The Long Good read

It is no surprise that I love to write, as an aspiring journalist and writer, partly why I use my blog is to exercise my writing but it is also a way of sharing my interests with others. I have recently finished creating and curating my very own independent publication, Fable and it is something that is very dear to my heart. I chose to tackle the brief alone to test how capable I was of conquering a project on this scale and creativity. Being passionate about the zine's attributes and content was something that goes without saying and I knew from day one that I had to do a literary zine. Something that had principles, ambition and intelligence but above all was an outlet to write, a lot. However, I needed to prove that such a type of publication would be demanded and successful. In this stage of my life, I don't buy many magazines however, the majority of the few I do buy or read online are imaginative, inspiring magazines with plenty to say. A couple of my recent favourites are The Gentle Woman and Delayed Gratification. The Gentle Woman is a new kind of woman's magazine, a publication that features more than just the everyday fashion trends and gossip columns - it features interesting articles on subjects and people we would be proud to know. Take the latest issue with Christy Turlington, it is about inventive, driven women who have done big things with their lives, stories that motivate us to go out there and give our soaring goals a run for their money. Delayed Gratification is exactly what it says on the tin - a publication of slow journalism, it may not be fashion focused but the tone of voice and article content is far more interesting and involving that any short column newspaper. 

I was beginning to see a pattern emerging of new talent; that the written word was becoming far more important than the pretty pictures that go alongside- even though they help too. Journalists are writing longer, more pace-full and it is a joy to read them un-rushed and un-compromised by editorial space. One key example in is the birth of The Long Good Read which features hand-selected articles by Guardian - what they consider to be the best and believe me they can be very long. The content may often be a little too political for me but the principle of celebrating long reads, shredding the short insignificant stuff in order to highlight the very best of formal journalism is a fantastic stance. So, many articles and interviews are tackling this new trend of long read journalism and it all leads to the same conclusion; that it is becoming more demanded and more likely to be the future of journalism.  

This was amazing research to discover for Fable, as my zine is all about storytelling, celebrating and promoting the traditional written art that seems to affect us all whether we realise it or not. In the first issue expect a 1,500 long poem, a couple of personal features, a long un-edited interview and a sample of great responses to storytelling and its importance today.