What are general hints and tips about creative writing?

Help! Just got a Job in a Teenage Magazine, any tips?

• Hi Im 15 and have just been given a job in a teenage magazine (UK) but the problem is i have no experience and my writing isn't the best and neither are my journalism skills. So i need some hints and tips to get me ready for the Job, any help on writing, improving my people skills and anything else that you think would help is appreciated

• Answer:

  Hey ^_^ Oh, wow, lucky you getting a job in a teen mag :) How did you get it? Which one? By any chance was it something to do with Sugar Magazine and them giving teens a day to work in their office? I'm 15 too and would love to be given an opportunity like that :) Anyway, my advice is, if this is a part time job, you can either lie your way through it and maybe you'll end up just having a flair for writing. However, it would be embarrassing if they see your work and ask why it is not up to the standards that they expected. Or, on your first day you can just come clean and tell them that you have never had journalism experience. Did you tell them that you have had experience in the past? This may be the best way to go as you don't want to make a fool of yourself if they get angry at you. Oh, also, if this is just a one day thing then I wouldn't worry that much about it :) I'm sure your writing is quite good and you are worrying much than you need to. Good luck with what you do. Lucky git teehee BTW, my writing looks a state here but its just cause my brain can't be bothered writing correctly and all that jazz xxx Hahaha, just realised I didn't actually answer your question *Slaps head* Ok, advice… Writing wise, just try to do your best to make sure punctuation/grammar/spelling is all correct, try to have your own individual writing style and you can even use like a thesaurus to get more complex sounding words lol.... mind you this is for a teen mag so just buy as many teen magazines, especially from the one you are going to be working for, and just study the language and how they interact with the reader. I know I said have your own writing style, but I'm changing my mind lol, try to copy how they write! Sometimes with teen mags they just throw everything, English wise, out of the window cause teens just want to read the latest gossip :) Just be friendly to the people you have to interact with. If it’s a celebrity don't go OTT and be totally star struck, play it cool and just talk to them as if they are a normal person, which they are. Whoever you are interviewing, thank them for coming and just ask them the questions you need to ask. I know this is just obvious stuff, but as a journalist if you hear them saying any information which seems quite interesting and relative then go onto that track and ask them about that topic. For all you could know you are the first journalist to report this exciting news! If you are quite shy and aren't that good at social skills then break the ice by telling them that your excited to be working on this magazine and that it is a pleasure to be interviewing them. I'm not 100% sure of this, but if it is a celebrity, e.g. a singer, tell them you like their latest record, etc. Act as though it is a sort of privilege to be writing an article on them but don't go to crazy about it. They don’t want to hear about how you have a shrine dedicated to them! Another point is that deadlines are always going to be very tight and so you will have to be able to work very quickly. If I were you, when writing an article if a catchy sentence pops into your head write it down quickly before you forget. Also, just type all the information that you have to write about onto your computer, even though it will look like a jumbled mess, at least most of the information you need to know is now on the pc and all you need to do is rephrase it, use better vocabulary, etc, in order to interact with the teenage target audience. That is all I can think of right now but I hope my advice comes in handy to you. I'm just a teenager myself and I do want to go down a writing path, journalism, scriptwriting, etc, so I hope I’ve given you some tips and wise words :) Oh, that’s another thing, remember to use some techniques e.g. alliteration, especially for titles to grab the readers attention. Anyway, what I was on the path of saying is that some things I said may not be correct and you may think you don't want to use this advice as its not coming from a true professional, but I would love to work for a teen mag and this is just some tips I have learnt from some journalism experience. One last word, what teens really want to read about is basically all the celebrity news and hot guys e.g. Twilight, Zac Efron, etc so don't feel extremely anxious about your writing skills as they just want to read a short article that is straight to the point. Oh, also, you are a teen so it will be ten times easier to actually get your point across as you may be interested in the same things :) Sorry if I'm rambling on, good luck :) Oh, if you have any questions click on my yahoo! page thing and there ought to be some way to get in touch with me and I'll help you :) Your living my dream teehee xxx