When I ask students about their writing goals, almost everyone says they want to write a book. (A lot say they want to write a series, but that’s a whole other post.) It’s the rare person (and I mean rare as in you can count them on one hand and have fingers left) that ever says they want to write for magazines.
Why books? I hear a lot of I-can’t-get-the-word-count-down or I-just-have-too-much-to-tell. (Well, you can get the word count down, but that’s another post, too.) Although it’s true, some writers are long writers, you don’t choose writing a book simply because it gives you unlimited space to prattle on about everything. For this, I suggest a journal. You choose writing a book because you write long, intricate stories.
But what about magazines? I can hear the newbies now: Who wants bread when you can have cake? Except it’s not a question of one being better than the other. It’s all about how you write. Not every writer can write everything (although a few do—think Jane Yolen). Some write long, some write short, some write fiction, others are put on this earth for nonfiction. And then there are poets. Some writers cross over and dip into several genres, some don’t. For short writers, magazines can be a perfect fit.
Unless you’re famous and have millions of readers, magazines also give you an audience. Highlights for Children reaches approximately two million readers. And isn’t that the point? Isn’t it the kids we’re writing for?
When I was a child, I went to the library All. The. Time. Books were part of my life. But it was my magazine subscriptions that thrilled me more—even a wee bit more than the books on my bookshelves. Why? Because they had my name on the label. They came right to my house. These stories were written just for me. Magazines are important; just as important as books. So if you can write short, do give magazines a try. There are millions of kids out there waiting for your work.
Nancy's Knit Knacks Heavy Duty Ball Winder
I went on a spree yesterday—I bought the ball winder I’ve had my eye on.
Hornshaw WoodWorks Swift
And I found a great swift, too. The ball winder winds skeins of yarn into a center-pull ball, and the swift is the twirly-thing with long arms (don’t you love technical language?) that holds the wool around the pegs. After you put your skein around the pegs, you attach one end of the wool to the ball winder. As the wool gets pulled, it spins and feeds the wool to the winder. Neat.
So what does this have to do with anything?
Writers, like knitters, need to have the right tools. In knitting, your tools are obvious—good needles, which includes the right needles for right yarns; stitch markers; winders and swifts; and so on.
But what are writers’ tools? A dictionary is one. My preference is Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Your favorite pens, paper, keyboard, input device (desktop or laptop), and the like are others. But I think there’s something else, another tool, that is also important. Research.
I see a lot of nonfiction manuscripts that are well-thought out with kid-friendly topics—but no research. Or just wiki. (Same thing.) Why? The most common reason I get from students is they’re scared of research. (The other is they don’t have the time and wiki is so easy. Don’t get me started on that…)
Yes, research requires effort. And no, it’s not like my swift and ball winder where you pull from one source (research), into another (your manuscript). I think if you look at research as learning—learning about your topic—then it might not seem so scary. And when you’ve learned all the nooks and crannies of your topic, you can sit down and write about it, as if you were telling a friend all about what you learned.
Tools are important. They can make or break your craft. But you shouldn’t be scared of them. Yes, they require effort—like cranking the ball winder requires your elbow-grease to wind a ball—but then there’s always been a direct correlation between effort and achievement, now, hasn’t there? 
Your tools are a way to get there. Use them. And have fun with your writing.
