I want to write, but how?

I have encouraged many teachers, especially those who have done Cambridge DELTA or Trinity Diploma TESOL qualifications with me, to write for an ELT publication. Obviously, there are some publications I prefer over others, and there are some publications better suited for certain types of articles. Yet, most of them never sit down and write that article. I have often wondered why.

Quite recently I made a similar suggestion to two teachers (and one of them actually did send me something to look at between me starting and finishing this blog post). The main question they had was ‘How? I don’t even know where to start.’ To be fair, there are so many different publications, different ways of approaching articles, and so many different places you can publish, that it can be quite difficult to know where and how to start. The purpose of this blog post is to address exactly that.

Pick your format – Article or book review

My personal view is that a book review is significantly easier to write. However, it can be tricky to actually get asked to write one. Editors of the book review sections of magazines love having reliable book reviewers, and the main reason I don’t do more is that I don’t like reading ‘under time pressure.’ However, once you are established, this is a fairly good source of reading material and a really easy way to get your name out there. It is also really useful if you want to get started in writing, but don’t know what to write an article about.

Articles, while more difficult, are far more satisfying in my opinion. If you have done a Diploma level qualification, or an MA, this is definitely a great way to share practical tips with teachers across the globe, or within a specific region or area of speciality. Or, if you have adapted activities, or have anything related to practical classroom application, then an article is the way to go.

A little bit of advice here. Many organisations like IATEFL, MELTA, TESOL have free webinars. So do many publishers. Attending these webinars or attending conferences puts you in contact with ideas and people that makes it a lot easier to figure out you can write and how your article might contribute to other teachers. Don’t try to come up with an idea for an article in a vacuum. Use the people and resources around you.

Writing the book review

The first step is to find the email of the book reviews editor. Email the main editor of the magazine or journal if you cannot find the book reviews editor email. Say who you are and that you are interested in writing a book review. If you already have a book in mind, then you could also mention that. Then, contact publishers and offer to write reviews for books. And finally, read a lot and look for newer publications, especially by first time authors. It is much easier to say you have a review of a newer book that you have read when you approach a reviews editor than having to wait for something to come along.

Writing the book review is actually quite formulaic and easy. I would suggest reading book reviews because from a genre point of view, they are very similar. I am breaking it down here just so you have an easy start.

1. Give the biographical details including the title, author, publisher, year of publication and ISMB number. If this is too much information, the editor will remove what is not needed.
2. Give an overview and purpose. This means answering two questions. What is the book about? Who is the book for?
3. Chapter or section breakdown. Here you discuss how the book is structured and highlight two or three key chapters or points from the book.
4. Critical evaluation. Discuss the strengths, value, and potential gaps in the book. Be fair and constructive. If the ideas in the book might not work in certain contexts, then be open about it. But don’t try to delve and guess a negative just to make your review balanced.
5. Recommendation. This is your ‘final verdict’ and should make suggestions on who should buy this book.

So, quite simple. Five things to write about with a guiding question.

Writing your first ELT article

Understanding the target audience and what the editor is looking for makes writing an article much easier. You want to answer a few simple questions. What did you do? Why did you do it (what is the theoretical or practical reason)? How can a teacher reading your article do it tomorrow?

Writing the article is perhaps trickier than a review, simply because there isn’t necessarily an exact format. Reading articles from the publication you want to approach is always a good start, as it will show you how these articles are generally structured. The steps below are aimed at helping you get pen to paper, and my main piece of advice would be this: You cannot edit a blank page. Just write!

1. Introduction or, for lack of better word, the ‘hook.’ Start with a relatable classroom or teaching related problem or observation. This will often just be a description of why and how you started using an activity, exploring a method, or investigating different techniques.
2. Context. Describe your context, your teaching environment, and underlying pedagogical concepts. Be light but clear on theory. Remember, this is not a research paper literature review, but it is also not a fictional story. There needs to be some grounding. For example, during my DipTESOL action research I explored…, because I wanted to find out … Then highlight some important theory, but keep in mind that your readership will be teachers, not researchers or academics.
3. The solution or story. This is a description of what you did. Walk the reader through the steps in a way that they can easily duplicate what you have done. Where appropriate, use bullet points, headings, numbered steps, or whatever will make reading this part easy. Easy to read, easy to find if someone is looking back over the article again quickly, and most importantly, easy to follow.
4. Takeaways and reflection. Some simple questions to answer. What worked and what didn’t? What would you change next time? What should teachers watch out for? How might this be different in other contexts (but omit this rather than guess it if you are not sure).

Last tips

Avoid jargon or terminology dense pieces. Imagine you are explaining your idea to me over a cup of coffee.

Stick to the word count. Online publications are a lot more lenient with word counts, but word count is not only related to fitting it onto a page. It also has to do with the likelihood of something getting read. If it is too long or intimidating, it will likely be glossed over or skipped.

Include materials if possible. A handout, a rubric, an image or anything that offers a visual component to your piece.

Read the guidelines. If it asks you to use a certain font and font size or use a specific way of bolding or underlying headings, follow those guidelines.

If nothing so far has convinced you to get started, find a co-author who will be willing to write with you. This can be a course tutor, another person on the course with you, or even an academic manager.

Where to publish

An online search for open access teaching magazines will give you quite a fair list. My first choice would be Modern English Teacher, and I have written for them many times.

You can also consider the International House Journal, Humanizing Language Teaching, any of the IATEFL Special Interest Groups or the IATEFL publication ‘Voices,’ any of the TESOL or your local TESOL organisation’s publications, or even blogs who publish other pieces.

Will you get rejections? Probably yes. But more often than not, you will get an editor asking you to make a few changes or suggesting something a little different. And in this is often the best learning. The editors need pieces to publish, they know the target readership better than most, and they are there to help you. Use them.

Looking forward

So, what is stopping you? You’ve got all those assignments, and notes, ideas in your head or perhaps scribbled down on lesson plans. The best time to start is now. Open a blank document, outline your main points, save it, get the first few sentences down, and then the first few paragraphs. And then keep going. Remember, you cannot edit a blank document.
After that, well, there is always presenting the ideas from your article at a conference, either as a talk or a workshop. And later in the year, I will be writing about that.