How To Pitch A Magazine Story

An excellent primer from successful freelancer Jennifer Kahn:

Never pitch a story until you know who the characters are going to be and understand the arc of their story: You may not know exactly how the story ends, but you need to know the heart of the story. That's the only way you can guarantee the piece will be interesting. Otherwise, it's what I call "junk in the trunk." As in, "Hey magazine editor, I found a trunk full of junk. How about paying me to go on an expensive trip to rummage through the trunk and hopefully I'll come back with a gold medallion."

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Hey, freelancers: What can you add to this? (Or do you disagree?)