The Article: Success Is In How You Slant It

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

An online devotional for writers

A Word From The Word

The one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5, NLT)

A Word For Writers

“There are no new article topics,” explained the writing instructor.  Other students  like me, shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who wondered why I was in an article writing workshop if there was nothing to new to write about.

“However,” the instructor continued, “A topic can have countless slants. Your unique slant will sell your manuscript.”

An article topic is broad. But you can write about each of those topics from innumerable angles or slants. A slant is a specific angle on that topic. 

Take the topic of growing marigolds, for example. You can slant your article by writing about growing marigolds in containers for apartment balconies … why growing marigolds is the perfect one-hour workshop to offer at the senior center … how a group of Asperger’s children learned to grow marigolds …

Each of these angles is slanted to a specific facet of your topic, geared to a specific audience, and presented from your specific viewpoint.

The four gospel writers demonstrate this principle. Each wrote about the same topic: the life of Jesus Christ. Yet Matthew, a Jew, wrote to a Hebrew audience. Mark had Romans in mind and Luke cast a wider net – to all Gentiles, using lots of details. In contrast, John records plenty of dialogue in a reflective approach to telling Jesus’s story.

“Nothing under the sun is truly new,” wrote King Solomon. He was referring to topics. Of all the topics that you can write about, there’s not a new one in the bunch. 

But Jesus said, “Look, I am making everything new!” Just as Jesus gives each person a fresh start, writers can offer a fresh slant on any article topic. 

A Wise Word

An article topic is broad, but a slant is specific.

A Word To Pray

Heavenly Father,

You slant topics in such a way that I can grasp and understand them. Help me look at an article topic from different angles and choose an appropriate slant for my audience.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

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