Writing for Trebuchet

The late, great controversialist Lester Bangs, considered one of the most iconic music journalists of all time, gave Cameron Crowe his first real assignment: 500 words on Black Sabbath

(Or at least that’s how it goes in Almost Famous).

In the frame of Trebuchet, we ask all new writers to strive to be factual and unique in often unfamiliar territory. So given the subject of Black Sabbath, one of the most written about bands in history, each writer is required to be original in their perspective and scintillating in their prose to scream above the noise.

Writing for Trebuchet: the basics. 

1. You must write in the third person.
2. Your arguments must be based in fact, progress logically, and lead somewhere resounding.
3. You need to give your piece a TITLE and a SUBHEADING – this should describe the core idea and premise of your article in an appealing manner.
4. Reading through other pieces on the subject (i.e Black Sabbath) you should try to find an approach that is different from the others. It has to be fresh.

In short: focus, research, differentiation, and appeal.

Bon chance and happy hunting.

2020 Addendum: It’s important to read through the other articles on Black Sabbath we’ve published and use that as your guide on what NOT to repeat. We’re looking for a bit of spark! Not necessarily super technical nor flashy writing but something with a bit of insight, detail and soul. Sadly, this means that we won’t accept personal stories of first listens in small towns with old friends and cheap wine — third person treatise only please.

1. Black Sabbath: A Brief Review by Ruthie Carlisle
2. Black Sabbath: Love them, Loathe Them by Gareth Davies
3. Proclivity in Black by Scott J. Ryan
4. Black Sabbath: Heavy Metal’s Big Bang by James Domone
5. Black Sabbath; Old, outdated, and more current than ever by Simon Parker
6. Black Sabbath: Masters of Vertigo by Isabell Jacobson
7. Owning the Black Sabbath Legacy by Meltem Yumulgan
8. Sabbath in Space: The Multiplicity of Metal Through Softer Songs by Rhiannon Williams
9. Black Sabbath: Master of Couplets by Rhett Fisher
10. Black Sabbath: Black Magic by Keri O’Shea
11. Blood Sacrifice in Birmingham: Fingertips at the Crossroads by Jeffrey Wengrofsky
12. Black Sabbath: Walpurgis 1970 by Justin Freeman
13. Black Sabbath: The Besmirched of England by William Watt
14. Black Sabbath: There’s No Rock ‘n’ Roll in Reading the Classics by Nick Soulsby
15. Black Sabbath Hate Witches. by Alexander Clarke

 Submit your 500 words on Black Sabbath here

[Bumped on 2 feb 2014 in memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman, originally posted August 9th 2011, revised often]
Credit: Illustration by Derren Toussaint. 2018.

Trebuchet Magazine

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle