Before we start talking about how to make different types of media (magazines, books, collages, etc), we should spend some time studying the media we want to make. Taking time to really know what you are going to make is one of the very first rules of all good creating--it's what I teach to my university students!
Let's start by looking at zines. A zine (short for magazine) is what it sounds like: a little magazine. Girls in the past decided that they were sick of not being taken seriously by grown ups or by publishing companies. They knew that they were not being taken seriously because they were young or poor or even because they were girls. So they decided to publish their own writing! They did this by making their own booklets of writing that they then gave to their friends, kept for themselves or even sold them to distros. Distros are like teeny companies that only publish zines (most big publishing companies only publish books or magazines!).
Zines are made by hand and follow the rules of the author--which means if you make your own zine, you have total control over it!
Here are some pictures of different types of zines:
See how they're all different sizes and colors? Each author of the zine wanted to create something that let readers know--this zine was made by me. I am different than other people. For a lot of girls being different is really important, but they aren't sure how to be different without feeling silly. Zines are a really good way to start figuring out who you are and what you like. Do you like clean simple black and white pictures? Or bright pink and purple pictures that take up your whole page? If you don't like how something turns out, you can either keep the zine private or just start over again!
The best thing is, there are a LOT of girls and women making their own zines--they have their own advice for other girls and are really happy to help and give advice to newbies!
Look at this awesome suggestion from a girl zinester:
Every girl out there should take some photos
or write some poems or rants or essays or
short stories and start her own true, passionate, heartfelt zine.
(Persephone is Pissed, U.S.)
(via: http://grrrlzines.net/about.htm)
Stay tuned, we'll be talking here about how to make your own zine soon!