Land your very next contract with story starters!
Send three to five story starters to that magazine you’re trying to break into and ask the editor if she’d be interested in assigning one for you to write.
Send one story starter as a query to the editor at a book publisher you’ve been studying.
Learn to practice improving your writing through developing story starters–but practice with purpose. First study the magazine you want to target or the book publisher where you want to land a contract. As you study, make a list of types of stories they already publish. Jot down notes about potential story ideas (or story starters) that come to your mind while you’re studying their product line.
Choose your favorite story starters and zip them off to an editor. Let the editor choose which story starter interests her the most. Who knows? You just might get your foot in the door and be on your way to landing a contract!
-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders
