By: Sarah Bonney

Once our first couple years of college come to a close, parents, professors, advisors, and friends start dropping “internship” like it’s the newest slang. “It makes you stand out!” “You’d get some great experience.” “You won’t be able to get a good job unless you’ve done at least one.” “Graduate schools love students who’ve done internships!” There’s a lot of talk about how great they can be but significantly less conversation about how to get one in the first place.

Finding and doing an internship can seem overwhelming, especially to any student who’s been told their major isn’t a moneymaker. However, it’s a lot easier than you’d think. For the last few years, Humanities Plus (Humanities+) has provided resources for internships and other career building experiences to Humanities majors. Recently, English Plus (English+) debuted to guide English majors. English Plus focuses on helping English majors build professional skills during their time at BYU. There are numberless opportunities for English majors in the workplace; however, in order to get a dream job, an English BA might need a bit of a makeover.

You’ve all heard the story where the already wonderful girl wants the guy, but she doesn’t think she has a chance. But then, her friend or fairy godmother or someone else shows up and gives her the makeover of a lifetime. Post makeover, the guy can’t take his eyes off her and dreams come true all over the place. The English major is to the girl as your dream job  is to the dreamboat; English Plus is your fairy godmother. Need a ride to the ball? Talk to an academic advisor.

With classes, on-campus jobs, and other obligations, it’s easy to feel you don’t have the time to do an internship, but there are options on-campus. The Marriott Center offers On-Campus Internships (OCI). In an OCI, a student is assigned to work with a small team of other students; together they complete a project for a company such as Amazon, Pearson, or another big name. If you’re less interested in business, the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance also offers internships on campus; however, these internships are focused on helping the community and humanitarian efforts.

Internships for BYU English majors are available literally around the world. Although international travel can be pricey, funding is available for unpaid academic internships through each department in the College of the Humanities, including the English Department. $2000 is available for international internships, $1000 is available for a national internship outside of Utah, and $500 is available for in-state and local internships that are not on campus. You can apply for these grants by contacting Prof. Dave Fife, the English Department’s internship coordinator.

There are plenty of people who believe that an English major is impractical, but you can prove them wrong. With a little help from English Plus and maybe an internship or two, you’ll have your dreamboat before you know it.

One of the great motivations behind students in the English major is a love of books. A lot goes into the making of books: reading, writing, editing, designing, publishing, and more. Many English majors choose to focus on the first two elements, but there is so much more that they could do!

Here, I’ll briefly summarize the primary roles in the publishing industry. For each of these roles, there are resources to help students prepare.

Author

If you’re an English major who likes to write . . . you’re in good company! Authors often work freelance. They can hone their skills by writing on a particular topic with a specific magazine or company, by working through a website that assigns topics to them, or by producing works of their own creation and publishing either commercially or electronically.

One of the best ways to become a good author is to write. A lot. Another thing is to read. A lot. (Especially within the field you want to contribute to.) Students can form writing groups to help them polish their work and get experience helping other writers problem-solve. There are a huge variety of classes about writing, so pick one that focuses on the kind that interests you: persuasive writing, creative writing, technical writing, and many others.

Agent

There isn’t a lot on campus about becoming a literary agent, but it’s an important piece to the publishing industry. Many publishers only look at submissions that are represented by an agent. The agent gets to represent the author and help negotiate the contract for the manuscript. They’re paid with a cut of the royalties, so if you’ve caught the scent of who the next J. K. Rowling will be, this is definitely the career for you.

The best way to break into a career as an agent is to work as, essentially, an apprentice to a professional agent, preferably one with an established client-base. Look up some agencies and see what books they’ve helped along. If you recognize the titles, then they’re probably a great source of insight. See if they’ll be willing to let you interview them.

Editor

Many English majors make use of the editing minor already. It’s definitely growing in popularity, and works as a great supplement to essentially any major. For those interested in editing, there are a wide variety of options.

Copyediting is the most similar to what most people think of when they imagine an “editor.” Copyeditors focus mostly on sentence-level structure, such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other mechanics. They’re needed in every field. A copyeditor’s skills are useful in essentially every other editing role as well. ELang 350 teaches students these skills, and every semester there are openings in the LDS Magazine Internship for professional experiences.

Acquisitions editors are responsible for finding and approving the manuscripts to be published by the publishing house. They need to be well-versed in the direction of the market and have a strong instinct for recognizing good writing. Acquisitions editors also work with authors with developmental editing, which helps the author prepare their manuscript’s content to be accepted and put under contract with the publishing house. A variety of student journals on campus offer students a chance to experiment with choosing new content for a publication, and ELang 430 gives students the opportunity to develop a manuscript as if for publication.

Substantive editors work more with the content of the manuscript. They review the large-scale issues with the manuscript, like flow, consistency, and purpose. Frequently, especially in smaller publishing houses, the editor will wear more than one hat, and the substantive editor will be the copyeditor and acquisitions editor all at once. If you prefer more specialization, look to work in a larger publishing house. For experience in this type of editing, take ELang 410 or apply to work with the Writing Fellows on campus.

Designer

This isn’t one that seems obvious to most English majors, but the design element of publishing is huge. A designer is responsible for the interior layout and visual orientation of the manuscript. Designers often use software like InDesign and Illustrator. They may also be responsible for designing the covers of the books, or at the minimum they’ll work with an artist on it.

The editing minor requires Dight 230, a class about print publishing that offers an introduction to the Adobe Creative Suite. Some designers in publishing have a Graphic Design major, but publishing companies are finding that they cost more to hire than others with comparable skills. There is a new minor called digital humanities and technologies that offers in-depth training on useful software skills, but if you’re not up for that Dight 230 will give you an idea of if this is the path for you.

Publisher

This is another lesser known role. That could be because a publisher is typically the businessman of the group. This role requires a very business-minded perspective and a willingness to take risks. Publishers furnish the overhead costs of publication, so they make a large percent of the profit in the book business. The publisher has the final say on what gets published, how it’s published, and where it’s sold. Larger publishing houses will rely on in-house publicists and marketing groups to make decisions that in a smaller company they would’ve made themselves.

There are lots of new publishing houses popping up in Utah. If you’re the entrepreneurial type, look up a couple of them to see what distinguishes them from the others that are out there. New and old publishers alike will send representatives to writing conventions and conferences. These representatives can answer questions, offer advice, and sometimes they have enough room in their office to fit an intern.

In Preparation

The editing minor opens students up to the world of publishing, as does the Dight minor and several others. Career-oriented classes like the ones suggested here give students confidence and direction in their search for internship and work experiences.

There are many professional roles in the publishing world many English majors could easily qualify themselves for with a little foresight and preparation. What about the publishing industry appeals to you, my fellow book lovers?

By Jeff Morley

As Officers of the BYU English Society, we do a lot to provide our doting fans and fellow club members with content that they can read, write, think about, participate in, watch, hug, hit on, etc. We strive diligently to be there for our beloved club members. So what does it take to provide you with this constant stream of content? How about we take a peek behind the scenes of “Major English News,” our weekly news video.

Every Friday after our weekly officer meeting, there is this mysterious, yet extremely beneficial room held on the fourth floor of the Harold B. Lee Library where we do our filming for “Major English News.” It is aptly named the Production room. I didn’t even know this room existed until becoming a part of the BYU English Society. The Media Center, where the Production room can be found, is an invaluable source for filming, editing, and even renting video equipment at the disposal of BYU’s students.

Once we get all of the lights, microphones, and camera set up in the Production room, we get down to business to come up with the various news and events to cover for the week.

With all that info on a whiteboard, it is time to begin recording. The ever so debonair Davis Blount, and the glamorous Chalene Riser, check their teeth, tune their voices, and make themselves camera ready to begin shooting. As the camera begins to roll, magic happens. With only bullet points covering the various news and events, Chalene and Davis artistically come up with the weekly video content. I have to admit, those two were born for the big screen. Witty and quicker than ever, they come up with four minutes of dialogue with little to no script.

I wish I could say that the “Major English News” is filmed in one flawless take, but perfection takes time and multiple shots. During and after filming, we check for sound and lighting issues and then take it to post-production.

Also available to students at the Media Center is an array of programs for editing and producing film and photographs. For the “Major English News,” we use two Adobe programs called “Premiere Pro” and “After Effects.” “Premiere Pro” takes care of all of the editing, in particular lighting and sound issues, and “After Effects” provides manipulation of the green screen, graphics used, and transitions between shots.

When that week’s news is edited, it is then sent over to Professor Gideon Burton, our Club Faculty Administrator, for any corrections. Once it is found ready for the public, it is uploaded to YouTube and linked with the various URL’s to more club information. It is then accessible to the public.

And that’s a wrap! From recording to uploading, it is typically a two to three day process. We enjoy putting this all together for you, and we hope you enjoy it too. All we ask is that you get involved. Watch! Listen! Take whatever step is necessary stay current with the English Department and the BYU English Society. We promise we will never leave you disappointed.

By: Jessica Romrell

The Editing Minor

The number one question I get when I tell people I am an English major is, “What are you going to do with that?”

At first, I never knew how to answer this question. The truth was that I just love English, and I chose the English major because I love the study of literature and I love to read and write.

And if I’m being honest (and I know I’m not the only one here), the other reason I could never answer that question was because I always wondered what would happen if I got married, and my primary role was not to be the moneymaker.

One day I said to my dad, “I just want to get paid to read! Can I just get paid to read?” Not long after that, I saw the movie The Proposal. The main character in the movie played by Sandra Bullocks plays an editor at an established publishing company. For her job, she read manuscripts, talked to authors, and published books. She got paid to read books.

From that point on, I determined that someday I would get paid to read. That started my journey into editing. I found the editing minor at BYU, which is full of courses that are made for grammar geeks and book nerds.

What is Editing?

Whenever people ask me this, I tell them that editing is what happens when a book nerd and a grammar geek are combined. Editing involves working with an author to make changes on their manuscript to make them look better.

And editor is the go-between person between a reader and a writer (and sometimes also a publisher). An editor will help the author say what they’re trying to say, and say it well. An editor will be behind the scenes, helping the reader by making the sentence structure of a manuscript clear.

An editor gets paid to read, but even more than that, to think, to find gaps and plot holes, places where characters could be developed greater. And an editor also finds the misspellings in a document, the subject-verb agreement errors, and other things that will make the author look good.

There are two main elements to editing: substantive editing and copy editing. Substantive editing is working with the big picture. Are there plot holes? Does this character say something that seems “out of character?” Did Sonya just walk in the door twice in one paragraph, but never walk out? This is the essence of substantive editing.

Copy editing involves fixing the commas that are out of place. That quote that isn’t quite correct, and the “they’re” that should really be “their.”

Options Within Editing and Publications

There is a secret about on-campus jobs that few people know. There are two jobs offered just about anywhere on campus, and they happen to be the two highest-paying student jobs: computer programming and editing.

Almost every college on campus has their own computer programmers and their own editors. Student editing jobs run from $11 an hour to $15 an hour.

In the world of publishing, everyone needs an editor. There are four main areas involved with the editing world: magazine editing, book editing, freelancing, and graphic design.

Magazine Editing

Magazine editing involves editing articles that will be published in a magazine. This means that you are probably working with the same few authors, with an occasional new author. In magazine editing, you work on site and with several other editors performing rounds of substantive and copy edits on articles. In general, when working with magazines, you will be involved in all stages of editing, not any particular one.

Magazine editing is fast-paced, and deadlines are of the utmost importance (since most magazines publish on a monthly basis), meaning you will almost always be busy. However, magazine editing can be highly rewarding, and will make you an expert on a host of topics. As an editor, you will be reading articles that fall into many different genres, and you will have to learn a lot about a specific topic in a very short period of time. But if you like to learn, this is a wonderful option for you!

Book Editing

Book editing is what I witnessed in The Proposal. In book editing, you work for a publishing company. Most publishing companies already limit the genres that they publish. For instance, the publishing company Tor specifically publishes science fiction and fantasy novels. However, there are many publishing companies that publish books in several genres.

In book publishing, you will not necessarily be involved in all stages of editing. Many publishing companies will hire a specific editor to be in charge of acquisitions and substantive editing and a different editor to be in charge of the copy editing. This means you will specialize in one particular area.

In book editing, there is also an added element of pitching ideas. This is especially true if you are the editor in charge of acquisitions. When you find a submission that you think is publish-worthy, you would then pitch it to the board and try and convince them to buy it.

Unlike magazine editing, in book editing, you will likely be working with a different author each time. Occasionally you will work with an author who is writing a series being published by your company, but each time you edit you’ll be editing something new.

The editing will also likely be genre specific, taking away the element of learning that you’d get from magazine editing, but adding an element of fun. This is especially fun if you just love to read.

Beware of confidentiality! As much as you love to read these books and as much as you just want to go home and talk about them with all of your friends, most publishing companies maintain a confidentiality policy that prohibits you from saying anything about any of the submissions before the books are actually published.

Freelance Editing

Freelance editing is becoming bigger and bigger as self-publishing is increasing. Traditionally, when an author wants to publish a book, they submit to a publishing company, who buys their book. Then their book goes through editing with the editors hired by said company, and then the book gets published!

This option has traditionally been the most common because publishing a book is very complicated and often very expensive. There is the editing, of course, but then there is also the designing of the book, selecting the art, contracting with book stores, and then, of course, the actual printing of the book, which is very expensive.

Publishing companies often have their own photographers, already have contracts set up with various book stores, and get discounted prices on printing because they print so often.

However, recent print on demand technology has changed everything. Now, there are options to sell your book through electronic websites like Amazon, reducing the cost of printing. While this is still far more expensive for the author, there are still many authors out there who prefer self-publishing to a publishing company.

This has opened up a whole new area of freelancing editing. These authors still need editors to edit the book. They still need designers to design the book. But instead of working for a company, this work can now be done at home.

With freelancing, you will likely acquire friends as you edit. People will send you their work, like it (or not) and then send you any work they do in the future. You will also get a variety of work, ranging from editing blog articles to novels to technical manuals.

Some of the work will be boring, but it can all be done from home, which provides a fantastic option to stay-at-home moms who want to earn money on the side.

Graphic Design

Graphic design is an area that is oddly linked in with the editing minor. As you progress through the courses and volunteer on student journals, you will find more and more “editing minors” who don’t really want to edit, they want to design.

As a designer for a magazine, book company, or even as a freelancer, you will work primarily with InDesign in the creation of documents and books. You will choose the art that goes best with the book, the fonts for the title, where the page numbers will fall, what colors will be used, and everything else that goes into the final product of a book.

This can be very fun. If you like to create things, this is the niche for you! Many companies (book or magazine) will hire a designer who never touches the manuscript except when they are placing it into the design frames of the templates they have created.

The Big Picture

The truth is that there are endless options within editing. You could work as a freelancer from home. You could work for a publishing company. You could be a blog writer, and edit the blogs for a company. You could work as a technical editor, editing the instruction manuals for crockpots.

There is never any shortage of things to read, which means that there is always a need for editors. If you noticed right off the bat that Harry Potter saw thestrals in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but the carriages were still horseless at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire after Cedric died, editing is the right minor for you. Whether you’re a writer, designer, creator, reviser, or just someone who loves to read, there is a place within editing for you.

By: Madelyn Taylor

Like most artistic movements, it’s hard to determine an exact source of Slam Poetry. To some point Marc Smith, who, inspired by experimental poets like Allen Ginsberg, began searching for a way to breath life into the open mics in Chicago. By focusing on the performance aspect of poetry, Marc started a poetry reading series at a Chicago jazz club, and eventually, like the true american event it was, the readings became competitive. In 1990, the very first National Poetry slam started a tradition that still runs today.

But what is a Poetry Slam?

Well it’s not…

1. Poetry recitation

Maybe you had to recite poetry for English. Maybe your school held a poetry recital. Whatever the reason, everyone is familiar with the stiff silence and polite applause that accompanies a poetry recital. But nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to a Slam. Not only are poets required to bring original work (no Robert Frost here!), but poems are meant to be performed. The poet is always looking to elicit laughter, cheers, tears, reaction from the listeners, making poems just as fun for the performers as for the audience. It is not uncommon, and is highly encouraged, for a Poetry Slam audience show their appreciation of a poem through clapping, stomping, yelling, and yes, snapping.

1. Beatnik

If the words “Spoken Word Poetry” conjures up images of black turtlenecks, bongo drums, and that one cafe scene from “An Extremely Goofy Movie”, you may be thinking of a different event. Although performance poetry may have originally been inspired by the beatnik movement, a modern poetry slam is far from the beret wearing events of yesteryear. Slam poetry is meant to be understood.

1. Rap Battle

This is another case of influence. From early in it’s life, hip hop has been an active contributor to the slam poetry culture (did you know Kanye’s “Gold Digger” was first performed at a slam?), especially among young poets. Both rap and slam poetry rely heavily on rhythm and flow, and both have informal formats which tackle complex issues. A Slam should not be confused with a rap battle, though. In a slam there are at very least 5 poets (sometimes upward of 30), and instead of bouncing off each other for improvised performances, the majority of poems are prepared in advance.

1. Poetry Geeks Only!!

One of the greatest things about slam poetry is its appeal to people from all walks of life — not just English geeks! If you’re worried you wouldn’t fit in because you don’t particularly love Shakespeare, or you’ve never read Leaves of Grass, never fear! Spoken Word is about sharing your stories, and if everyone had the same experiences, the platform would be useless. So don’t be afraid to dive right it, poetry geek or no, into one of the most honest forms of expression out there.

What Slam Poetry is, is performance poetry. And while a poetry slam may have a specific format, slam poetry itself is anything you want it to be – whether that means rap, soliloquy, or breaking out the iambic pentameter, it’s up to you. However complicated it may seem, slam poetry is primarily about creating a platform for you to say things fully in the best way you know how. It’s about telling your story. And it’s a ton of fun.

Come check out the poetry slam being hosted by the BYU English Society on October 15th from 6-8pm at The Wall! Hope  to see you there!

On October 24^th, BYU’s English Society will be attending a performance of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the Covey Center Theatre at 7:30pm.

If you are like me, the only thing that comes to mind when you hear The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a vague memory from an old Disney film with a super skinny white guy and a scary headless horseman. Since details of the plot had long since faded from my memory, I did a little internet research to figure out what this story is all about.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow began as a book written by Washington Irving. Interestingly enough, it is “among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity,” or so says Wikipedia. The protagonist is one Ichabod Crane, a spindly schoolmaster from New England set on obtaining the heart of Miss Katrina Van Tassel, the only child of a wealthy local farmer. Ichabod must compete with Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt, the town hero and muscle man for Katrina’s affection.

The Van Tassel family throws a harvest party which both male suitors attend. Bones spends the party telling frightening local legends (particularly one about a headless horseman) while Ichabod tries and fails to secure Katrina’s hand in marriage.

On his ride home, Ichabod start hearing spooky sounds and encounters a silent stranger at a crossroads in the woods. After traveling a ways Ichabod notices to his horror that the stranger’s severed head is on his saddle. Ichabod tries to outrun the horseman in a mad dash through the woods and over a bridge. He recalls the legend he heard earlier claimed that the specter would disappear after crossing water, but when he reaches the other side the headless horseman follows right on his tail and hurls his head straight at Ichabod’s horrified face.

The next day, Ichabod is nowhere to be found. The only things that remain are a wandering horse, a trampled saddle, a discarded hat, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. Brom Bones marries Katrina and it is said that whenever the story of Ichabod’s disappearance is mentioned he gets a knowing look in his eye.

Though maybe not very gruesome by our modern standards, this tale has haunted people since the early days of this country and continues to be a trademark of the Halloween season. Come out and enjoy this spooky performance of this classic story with BYU’s English Society!

By Jesse Bunton

Most of today’s full-time students and working professionals—heck, even most full-time parents—can find it challenging to carve out the time from their busy schedules to indulge in the art of writing fiction. Here are three reasons why doing so will always be worth your while.

1. Writing Fiction Increases Your Empathy:

“The deepest purpose of reading and writing fiction is to sustain a sense of connectedness, to resist existential loneliness” -Pierre Bourdieu

Writing a good story is a challenge. If you’ve ever picked up pen and paper, or sat down in front of your computer, to write a fictional story (even if only a short story), then you’ve likely experienced the struggle of breathing life into a fictional character. We’ve all been there, shaking our heads and asking ourselves what it takes to render a distinct characterization that possesses relatability.

First of all, the answer is not to go people-watching in the same park every weekend. Rather, the answer to the art of characterization lies in the development of our ability to communicate how other human beings feel and, beyond that, to communicate why they feel the way they do about particular topics. This means doing the unthinkable: putting down your smartphone long enough to talk to people, to communicate with those that espouse different beliefs than your own. Try it. You’ll survive.

Writing fiction is where we immortalize the people we met. Writing a believable character is a contemplative effort that, when practiced regularly, will invariably increase your ability to characterize the people around us in a rich, believable way. More importantly, the practice of writing fiction forges strong connections between you and the distinct people from whom you fashion your characters.

2. Writing Fiction Develops Creativity:

Fortunately for me and you, this shouldn’t require much explanation. Still, this is an important reason to begin writing fiction regularly. Regularly writing fiction is one the best ways for you to question, and often to change, your personal paradigms.

All around us are patterns, standards, models, and archetypes. Fiction, in its most basic function, provides both the writer and the reader the opportunity to break free of life’s more mundane patterns. Fiction provides writers, specifically, with the opportunity to deconstruct and reconstruct paradigms into new models that are can be thrilling and unique. Therein dwells “genius.” Obviously, these creative efforts involve multiple parts of the human brain and can strengthen our recall while simultaneously developing our critical problem-solving abilities.

3. Writing Fiction is Meaningful:

When was the last time you heard someone say—whilst discussing familial heirlooms—how grateful they were to have a video cassette recording that their parent’s made of the TV show “Wheel of Fortune”? Or when was the last time you heard someone planning to make a scrapbook to document all the movies their family had watched together on Netflix? For a majority (excluding those individuals that will promptly begin working on a Netflix scrapbook after reading this article) it seems odd to consider either scenario because the emotional values of the two “hypothetical heirlooms” are negligible.

History has a habit of preserving things that are meaningful…and what has it preserved? Amidst all sorts of artifacts, artwork, and elaborate architectural designs, two undisputed champions rise above everything else: language and literature. History has preserved stories because history could not exist without them. From Homer’s writings on Greek mythology to Sophocles’s dramas, works of fiction have been well-preserved because they address what it means to be human (sometimes questioning it too).

We each have an opportunity to join in a rich heritage of writing. We have the opportunity to create contemporary works of fiction that can echo our historical relatives and share paradigm-shaking messages about the human experience. To preserve our most precious ideas, all we have to do is write.

Chances are you’re already doing some online writing, whether it’s a full blog post or a caption for a picture on Facebook.Online writing is becoming incredibly common and for all audiences, so what are the requirements for good online writing?

First, I’ll explain the difference between online writing and print writing. There are honestly quite a lot of similarities between the two styles of writing, but print is allowed to be a little lengthier. The layout of magazines draws the reader with colors and illustrations. Magazines tend to be a little more artsy, meaning that you can add a little more flair to your work to catch the reader’s attention.

Reading articles online is a lot harder than reading them in print, so people don’t read web articles, they scan them. They pick out headings, sentences, and phrases. If that quick scan is an information overload or not interesting enough, they will notcontinue reading. Studies have shown that web articles should be about half the length of print articles.

Here are some rules for web writing:

1. Keep it short. If you can say in it two words, do it. Think of the simplest way to say that still makes sense. Short, powerful statements are best, especially for social media.

2. Grab their attention. Titles are the most important part. If you don’t have a good title that tells readers exactly why they should click and read, you won’t get read. Use action words.

That doesn’t mean you have to put “Mom gave birth to baby with three heads. What happens next will make you cry…” Don’t be tacky, but make it interesting. A common trend right now is “7 Ways…” or “How to…” type of things. Putting “Faith Gives You Wings,” is pretty, but putting “4 Ways to Strengthen Your Faith” is clear and SEO-friendly (easy to search).

3. Be clear. Have someone who has no idea what you’re writing about read your article and tell you what they think the main message is. Do they get it? If not, rewrite until they do.

4. Make it conversational. If you’re struggling with writing something simply, think of how you could explain it to your mother/grandmother.

5. Break it into chunks. Large blocks of text are intimidating for web readers. If it’s too long, try breaking it up. Web readers like more white space, because it is much less intimidating to read three short chunks than huge paragraphs.

Don’t do this.

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

Do this.

In 1996, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were:

• Fort Robinson State Park
• Scotts Bluff National Monument
• Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum
• Carhenge
• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
• Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park

Though, unless you’re writing for a travel company, your audience may not be incredibly interested in Nebraska (see number 9).

6. Stay informative. If it’s not entirely relevant, cut it. Stay informative rather than trying to be clever or witty, especially with titles and subheadings. Don’t use clichés.

7. Make it interesting to look at. Web doesn’t always have a pretty layout or illustrations to draw in the reader. Images and videos break up the text and are interesting. If you want to hold attention, include relevant, well-done images that catch the eye.

8.     Cite sources. Online readers are a little more skeptical, so make sure you cite your sources. Relevant links are also great to get the readers to engage with more material.

9.     Know your audience. Picture the people you are writing to in your mind’s eye. Go through the article as if you were that kind of reader and make changes to better fit the text to your audience. Select material that fits the needs of your audience.

1. Highlight keywords. Hyperlinks are one way to do this, but you can also use bolding and/or color variation.

1. List-icles are great. Lists are great way to break things up. Write a bolded short sentence at the beginning that summarizes what the rest of the list segment will be about. Don’t use solid blocks of text in lists. Break it up.

Clarity and simplicity are the keys here. When in doubt, make it simpler.

Follow these steps and you’re well on your way to becoming a quality online writer.