Magazine Writing

(EGL 254 W)

Are you interested in breaking into magazine journalism but are unsure where to start? This course is designed to get you thinking like a freelance writer about what makes a good magazine article. Your assignments will include two reviews, a Q&A (or edited interview), a profile, and a feature article or personal essay on the subject of your choice. Through these assignments, you will learn how to balance description and opinion, sharpen your voice, write for a particular audience, and make every line sing. This course is offered in workshop format, meaning that you will all respond to each other’s writing and receive plenty of feedback to help you revise your pieces and submit them for possible publication. We will also discuss the business side of freelance magazine writing, including how to write query letters and contact agents.

For more information about The Online Writer's Studio, please visit our FAQs.

Malena Watrous, Former Stegner Fellow

Malena Watrous received an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow. Her short stories have been published in such literary journals as StoryQuarterly, TriQuarterly, and The Massachusetts Review, and her nonfiction has appeared on Salon.com and in Real Simple and The Believer. She also writes regular book reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle. Watrous is the author of the forthcoming novel, If You Follow Me.