You too can write articles

You do not have to be a journalist or have perfect grammar or excellent spelling skills to write an article.
An editor’s job is to take submitted material and correct any mistakes before fitting it into the page.
I have received articles with a note from the author telling me to print it as is, and not alter it in any way, and I have had others who have asked me to make any changes necessary.
If you have the ability to send clear, printable graphics or photos that’s fine. If not, I am happy to find suitable ones to match your article.
Not everyone has access to a computer, so neat handwriting is perfectly acceptable but if you are able to type your article, it is a lot easier for me to use as I can scan it directly into my computer without having to re-type it.

A few tips to start with:

Write about something you know, or have access to plenty of accurate reference material.
Keep it to a maximum of two or three A5 pages (that’s the size of the magazine page) unless it is an in-depth piece. Even just a paragraph or two is helpful.
Stick to the facts. If writing about a visit to a pet shop, talk about the shop, not what you wore or how you got there etc - unless it has relevance to the story.
If reporting on an event, remember that a lot of your funny asides may only make sense and be amusing to those who were actually there at the time.
You don’t have to be an expert. Methods of breeding etc are different. Whatever worked for you must be OK.

How I write articles

Decide on my topic.
Search for any books or magazine articles (and pictures) I have on the subject. Check the Net too (but don’t believe everything).
Read all the relevant articles found and discard those which only repeat information already in others.
Use information to form my own article, rearranging words and sentences when necessary to avoid copyright.
List all the books, magazines and web sites used in a Reference at the end of the article.

Little bits and pieces of information, or hints, are always useful to use as fillers at the bottom of a page.
“Did you know…”, or the meaning of certain aquatic words or terms are always appreciated. Short jokes (preferably fish related), slogans, one-liners etc are all handy.

The magazine is only as good as the contributions. Everyone has something to offer the hobby and the Aquarium World magazine is the ideal place to tell everyone what you have found out, made, tried or experimented with. Even failures teach us something and we can make sure others don’t repeat our mistakes.

Caryl Simpson