By Jim Palmer
Since the early 1990s, Senior Perspective has published thousands of stories. Sometimes the stories are put together by one of our regular writers and sometimes they are submitted by one of our readers. Stories are a HUGE part of the success of Senior Perspective, and I am very grateful for our regular writers and those who submit their stories.
Last month, we published several stories from our readers. The stories focused on what each person was doing in their life at age 10. We received many nice comments on the articles and also nice feedback from some of the writers, who enjoyed reminiscing about their childhood and writing about it. I also had questions about submitting future articles, so I think now would be a good time to go over some common questions about submitting articles. This does not cover stories that are written by our regular writers -- these are geared toward submitted stories from our readers. Here it goes...
What kind of stories are you looking for?
The best articles that we receive are ones that go into details about something impactful or interesting that happened in your life, or is happening right now.
Do you have any writing tips?
Be specific. For example, if you want to write about your time as a flight attendant in the 1970s, instead of generalizing, identify a few specific moments in your career and expand on those moments. If you just write “I worked from 1969-1981 and enjoyed my time there,” the readers will not be very interested. But if you talk about the food, the lifestyle, the challenges of passengers, etc, it will be a much more interesting story and you will capture the attention of our readers. If the article is too generalized, it may not be interesting enough to publish.
Be sure to think about all the senses when including details. For example, if you want to write about working at a small town gas station in the 1950s, tell us what it smelled like, what it sounded like, what you were wearing, what the place looked like, etc. Help bring the readers back to that time and place.
How long should it be?
The size of the article can be a big reason why an article does or does not get published. There have been some very good stories submitted that were way too long to print. In general, submitted pieces should be about 400 to 500 words (or less). In some cases, that can be stretched out to 600+ words, but the best submitted stories get straight to the point.
Is there anything we should not write about if we want it published in Senior Perspective?
Yes, there are a few things that will disqualify a story from being published. The first dealbreaker is politics. If anything submitted involves even a hint of politics, it will not be used.
Other “no-no’s” for submitted stories - promoting a business, organization or political movement, or putting people down or groups of people (race, religious, sexual orientation, generations, etc.).
Will you print it exactly how I send it?
Some articles are printed as is, but many are “cleaned up.” That means we edit it to make it print ready. That could mean adjusting spelling or grammar, or it could mean cleaning up a sentence that is hard to understand. But, the changes we make are just to enhance things, and we would never change a sentence to change its meaning. If an article is hard to read, we sometimes will reach out to help the writer re-write it so it is easier to follow/read.
Can we include a photo with the article?
Yes, absolutely. In fact, I would love it if every article included a photo. Photos can really enhance an article. For example, if you were writing about how you met your spouse in an interesting way, including a current photo and/or a photo on your wedding day would really bring life to the story.
What is your deadline?
Our deadlines for submitted stories is the 15th of the month. Sending it by the deadline does not guarantee that something goes in that edition -- it just means that it would be considered for that edition. Sometimes we have more than we need for a particular edition by the 15th so it wouldn’t be used for space purposes. Also, some articles are saved for future printing. For example, if you send me a Christmas story right now, we would want to save that until the December edition.
If I submit something, will you publish it?
If you follow my tips printed in this column, your article has a good chance of being published. However, not every article is printed. And we can never guarantee that they are printed. There are a variety of reasons why some articles are not used, but in general, probably about 75% of submitted articles are published -- either right away or eventually. The biggest reasons for not being published is the length of the article (short and sweet is best) or the content doesn’t qualify.
Do submitted stories print in all five editions?
Very rarely does a story go in all five editions. Typically, the article will be published in the edition where you live. If you have a strong connection to another community or your article references another community, we will try to include in that edition as well. For example, if you wrote about growing up on a farm in St. Peter, Minn., but now you live in Detroit Lakes, we would try to publish the story in both the River edition and the Valley edition. And if you live right on the border of two publications, we will try to include them in both as you likely have strong connections in both territories.
I have a good story, but I do not feel comfortable writing. Can you help?
Yes, we would be happy to help you. Call or email and we can walk you through it.
If you would like to submit a story, send it to jim@srperspective.com. If you do not have email, you can mail it to Senior Perspective, Attn: Jim Palmer, P.O. Box 1, Glenwood, MN 56334. If you have questions, contact me by email or call 320-334-3344.
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