Writing for Magazines

Here are some terms used by magazine editors to describe the dichotomy of a magazine article:

Head

(sometimes deliberately misspelled “hed” so the designers will not think the word “hed” is part of the copy to be included in the layout) – This is the title of your article. Generally it’s best to keep it short–two to three words with a maxium of four words.

For instance, this is a bad head: “How to Appeal to the Millennial or Gen Y Generation.”

This is a good head: “Millennial Mission.” Notice the use of alliteration in the title. This makes the title more catchy and more apt to intrigue the reader.

Deck

(sometimes deliberately misspelled “dek”) – This is a short description of the article to pique readers’ interest. It’s best to limit decks to 20 words or less. Decks may either be a complete sentence or not–but do not end an incomplete sentence with a period.

For example, this is a good deck: The odds are that Web 2.0 technologies will be part of your business structure sooner rather than later. (Word count: 18.)

For an example of a bad deck, just add more words–or entire paragraphs–to the above. A deck is not a paragraph, it is a one-sentence (or one-phrase) statement that describes your article.

Pull Quotes

These are quotes lifted from the text of your story to be used as design elements in the layout. Each pull quote is one sentence long, not a paragraph. Always use actual quotes from your story (pull quotes must actually exist in the text of your story, not be made up), and limit them to 15 words or less (no longer than 20 words). 

Ensure the pull quote can stand on its own and is not dependent on other quotes surrounding it.

For example, this is a bad pull quote: “Every single person in the study regardless of age, location or lifestyle tested positive for at least some of the environmental toxins.” (Huh? What study? What toxins?)

Here is an example of a good pull quote: “Cleansing can help the body naturally remove harmful toxins.” (This pull quote is succinct and self-containing.)

Sidebar 

This is a separate, mini-article related to the body of your article. Sidebars are usually several hundred words long, but sometimes they can be long enough to serve as stand-alone articles. The difference is that the sidebar has content that is related to the body of the story. Sidebars should be included at the end of your article, after the main text.

Note on Past or Present Tense

Magazine articles are almost universally written in present tense. For example: “Life is good,” she says. (Not she said.)

Newspaper articles are almost universally written in the past tense. For example: “Life is good,” she said.