By Terreece M. Clarke
Ever have an article topic that has been written about so many times you can’t see any new way to cover it? I have. This is especially true for evergreen topics. While evergreen topics are promoted because of the their timelessness and consistent audience, they can become a writer’s block trap for freelancers who are stuck trying to find a new angle.
So what’s a writer to do? Well today I thought it would be fun to have you, the FWJ community, give and ask for help on article angles.
I’ll go first. I have scheduled for my parenting blog a breastfeeding entry. I’m stuck on figuring out which way to hit a topic that has been hit so many times it looks like construction cone in Driver’s Ed. Guys, chime right on in! Dads have an important role in breastfeeding too. (I think I may already be on to an idea…)
Jump on in with your angle needs FWJ and if you’ve seen an article that could have had a better angle, drop your ideas on the community. You never know who may be trolling for inspiration.
Though this may not work for blogs, typically I’ll ask contacts “what’s new” in the last year/month/etc. You can also monitor some wires via business wire, using key words to search for new press releases that can trigger some ideas.
The Dad angle is definitely the way to go. How to be supportive and not obviously grossed out (until you just get used to it).
I never have a problem getting a new angle on something, but for me it’s just a matter of calling on my outsider status. Pretend you know nothing about the topic (guilty!). What’s the topic like? What does the jargon sound like? Relate it to something else that’s similar, or get a good handle on first principles that no one ever talks about.
Or, when in doubt, mix up genders or races. Always a good time!
I still remember my best friend calling me up after she started breastfeeding her son a couple years ago and developing cracks and blisters. Despite what all the “experts” said about if it hurts to breastfeed, you’re not doing it right, I was doing it right and my skin was sensitive enough that I was developing blisters on my nipples. No one had ever told me that, so I had to actually see my doctor because I was convinced I was screwing it up. It wasn’t until my daughter three years later that I read a report that those with sensitive skin may well develop blisters from the powerful suction, and boy a baby’s suction power is incredible.
Another thing I learned quickly that no one had ever told me that she also called me up to say, “Wow, you were right…” In the tub/shower, if my baby started crying triggering that maternal response, I didn’t just leak, I would spray like a squirt gun. The flow rate was incredible!
Sadly, it wasn’t until my friends had babies and were also breastfeeding that we were able to compare what nurses said versus the realities. It was very sad some of the misinformation that was still cycling around.
Great topic Terreece! I have some thoughts….
*What if you hate breastfeeding?
*Should women breastfeed in public?
*Should public places provide rooms so women can breastfeed with some privacy? How can that be implemented?
*When your milk won’t let down – techniques to help (Does beer really work for this?)
Good idea Phil.
Erik – wha? Writers writing about something they know nothing about? Say it ain’t so! LOL. The things we become overnight experts at…
Ann – you’ve got me making lough guffaws in the coffee shop. I have a very vivid, overactive imagination and I just imagined a woman in the shower and then she ends up blasting off the bathroom tile.
Jodee – Beer? Really? Now I haven’t seen that one before, definitely intrigued!!!
@ Ann and Terreece: I have done the squirt gun thing in the shower, actually, after I had both my babies.
@ Terreece: I understand that at one point if you were having trouble relaxing enough to breastfeed, the hospital used to give out *one* beer so that the milk would let down. Of course, this practice was discontinued before I started a family….darn!
I breastfed my adopted baby…it’s a little-known fact, but you can do it. There are some resources online…a totally great breastfeeding topic to cover!
Carol Tice
http://www.caroltice.com
(206) 780-0995
Breastfeeding as a fetish. Seriously, think of the hits on that stuff. You can keep it light without breaking any taste or content rules too. Check this, but I’m pretty sure you can do better:
http://www.breastfeeding123.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-breastfeeding-sex-and-breast-milk-fetishes-but-were-afraid-to-ask/
In going with the oft-debated breastfeeding in public theme:
Why are Boobs Least Attractive When Doing What They were Designed For?
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with public breastfeeding, but I just think it’s a funny anomoly that men will pay to see breasts and think about them for a good 88% of their waking day, but the minute that a baby’s involved–Oh no put those away! The humanity!!
Keeping with the breastfeeding in public theme:
Where do you draw the line?
Would you breastfeed at a five-star restaurant? In church? At a funeral?
I’m sure there are some women who have breast-fed their children in all of these places (and more), but probably plenty of others who have elected not to. I think it would be an interesting issue to explore.
Good luck!
Carol, that is a wonderful topic and I didn’t know that was possible. Expect to hear from me soon.
Chris – That’s funny!
Now I didn’t set out to turn this into a boob blog :0) but I did get some great ways to go from you guys and you’ll have to see what I’m going to do. It’ll be interesting.
OK you lurkers out there – I know at least three of you are having trouble coming up with an angle for an article. Go ahead and post, you’ve got a great group of writers on the #1 freelance writing web site waiting to help you. Don’t be shy, post!
Now the breastfeeding in public issue came up here in Kentucky a few months ago when a fast food manager had a mother arrested for feeding her baby. Interestingly though, all of the men in the restaurant said they weren’t bothered by it – they hadn’t even noticed and so what, she was feeding her baby. It was the women in the restaurant who all complained and started yelling at her that she was disgusting. Maybe there’s something in that for you, Terreece.
I am working on a story about International Wedding Rituals. I would love to learn about a new angle on this topic!
Beer works. Start the beer about 15 minutes before feeding time for the best effect.
However, you could always mention when the letdown is so strong the baby can’t swallow fast enough and ends up choking on it. It’s happened…turned out I didn’t need the beer after all, lol.
I breastfed my twins (before Angelina Jolie came along). They were preemies and came home from the hospital drinking from preemie bottles, which basically pour the milk down their throats.
I pumped, fed bottles and practiced breastfeeding with them until they finally got the hang of it. It took about a month. A long, frustrating, sore nipples, “I don’t know if I want to keep doing this,” month.
Everytime I was completely ready to give up my husband kept urging me to just give it one more shot. I did.
In addition to his support, I found support online. While I never participated in forums, I read everything I could about breastfeeding. Blogs were particularly helpful because they provided real examples of other new moms (of twins and singles) who were experiencing exactly what I was going through and making their own decisions about breastfeeding.
A resource list of breastfeeding blogs, forums, online information/support groups, etc. would be a great angle for your post.
Not necessarily appropriate for a parenting or tips type article, but I still think it’d be interesting to talk about breastfeeding practices across cultures. For example, in Mexico it’s not uncommon to see a mother walking down the street, with her two year old holding on for dear life, lips latched on to her nipple.
And my husband swears he was breastfed until an embarrassingly old age, which makes me twitchy yet no one blinked an eye in his indigenous village.
I’ve read that a Baby can be allergic to a mother’s milk (i.e. have a negative reacttion to the protein in the mother’s milk). Your article could explore what it means and whether it’s a reversable condition, and if so, what you can do to make sure you can breastfeed your child painlessly.
@Jodee and Terreece – My mom is British and for years it was advised that nursing mothers drank half a pint of Guinness to help them relax and let the milk flow most efficiently.
@Damaria – My neighbor’s teen son’s girlfriend had a baby this year. THe infant almost died. Turns out he had Celiac’s Disease and while the infant’s mom thought she was doing the best by breastfeeding him (she’s 16 so that wasn’t an easy choice for her), it turned out that her breastmilk was actually killing her son because of the wheat she’d been eating. As she was still in high school, she had to give up breastfeeding because she wasn’t willing to alter her diet that drastically, especially not when the high school was providing her with free breakfast and lunch. The baby was switched to a special formula and he’s thriving now.
Jennifer – International Wedding Customs…Maybe something about how to introduce the customs to wedding guests before the event. How to find a wedding planner that is fluent in mixing customs. The wedding dress – how different customs approach it. Top web site with international wedding gear. Fusion weddings – the trend, the planners & some couples… Hope that helps!
Okay folks :0) Monday I’m launching a new series on my parenting channel that will be all about breastfeeding. I’m using all of the great ideas you all have given me. There was just so many good ones I couldn’t pick!
Any more angles for Jennifer’s article?
@Jennifer – here are some ideas:
- The art of henna has been practiced for thousands of years by many cultures in South Asia, the Middle east and North Africa. What does henna mean to the bride and the women in her family? What does a very dark shade of henna mean? If you are a westerner and your friend is getting married, would you let her family paint you?
- The bride price -There are a lot of cultures in the Middle east, South Asia where the bride must bring a dowry. What happens if you’re a guy marrying someone from this culture? Do you take the money and say “thanks” even though the dowry is not part of your Western culture? Do uou decline the dowry? Is it an insult to refuse dowry?
- By contrast, in many African cultures, the groom must pay his finance’s family the “bride price.” The exchange of money/goods strengthens the ties between the two families. This can be a good way for both sides of the family to get to know each other, or an excuse to extort huge amounts of cash.
Would you pay? if the bride’s family offered to let you forego the process, as it’s not your culture, would you agree? What does this practice mean to the love of your life? And if you did pay, would it be an electronic transfer (cellphone banking allows you to send money to the most rural of African villages:-) or would you rather your family represntatives travel to the Boondooks and negotiate the marriage on your behalf?
Re: New Breastfeeding Angle…
Data find that overweight women are more likely to quit breastfeeding early compared with their skinny counterparts. Why? And what can be done to reverse this?
(As an overweight woman who breastfeeds her infant, I can say that I am self-conscious about my body and it was tough for me to breastfeed in public in the beginning for fear of drawing attention to my body. I got over it because I needed to feed and comfort my baby…but I don’t see any articles that tackle this subject.)
Jennifer-
Re: International Wedding Rituals
An interesting way to make it personal may be to turn it into informative questions like:
Would you do want your wedding guests to all wear this at your wedding? You would if you were getting married in -insert location here-. Etc.
Re: Breastfeeding
Maybe an article geared to help women with how to react to those that are offended with public breastfeeding. Like ten things to say when confronted by someone offended by your breastfeeding in public.
My breasts or yours? Why is it that when you decide to breast feed your baby, your breasts which have been private property and kept under wraps at all times whilst in the company of others can suddenly become acceptable guests in their own right at a family / friends social gathering? Is it possibly that your breasts no longer belong to you, but have in fact unfaithfully decamped to the opposition? When I say opposition, I mean the sweet baby who likes to play, feed and poop for hours on end, as long as those hours fall between midnight and 5am of course. And of course not to mention the state of our breasts by the time our little Angel has sucked the life out of them a few months later so that they no longer even look like your breasts let alone remotely felt like your own breasts in months! From an individuals point of view it’s almost impossible to imagine why any woman would do this kind of compromising torture to any part of their body let alone the part that most makes them feel like a beautiful and sensual woman, but that’s just the point isn’t it? As a mother you are no longer an individual are you? You are in fact one half of a double act that is now and forever more you and baby too. And wierdly, you just don’t mind either, you don’t mind lots of things that you thought you would hate and never get used to and you don’t mind sharing your most prized assets either, not just with your baby of course but the whole restaurant too, or whichever unfortunate member of the family you happen to be sitting next to when your left breast falls out of it’s double G cup while you are burping the baby on your knee and haven’t noticed. So as long as you don’t mind, then why should anyone else? After all, it’s not everyday someone wants to show you their boobs is it?