Be Your Own Editor

A recent perusal of the magazine section at Barnes & Noble told me what I already suspected: the pickings of useful magazines for writers (that’s writers, not readers) are slim indeed. I bought all four, and sat down to peruse Writers’ Journal first. My conclusion? While the magazine contains some too-vague advice and off-topic filler, it peppers its pages with enough useful tips to make it worth the $19.97 annual subscription fee for six issues—but only if you’re a novice writer.

The articles in Writers’ Journal vary widely in quality. A section in the issue titled “Vocabulary Review” contained an article on “Nyms”—you know, as in antonyms, homonyms, and synonyms. Why lump these very different categories of words together in the same article? Just for the sake of a cutesy title? Also, in the nine tips for “neutralizing the destructive power” of such words, only one actual example is given. Two synonyms. Not so helpful. The rest of the article either offers vague advice such as “join or assemble a group of writers” or refers readers to other (paid) sources for general writing help, including an online course, EnglishGrammar101.com, which is meant for students learning English, not for creative writers. She also mentions common style guides such as The Elements of Style, “by William Strunk, Jr., and pals.” Pals? The (one) pal who coauthored that book was E. B. White. He wrote a few other books, too.

Also, though its cover proudly identifies Writers’ Journal as “The Complete Writer’s Magazine,” a few seemingly random photography-themed articles and contests appear, whose relationship to fiction writing goes unexplained. Really weird. If I wanted to read an article about an advanced digital photography technique, interesting as it may be, I’d buy a photography magazine.

On the positive side, an article encouraging brash self-promotion for authors made me laugh while offering ideas I would never have thought up (”If a cashier asks for picture ID, show them your picture on the book”). Would I do that? No. But you might. And I would put my book on the table when in a restaurant, or contact local bookstores to suggest they stock my book.

The magazine also offers a number of annual contests, some for general short fiction, some for genre fiction. While the prizes aren’t huge and the readership may not be either, the entry fees are low, so it may be worth a try to get your writing into print.

Writers’ Journal needs to be more selective and focused in its content, especially given that it’s a magazine about writers. One article about logic in writing described the author’s experience writing a letter to a newspaper editor in defense of George W. Bush. A Democratic reader wrote a reply using an illogical argument to attack her. This might be a fine example to use in an article about logic in nonfiction writing—if the article contained any specific examples of how logic can be used or misused in forms other than letters to the editor. It doesn’t. And since almost everything in the magazine is about fiction, this article, along with one about query letters that concerns only freelance magazine writers, seems out of place.

The bottom line: if you’re just starting out as a writer and don’t know an agent from an editor, or romance from chick lit, or if you simply need as many tips as you can get, Writers’ Journal might be worth reading. But if you already know your writing process, have some work under your belt, and know the basics of the publishing business, I recommend looking for a more polished and advanced magazine such as Writer’s Digest.

Is there a writing magazine you love (or hate)? Tell us about it below.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 19th, 2007 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Must-reads for Writers, Writing Contests & Exercises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.