Re: Garden Columns

**"* L* B* <S*@cox.net>**

>>am unsure if I'll be able to communicate anything useful in 350 words.

An editor at Sunset once told me that writing for Sunset was like writing
haiku. Another rather crochety editor, before he retired, referred to the
magazine's diminished text and increased number and size of photos as
"Sunset Lite." 

You can indeed communicate useful information in 350 words, but it won't
reflect your personality (forget about writing in the first person) and,
because it's so brief, it won't be something you'll submit for an award.
You'll also spend as much time on your column as you ever did, because
streamlined text, though it reads easy, is hard to write -- all that
winnowing. Think of ad copy, which because of its brevity and the need to
make every word count, is the most challenging type of writing -- and the
highest paid. 

This is where magazine articles and columns are heading: toward more
sidebars, bullet points, photos and captions. The most dramatic example,
IMHO, is National Geographic, which used to be a really meaty read. I see
this trend toward quick bites of info as neither good nor bad, but rather a
reflection of our faster-paced times. Fewer word counts for articles is
something we have to adapt to, and, considering the skill level involved,
should be paid handsomely for.

Debra Lee Baldwin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Debra Lee Baldwin
Garden Photojournalist
Author, Designing with Succulents (Timber Press)
Amazon's Best of 2007 gardening book, Editors' choice
www.debraleebaldwin.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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