Keep Readers Interested

Writing an Article? Think Packaging.

Here's a tip for anyone who has written or wants to write a fitness article.

Have you ever racked your brain trying to impress an editor with a revolutionary new idea? Or maybe you just want to write a web article that stands out from what you’ve read a million times.

With fitness, it seems as if almost everything has already been covered. Luckily, there’s no need to stress about reinventing the wheel. If you want to write about core training, boot camps or exercise motivation (all recurring themes), go for it.

But set yourself apart by focusing on how you “package” your article. Packaging is magazine lingo for how the article will be presented or organized, including possible sidebars, quizzes and lists.

Take fitness walking. With a little creative packaging, you could write about that topic in numerous ways, even if much of the material and suggestions are similar. For example:

• Walking plans for beginner, intermediate and advanced exercisers.
• 10 ways to burn an extra 100 calories per walking workout.
• 3 women share how they walked off 10, 20 or 30 pounds.

So you see, you can constantly reorganize one general theme to keep editors happy and your prospects/clients interested. More on how to get your articles published.