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Making Waves

Writers’ Guidelines

Making Waves is a feminist magazine committed to addressing issues related to women, justice and theology. It strives to give voice to diverse expressions, and to connect people who are part of the wider network of women and men working to free church and society from racism, ageism, sexism, and classism, and from teachings and practices that discriminate against women. It addresses issues from an ecumenical faith perspective and seeks to articulate a vision of God’s world where all may have abundant life.

Published by the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada and supported by churches and organizations of women of faith, Making Waves is both national and ecumenical, and contains local and global news, insights and reflection from a variety of women’s voices, and liturgical resources and reviews. Issues focus on specific themes, such as: racial diversity and difference, Aboriginal women, spirituality and creation, visions of “being church”, reconciliation, non-violence and peacemaking, women of African heritage, women doing theology in Canada, young women, and refugees and migrant women.

Readers are Writers are Readers

Since we are a non-profit publication, all of our writers are volunteers (and most are women). We generally solicit articles around a particular issue from people who are personally connected with that issue, and with an eye for writers who represent Canada’s diverse ethnicity, geography, church affiliation, etc. We also welcome news, commentary, theological reflection, book reviews and other items which would be of interest to our readership. Our readership consists of about 1,300 women (and some men) across Canada who are interested or involved in working on gender justice issues in church and society.

Content

We encourage you to write from a personal point of view, perhaps by using storytelling or reflection, as it helps readers connect with your experience; focusing on specific examples or anecdotes helps to ground your writing in real life. We also encourage you to include background information, definitions or statistics in the interest of helping readers understand complex issues, and provide links to websites or other sources where they can find more information. Please avoid using academic language but do provide references if appropriate.

Biography

We want to ensure you receive proper credit, so please include one or two sentences about yourself, including where you live and how you connect with the issue you’ve written on.

Style

We usually adhere to CP style, using British spellings and avoiding honorifics. Since most of our contributors are not professional writers, we don’t fuss too much about your style; we’re more interested in what you have to say than in how you say it.

Length

Much depends on content: if you’re providing a report or reflection, usually 500 - 800 words is sufficient. The inside back page “Groundswell” commentary is about 750 - 800 words. However, for a more in-depth article or analysis piece, we usually ask for between 800 and 1,500 words, but that could be expanded up to 2,500 words if you have more to say and you enjoy writing!

Format

If possible, please send all written material by e-mail. Both Corel WordPerfect and Microsoft Word are acceptable, or include the document in the body of your e-mail.

Illustrations / photographs

Any graphics, photos or other visual elements are a definite bonus. The best photos are of people, preferably doing something rather than posed, and since most are reproduced in black-and-white, we need them to have good focus and contrast. Decide what photos you like – and chances are that other readers will like them too! Send one or two, or more if you like (and if you can), and please include a credit for the photographer/artist as well as appropriate information to identify the content. Tiffs and jpegs are both acceptable; please make sure the quality is at least 100 pixels/inch (300 is best).

We also have a commitment to featuring the work of Canadian women artists both inside our publication and on our full-colour covers. If you are an artist or know someone who has artwork that would be suitable for a specific issue of Making Waves, please contact us.

Working together

Making Waves has a volunteer editorial task group, whose members brainstorm on ideas, identify and focus on issues and connect with people across Canada as we search for stories and writers.  We also invite experts and activists who are knowledgeable in specific areas to advise us as a consultative group for each issue of Making Waves.

Gillian Barfoot, WICC’s Communications Coordinator, is editor of Making Waves. Norah McMurtry, Program Coordinator for WICC, also provides content and support for Making Waves.

Making Waves is produced by a collaborative effort between WICC staff and volunteers across Canada. Our task is to stay out of your way as much as possible so that your voice can be heard. We are always glad – thrilled, actually – to discuss your ideas, concerns and suggestions. Please share your story concepts or other ideas with us by contacting Gillian by phone at 416-929-5184 or by email. We look forward to hearing from you, and working with you. And thank you for being willing to write!

Feedback

We welcome your feedback, letters to the editor, story queries and ideas for future issues. Look for information on upcoming themes in future issues of Making Waves, and let us know what you would like us to improve – and what we are doing right!