Article ideas, believe it or not, are all around you. Some of the best are often found in the city where you live. I have written articles for Trailer Life, Western Horseman, Grit and others just by being aware of what’s going on around me. All you need is a keen eye and an inquisitive mind.

 

One of the best articles you can often write without leaving your hometown is the true life drama, These are the accounts of dramatic experiences in the lives of real people often living near you. Readers identify with people who have confronted serious problems and overcome them. You will find these stories in Mc Call’s, Ladies Home Journal. Good House Keeping Reader’s Digest and many more of the women’s magazines.

 

Here is a summary of an article written by one of my adult students about a woman he worked with. “Cindy Williams listened intently to the carefully measured words of Dr. William Landa.  At first it didn't hit me that anything was seriously wrong,” she says.   "But his voice was shaking and that began to scare me.  “You know you’re in trouble when the doctor is almost in tears-."

 

The doctor went on to tell her that she had leukemia; her prognosis was not good unless she was willing to try a radical new combination of drugs that would make her very sick but might help her.  She and her parents decided to take the risk and eventually her disease went into remission.  Several years later, Cindy fell in love and married. She wanted a child but was told that pregnancy—if she were able to get pregnant at all—sometimes caused the leukemia to return.  Cindy did become –pregnant and both she and the baby came through with flying colors.”

Here are more articles derived from the writer’s vicinity. 

·         A young woman named Kathleen White who had developed multiple sclerosis, and subsequently lost the use of her legs and most of the use of her arms. Then through a fluke, she saw a doctor's report on her condition. The doctor had concluded that Kathleen was in the terminal stages of her disease and had not long to live. Angry that she had not been told and determined to prove her doctors wrong, she went on a grueling program of exercise and training that not only put her back on her feet, but also enabled her to run in--and finish--a 26.2-mile marathon.

 

·         Ripple New York was hit by a severe snowstorm stranding hundreds of travelers on the highway. The people of Ripley not only rescued these families bu8t also found them places to sleep, fed them, bought Christmas presents and even found a Santa Claus for the children…and ended up giving them a Christmas they would never forget.

 

·         A woman survives the crash of a light plane.  She is badly injured and the pilot is dead.  She doesn’t know where she is but she knows she cannot survive long without help. After waiting several days to see if help will come, she starts crawling down the mountain….a great story that ran in Mc Calls

 

·          A skin diver searching for gold in California's Mother Lode has a boulder roll over on him and pin him underwater a few inches from the surface. The story tells how a passerby kept diving underwater to save his life by giving him air, mouth-to-mouth, until he is rescued several hours later

 

 

How do you write these articles? You start with a common problem. This kind of narrative describes how a man or woman or family dealt with the sort of tragic experiences many of us have faced or might face death, sickness of a child, and much more.  ... this helps us to understand how such problems can be handled, and perhaps how we might behave in similar circumstances.

 

Other local articles

1.      try your business community  There are many other kinds of stories out there in the local community.. Trade journals buy thousands of pieces on retail businesses every year. I’ve sold hundreds of articles that explained how a local retailer did a better job selling, paint, farm supplies, tires, toys—you name it. I even sold one on a subdivision in Cool California that used Western Red Cedar for the siding on the community buildings.

 

2. look around Two doors from my office, I found a man converting a Greyhound bus into a motor home. This became an article for Trailer Life. I also found a filling station owner building a sailboat to cross the Pacific.

 

3. . Read the newspaper: What a source this is. Here I found ‘the king of the coin collectors,” which I sold to Grit, a mother daughter roping team sold to two horse enthusiast’s magazines, and a continental bicycle trip by two young women

 

4. Tap the town’s experts. In the newspaper or through word of mouth you will discover who can answer questions on medicine, plants and more.

 

The next time you can't come up with anything to write about, think locally. The story possibilities in your own community are endless.