Journalism and writing careers advice

This part of my site houses articles and resources aimed at journalists and editors, but I've now launched a new and more extensive website dedicated to helping people find out about working in media. It's at www.JournalismCareers.com.

I've also published an ebook collecting together the questions I've been emailed most frequently from this website. Over the last five years I've been asked for advice about how to get into journalism, how to sell stories and how to make a mid-life career switch and much more. This ebook collects and builds upon my answers over the last five years.

The website includes writing and subediting exercises for you to download and try out, an archive of articles about working as a journalist including tips to help improve your writing and advice for school students on journalism careers.

Book writing

• How to write a novel - Advice on the logistics of novel writing, and the three ugly truths you must accept if you are to complete your book.

• Promoting yourself as an author online - In this article, originally published in The Author magazine (Autumn 2006), Sean McManus provides a beginners' guide to setting up and operating an author website

Journalism: writing and editing exercises

• Proofreading exercise - As a subeditor, you're responsible for correcting mistakes in articles and enforcing consistency. Here's an article to try your hand on. It's a real article that has been deliberately broken, so it's a bit over the top. But you'll still need to pay attention to catch everything.

• Broken sentences - In this subediting exercise, you're given 30 deliberately broken sentences. The aim is to edit these sentences, picking up on bad spellings, punctuation and incorrect or confusing word use.

• Finding the angle - Each publication puts its readers' interests first in reporting what's happened, and that means that what's essential to one magazine might not even get a mention in another. Here's an exercise to practise finding the angles in a stories.

Articles about journalism

• Being a journalist - I get a lot of enquiries from journalism students and other freelancers. Check this page for some hints and tips on getting into journalism.

• Ten top tips for successful freelancing - ten steps to more ideas and more business for freelance writers.

• Don't believe the hype - PR people are paid to fight for space in the magazine and desperate to get good coverage. I wouldn't say they'd actually lie to you. But the truth is pretty stretchy stuff.

• Writing for the web - You've invested days in learning to design your site and create the graphics, but how much time have you spent improving the text? Sean McManus offers some writing advice from the experts.

• Don't imitate. Innovate - Circular emails are being broadcast and reproduced verbatim without attempting to discover or credit the original author. This article argues that journalists must ensure they add value to their reporting about the internet.

• Writing with style - an interview with the editor of The Guardian's style guide, explaining its purpose and how it is used.

Journalism portal

I created a portal that provides Google search, quick links to useful resources, a dictionary search and a word of the day. You can set it as your start page.

Lunchbreak games

• Cup stacking typing tutor game - polish your typing skills with this Flash game

• Play Hangman - warm up your brain with the classic word game

• More games - including Wallbuster, Chatback, Misfit and Pairs