customer Before You Open Your Mouth” to a landscaping magazine. They bought it that day for one of their columns.

This is how a freelance writer lives. They wake up seeing the world as opportunity for story. It’s all about seeing the story.

—

SUCCESS STORY

Hello, Hope,

And let me say what an inspiration you’ve been to me! Here’s my (latest) success story.

While we were out for a boat cruise, I saw a company operating on the nearby InterCoastalWaterway (ICW). They were called “Reefmaker.” I was curious. I reached out to them to learn more about this environmentally-friendly maker of reefs. After a bit of research about how they made their reefs, I queried a glossy magazine into which I’d been “itching” to get my work, giving them an article proposal.

A bit to my surprise, they gave me the assignment! Writing this was definitely out of my proverbial comfort zone: the editor wanted me to go out on Reefmaker‘s vessel and write about how they deployed these 36,000-pound reefs. I didn’t know any of the crew, and it was going to be nearly 24 hours on the vessel 45 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico.
I pushed back my self-doubts and uncertainties, though, and wrote a detailed account of the day’s work for this amazing crew. The editor accepted the article with very miniscule changes! You’ll find it in the July issue of Mobile Bay Magazine (online and print).

My advice? Face your self-doubts and silence the inner voice that says “I can’t” or “I shouldn’t.” You will grow as a writer every time!

Best,
T. (Theresa) Jensen Lacey
Author of 23 books, contributor to 17 anthologies and now journalist to (nearly) 900 articles for newspapers and magazines
www.TJensenLacey.com
<<If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to hope@chopeclark.com >>