Writing Terms You Should Know

It has been said that writing is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration! I chuckled when I read that--and thought, how true.

The following are some terms that you should be familiar with and that may make your job a little easier.

BYLINE- The author's name appearing with the piece

CLIPS-Samples of a writer's published works (tear-sheets)

FAIR USE- A provision in copyright laws that allows for use of short passages

FEATURE- An article that provides information, or the term used to identify a lead article or department

FILLER-A short item

HARD COPY- The printed copy of a manuscript

KILL FEE-A percentage of the price, if an editor rejects an agreed-upon, submitted article

LEAD TIME-Window between acquisition of an article and actual publication date

ON-SPEC-When an editor is interested in what he reads in a query and agrees to read the finished manuscript

POTBOILER-Quick projects a writer does to bring in income, while working on larger pieces

PROOFREADING-Close reading to check for spelling, punctuation, formatting, and other errors

PUBLIC DOMAIN-Material that was never copyrighted or the copyright has expired

PPPs-Previously published pieces/poems

QUERY-A letter sent to an editor detailing a story idea

REPRINT RIGHTS-Licensing an editor to reprint work that has already appeared elsewhere

SIDEBAR- Additional information that's included with a news report or an article

SLANT-The style that will appeal to readers of certain magazines

SLUSH PILE-Unsolicited manuscripts

SSs-Simultaneous submissions

STYLE-The way something is written: long, flowery prose, or short clipped items

TEARSHEET-A page from a publication that contains your work, also called clips