To become a magazine article contributor, you must posses a good skill in writing. So here are some writing tips that you can use.
1. Pay attention in English class. Seriously. Writing is a craft and as with all crafts, there is a set of skills which you must master to be proficient. Learn the rules of grammar and composition, of sentence construction, of how the language works. Turn off the grammar and spell checkers, learn the skills yourself. You wouldn’t allow an untrained person to perform surgery on you, would you? Or build your house? Fly your aeroplane? Why then, should you come to the blank page (and ultimately, your readers) without the skills necessary for the task. Learn the basics, okay?
2. Omit needless words
3. Read. Read. Read. Read. Read. Read some more. Read again. When you’re done with that, relax with a book. Then go and read. Read the classics, read trash, read best sellers, read the back of cereal packets. See how it’s done by people good enough to be paid to do it. Every book, every page has lessons for you.
4. Write what you know. Inform your work with your knowledge and life experience. Know your ouvre, your genre, inside out. If you want to write a haiku about heartbreak for instance, you need to know how heartbreak feels.
5. Practise. The more you write the more proficient you will become. Think of it in the same terms as learning a musical instrument – when the skills become second nature, you’ll really be able to fly.
6. Don’t be naive about the industry. Copyright your work properly, keep good records, have contracts checked by legal professionals, check out potential agents, publishers etc. Beware vanity press – if you’re a good writer, they should be paying you, not the other way round.
7. Realise that talent is cheap. Dedication and endless practise however, are not. Lots of talented writers drivin’ trucks for a living, if you catch my drift!
from firstwriter.com