A collective of 20somethings thinking about faith and life
We’re on the lookout for sparkling copy, witty and gritty pieces, original insight and engaging articles. Our articles wrestle with topics and issues that are relevant to 20-somethings in the Church, but which won’t put off young people who have left the Church or have never set foot inside a church building.
We want to show that faith really can have something to say about every area of our lives – about what we watch, about how we vote, about who we date.
No topic will be off-limits. So if there’s an article you’ve always wanted to write; write it. Put down your thoughts, opinions and insights on topics relevant to our audience. From The Only Way is Essex to the US elections; from dating advice to dealing with depression; we’re open to just about anything. And as to word limit? Between 600 and 800 words is perfect.
Here are 10 handy pointers for writing an article for threads:
- Be surprising – The web is full of stuff; words upon words written about pretty much everything. threads articles should say something different. They shouldn’t rehash what’s been said before, but provide a unique slant on new or age-old topics, or talk about things that we don’t normally talk about. Above all, they should have something unique to say.
- Be authentic – We want our writers to be real, to share what you honestly think; things you are struggling with, your hopes and dreams, your frustrations and disappointments. A lack of authenticity has been one of the main reasons people leave the Church. We want threads to be a community of people comfortable with asking questions, so that we can show how our messy lives and our even messier world make sense within God’s perfect plan.
- Avoid Christianese – threads is a holistic-mission-sitting-under-the-word-brother-and-sister-in-Christ-free-zone. We (might) understand what these words mean, but Christian jargon alienates those who are not immersed in Christian culture, making us look like an exclusive club. Choose accessible, straightforward words that are easy for everyone to understand.
- Be succinct – Why use 15 words when you can use five? Our readers are busy and your article is probably one of 30 different windows open in their browser. So aim for articles of up to 700 words in length. We’re sure your sparkly content will have them at ‘hello’ and keep them hooked until your closing line.
- Think style – We’re going for the G2 or Times 2 feel rather than The Sun or The Financial Times. Think intelligent with the occasional splash of satire; avoiding tabloid puns or exaggeration, but remember there’s no need to be too straight-laced.
- Think ‘now’ for news – If you want to write something newsy, make sure it’s not too time-sensitive as what’s current today will not be current next week. So don’t write about Whitney’s death a week after it’s happened, but think of topics that are either current or long-term.
- Think ‘timeless’ for features – Features, opinion pieces or comment will be the stuff that threads thrives on. So when you’re writing these, don’t make them time-sensitive, but timeless. There are lots of timeless topics – doubt, rejection, love, money, justice – all the good stuff.
- Play nicely – even when we’re asking the toughest questions and addressing the most uncomfortable topics, we want to treat everyone kindly. So when writing a critique, do it graciously. We want to challenge Church and culture, without causing disunity. We want to question ways of thinking and behaving without being damning and judgmental. So choose grace-filled words.
- Avoid puff pieces – readers can smell an advertorial a mile away. While we’re excited about bringing together writers who might work for a wide range of different organisations, our content cannot be full of puff pieces promoting certain products or initiatives. We’ll do our best to signpost job titles, blogs and websites in bylines though – which should help the fact that we’re unable to pay you for articles.
- Join the conversation – stay with your story. Once your article has been published, keep an eye out for comments that you can respond to. Readers will love knowing that they can engage with the writer directly. Sometimes you’ll need to be thick-skinned, but we’re sure you can take it.
The details
Email [email protected] with your story ideas and we’ll let you know the deadline.
If you’ve got photographs to accompany the article, send through as attachments.
Include your name, a short bio, a profile pic and the website or blog you’d like to be associated with.