Guidelines for Writing an Article

Requirements for New Contributors

All new contributors, those who have not previously published at Anchored Passion, are required to write a book review before writing in our other sections. Book reviews, generally unlike articles written for our other sections, focus on: 

• Thoughtful explanation of the background information necessary in understanding a text 
• Summarizing or describing a text briefly and effectively 
• Providing positive analysis of a text (i.e. what book x did well)
• Providing negative analysis of a text (i.e. where book x fell short)
• Why the reader should consider reading this text 

It is important to note that book reviews utilize both descriptive and argumentative analysis. It is not only significant that the text is described and summarized, but also that the reader is aware of your own opinion on the book. Book reviews are required for all new contributors because they force the writer to utilize different critical and rhetorical skills, allowing editors to gauge the ability of any new contributor before allowing them to publish in different sections. Furthermore, Anchored Passion is not subject to publish all new content that is submitted by contributors, but is rather committed to upholding a standard of intellectual and Christian excellence. You can view an example of a book review here.

The Gospel

Each article should be thoroughly centered around the Gospel. Whether you are writing about the nature of Christ or appreciating Renaissance art, your article should deal with that topic through the lens of the Gospel. Frame your article around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the good news of Jesus’ perfect life and death serves as the primary motivation by which our team and audience respond to articles.

Scripture

Each article should be concerned with Scripture. The Word of God should influence the way you think about whatever topic you are writing about – and by extension, you should engage Scripture in your article, discussing how God’s Word speaks into whatever topic you are dealing with. 

Accessible

Each article should be accessible to a wide reach of audience. Anchored Passion does have some more academic articles and some more conversational, but they are all intended to reach a broad audience. Your article should strike a balance of clarity without becoming too lofty or casual.

Formatting

Font: All articles should be in 12 point font in Times New Roman. Headings should be in bold 14 point font, and subheadings should be in bold 12 point font.

Clarity: Use big words only as you need them. Define what you mean when you use a complex word, or set of words. Do not make the article too conversational. Make it easy to read and engaging for our readers both intellectually and spiritually by balancing between an academic and conversational tone.

Length: Typically our articles span three pages in 12 point font. Each article should be around 1500 words long. We do have several article series if you think you could write significantly more than 1500 words. At that point, we would publish your article in installments.

Sentence Structure: Keep sentences simple and to the point. They should be easy to understand. Try and very sentence length some to make the article interesting and easy-flowing.

Paragraphs: Since we are an online publication, we want relatively short paragraphs. This parcels out the article to readers in a way that makes it easy and quick to read. This does not mean that we want every paragraph to be two short sentences. It’s your judgment on what looks too short and what looks too long. Paragraphs from 3-4 sentences are average and ideal.

Article Structure: The article should have a clear opening and closing. In between, the ideas within your article should flow in a logical way.  By the end, it should have brought up some sort of question and, in some way, answered that question. It should also have some practical application.

Conclusion

As you begin brainstorming your article, you should look at previous articles to familiarize yourself with how past contributors applied these guidelines. Additionally, you should review our Core of Beliefs and Passion pages. Lastly, focus on these three ideas as you begin writing your submission:

• Focus your article through the lens of the Gospel
• Speak the truth in a spirit of love
• Write with clarity without becoming too lofty or casual

Prior to submitting anything, we ask that you provide a thesis (i.e. your main idea expressed within one sentence) statement, an introduction paragraph, main points which elaborate upon your thesis, and the Scriptural background for your article. When you are ready to submit your submission, you can do so here. A contributor coordinator will be in touch with you shortly.