the length of an article

Hello friends, I am popping in to ask a question. How long should an article be? In the movie "The Big Chill" Jeff Goldbloom plays a journalist much like a writer for "People" magazine. He says that he does not write anything longer than "people can read during the average crap" (or something vulger but true like that.) Anyway, my question is this: I am often asked why I told, as in "Why did you feel you should tell your story (of childhood sexual abuse) so I am writing an article titled "Why I Told: Revealing the Secret of Incest." Once I start writing, I can go on and on, so I would like some suggestions from you as to how long the article should be. My audience would be ezines, or even an article for NABBW resources section. I'm sorry to pop in just to ask a question, but I promise I will be back. Thank you, L, PL

I would look at the guidelines for the ezines you are interested in. But above all, I would just write it. Don't worry too much about length, unless you tend to get crazy and write hundreds and thousands of words. I'd say aim for 2,000. I know that's not much but you want to get to the meat of your reasons. Write longer at first if you must. You can always pair down later. Good luck...it sounds like an interesting and needed article. Lots of spin-off ideas too. One I think might occur to others is what are the pros and cons of going public with such a private matter, not really in terms of writing a book about it, but from a regular persons standpoint.

Just a few thoughts,

Karen

Hi Lavinia, thanks for the response and welcome to BWS! I'm hearing lately that the buzz word for articles is "Concise."

Most articles requested by magazines are 500 words, and then they are cut, usually. It depends on WHERE you are going to submit it. If its for an ezine, the owner will tell you, but my guess it would be much, much, shorter than 500 words. If it's for a magazine, see above. And, they will have stated guidelines. If its for a site online, there again, they usually have guidelines posted.

MOST...notice I said MOST, articles are no more than 500 words. A few places like a tad more, but most have such limited space, that 500 is usually their span.

If you don't have a place in mind that you want to submit the article, then go ahead and write till you feel that its complete. THEN...when you find a place you want to submit it, read their guidelines, and then adjust accordingly.

Less is more. Make sure you're not using "filler" sentences. This one thing will get you more rejections than anything.

Also try bulleting the important parts. Make it pleasing to the eye and easy to read.

Great title, by the way. Maybe your next book title?

That's a short article. book reviews are 300-700 words. What title are you referring to Dotsie? The title of my next book is "Tears of Redemption" and it will be about a family giving forgiveness to one another, and the many ways that forgiveness can appear. It is not about "forgive and forget" rather it is about forgiveness as an activity, as in actions speak louder than words. It is about redemption before death, before it's too late, if and when possible.

Depends on whether you are writing for online or for print. 2,000 words is appropriate for a short story in print. Under 1,000 is appropriate for an online piece. In my 7 1/2 years of preparing FundsforWriters, I've learned in online article production that you lose the reader when you start straying much past 750 words unless the topic is eye-catching and composed such that it keeps the eye moving. Big blocks of copy don't fare well online.

Hi Hope Clark, thanks for the response. I recently learned that lots of text do not sit well with internet users. I wrote an article today that is 1,000 words and it was comfortable and concise. I can't wait to check out your site!