PUBLISHING YOUR OWN MAGAZINE

HOW TO GET STARTED

PAGE FIVE

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS:

In order to obtain the memories of local people you must make contact with as many people as possible and promote your ideas for publishing a specialised local magazine throughout your community. You will find that most people are happy to share their recollections with you and willing to allow you to publish them, once they are aware of your intentions.

However, there is no substitute for getting your first magazine published, and until you do, you may find that many people are reluctant to participate unless they are able to see exactly what you intend to produce.

This is the time for you to remain focused, as it is so easy to become despondent when it appears there are few people who appear willing to support your efforts. But do not worry, I had such a response in my early days and it is just everyone’s natural instinct to be cautious of new ventures.

People need reassurance and time to build trust in you.  In all respects you will probably be a complete stranger to them making it difficult to coax them into revealing what in most cases will be personal experiences of their life – possibly something they have never before revealed to anyone.

One important point to bear in mind here is that while quite often you will discover people willing to divulge personal memories and experiences of their younger days, there is the possibility that some of their recollections may prove of some concern to other members of their family.

In the present day, many of life’s experiences are common place and few people are judged on their social preferences or behaviour. However, not so long ago, much of what we now take for granted was not to be heard of and would be secreted away.

Great strides would be taken to retain respectability within the family and while, as an example, single-mums are today at times through personal choice, previously, such events might well be considered shameful to the family.

It is of course all down to our own personal beliefs although society today has a more understanding attitude and is much more likely to accept events that occur, and which might be regarded by some people as being, out of course.

Elderly people do still retain much self-respect and even now, despite the apparent widespread acceptance of differing social attitudes it is important to consider the possibility that you may cause offence by publishing anything regarded as being of a too personal nature.  If in any doubt at all, then as a matter of importance you should obtain prior confirmation.

Recollections can of course be edited to remove reference to a particular person or situation where such information is deemed likely to prove offensive or upsetting, without detracting from the story itself.

Quite often, once you indicate your desire to obtain personal memories, most people will simply write down their recollections on paper and submit them to you.  Some will be neatly typed out and presented while others will cause you great trouble in trying to decipher them!

I have been told many times by many different people, that they feel unable to write about themselves in such way. It’s not that they don’t have anything to say, but simply because they don’t know how to begin.  I think we all feel that our lives have been uneventful and that we have nothing important to contribute by writing about ourselves, but each of us have reason to tell our own story.

We are all unique and every decision we take determines how our life evolves.  Luck, either good or bad, plays its part and depending on the proportion of one against the other, our life will differ from the next persons. If you combine the outcome of our own unique life with the events that are shared by the community as a whole, then you have a common theme shared by everyone with widely differing views and perspectives of it.  It is a recipe for your success because we all love to hear how other people endured the same things we all experienced.

Local people are a wonderful source of information and you may already know people who have or would be willing to record their memories for you. Begin by asking around your immediate family and friends – there is bound to be someone who has a story to tell.

After many months of repeated requests I persuaded my mother to write about her childhood, based upon the stories I would hear often as a child. Over a period of some months she produced a number of short stories that provided regular content for a number of issues and which were well received by my readers.

My mother enjoyed the instant ‘fame’ and attention it brought as people she knew would stop her in the street and compliment her on her style of writing, which is often quite moving.  She makes reference to events and simple acts in life that everyone is able to relate to.

Some people are able to turn an ordinary story into something that touches your heart and my mother has a great talent for producing interesting and very entertaining stories that command your attention until the very end.

It should prove well within your capabilities to source sufficient material to begin with and that in turn will entice others to play their own part.

Once people begin reading stories submitted by others and recalling the events mentioned it is only a matter of time before they too put pen to paper and submit their own stories.

Michael Norfolk.