by Tsu Dho Nimh

Created on: November 17, 2008

Whether a Helium Marketplace request asks for 400 words or 1200 words, missing the word count puts your submission on the fast track to rejection. The publisher has a spot to fill and if your article won't fit, the publisher won't bother looking at it. You need a strategy for writing to the requested length and covering a topic adequately.

For a 400-word article, keep your fingers off the keyboard until you think of 3 points you feel are most relevant or most persuasive for this topic. You will submit 100 words for each of three points you want to make about the topic. Split the remaining 100 words between a strong opening paragraph that introduces the focus of your article, and a closing paragraph that either makes the conclusion your points lead to or supplements the points in some other way.

Here's how it works with the topic, "Using Dreidels for Self Defense". (Anyone who thinks the topic is silly has never been the babysitter of a Jewish toddler who is armed with a dreidel.)

You quickly think of the usual self defense methods with solid objects: bashing the assailant over the head as if the dreidel were a rock, or throwing the dreidel hard enough to cause bodily harm. Everyone writing about this topic is going to use those two, so you need a killer (excuse the pun) third method. How about flushing the dreidel down the toilet to make it overflow so the assailant slips on the wet floor? It's been used in the movies.

Start writing like this, with the points listed to make sure you cover them. It's a mini-outline with brief notes to yourself.
Intro
Hitting (where, best stance)
Throwing (where to aim, underhand vs overhand, bank shots)
Flushing (how to lure assailant onto wet floor)
Conclusion

Skip the introduction for now, and write three paragraphs of a couple hundred words each about hitting, throwing and flushing, for a total of 600 to 800 words. Do a "brain dump" without worrying about grammar or word count. Write fast, get it out of your head and onto the screen.

Then, look at what you wrote about the first point. What do you need to explain about using a dreidel to hit an assailant? Rephrase what you wrote, cutting out the fluff as you rewrite your ideas. Delete the history of the Diaspora and tell your reader how and where to whack attackers. Use specific nouns and verbs that eliminate the need for modifiers. A "sneaky surprise attack" can become "ambush", saving you 2 words and making your text easier to read. Rewrite the other two points, deleting everything that does not directly relate to that part of the article.

Now, write the 1-paragraph introduction, briefly identifying a dreidel as a traditional Jewish children's toy and tell the reader that it's not just a toy, it can be used for self defense should the need arise and that you have discovered three ways to use a dreidel
to defend yourself. The closing paragraph can summarize important self-defense points or give a link to your article about unclogging toilets.

A less common problem for inexperienced writers is when you have said what you want to say, your writing is clear and concise, and it's under the requested word count. Don't stuff modifiers in your text to pump up the word count. Don't add irrelevant information. Add useful or entertaining details. Add an example or a quote from an expert to each of the points. Add one more point and develop it like the others. Then rewrite your introduction and conclusion to include what you added.
When write with a strategy like this, you are beyond writing into editing.

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