nd how the parts should be
arranged. Time spent in thus planning an article is time well spent.

Outlining the subject fully involves thinking out the article from
beginning to end. The value of each item of the material gathered must
be carefully weighed; its relation to the whole subject and to every
part must be considered. The arrangement of the parts is of even greater
importance, because much of the effectiveness of the presentation will
depend upon a logical development of the thought. In the last analysis,
good writing means clear thinking, and at no stage in the preparation of
an article is clear thinking more necessary than in the planning of it.

Amateurs sometimes insist that it is easier to write without an outline
than with one. It undoubtedly does take less time to dash off a special
feature story than it does to think out all of the details and then
write it. In nine cases out of ten, however, when a writer attempts to
work out an article as he goes along, trusting that his ideas will
arrange themselves, the result is far from a clear, logical,
well-organized presentation of his subject. The common disinclination to
make an outline is usually based on the difficulty that most persons
experience in deliberately thinking about a subject in all its various
aspects, and in getting down in logical order the results of such
thought. Unwillingness to outline a subject generally means
unwillingness to think.

THE LENGTH OF AN ARTICLE. The length of an article is determined by two
considerations: the scope of the subject, and the policy of the
publication for which it is intended. A large subject cannot be
adequately treated in a brief space, nor can an important theme be
disposed of satisfactorily in a few hundred words. The length of an
article, in general, should be proportionate to the size and the
importance of the subject.

The deciding factor, however, in fixing the length of an article is the
policy of the periodical for which it is designed. One popular
publication may print articles from 4000 to 6000 words, while another
fixes the limit at 1000 words. It would be quite as bad judgment to
prepare a 1000-word article for the former, as it would be to send one
of 5000 words to the latter. Periodicals also fix certain limits for
articles to be printed in particular departments. One monthly magazine,
for instance, has a department of personality sketches which range from
800 to 1200 words in length, whil