LETTERS & FILLERS
Letters: Hundreds of magazines have a readers' letters page - most of the mags pay on publication and some just pay or offer a prize for the 'star' letter. This can be quite lucrative, well at least enough to cover the cost of stamps or perhaps stationery items that the diligent writers has to purchase.
If you go down with writer's block (does it really exist?) aiming small will help to get you writing again and may well earn you small amounts of money. Publication and remuneration provides a magnificent boost to the writer's ego lending motivation and confidence to do bigger and better.
Fillers: study the mags. Many have small regular slots and invite freelance submissions. These can be short newsy items, very short stories, rants, poetry, etc. The word count and genre will become evident by studying the publication. Do your research. Look through magazines in waiting rooms. Stand in the newsagent and have a good read. Beg or borrow your friends' magazines. Use you writer's eye to scan the pages of every mag you come across. Pick up publications you wouldn't normally read - trade magazines, specialist magazines, the list is infinite. And don't forget, there's always the magazines aimed at writers. I've sold articles to these in the past.
Having said that, editors come and go bringing changes - you need to keep an eye on current issues of publications to pinpoint their exact requirements. Do learn to seek out target markets for your writing.
Fillers: study the mags. Many have small regular slots and invite freelance submissions. These can be short newsy items, very short stories, rants, poetry, etc. The word count and genre will become evident by studying the publication. Do your research. Look through magazines in waiting rooms. Stand in the newsagent and have a good read. Beg or borrow your friends' magazines. Use you writer's eye to scan the pages of every mag you come across. Pick up publications you wouldn't normally read - trade magazines, specialist magazines, the list is infinite. And don't forget, there's always the magazines aimed at writers. I've sold articles to these in the past.
Having said that, editors come and go bringing changes - you need to keep an eye on current issues of publications to pinpoint their exact requirements. Do learn to seek out target markets for your writing.