wish you improved what you had written after it was sent out?

[AndrewLips]

Do you regret some things in your zines? like, do you wish you wrote that section a little better?

I'm still working on my first and keep re-writing everything, is that normal?

I find it quite hard to say what im trying to say. but i'm trying.

Or are all you quite proud of all of your zines?

I want to knoow!

[Andrew Culture]

Doh, I meant 'point' of course, maybe going out was on my mind!

[Mae Undead]

I am a bit embarrassed of my earlier zines but that's how you learn to make better ones!

[Christopher Raymondo]

Most of the posts above sum up my feelings on the subject. It is, of course, better to get it all down ('Don't leave it all unsaid in the wasteland of your head, tra la la...') and get it out there. Not that I practice what I preach, reading and re-reading pieces and till they're all upside down and back to front and meaningless.

On the other hand, I often find my dissatisfaction with the finished product is what prompts me to start hard on the next issue, dogged and determined to make it bigger! Better! Bolder! And so it goes...

But I must admit, some of the stuff I wrote in my zines two or three years ago makes my eyes water now; not least a piece I wrote about the joys of battered sausage and battered cod, all the more painful to look at now I'm a strict vegetarian. Argh!

[Emma Stronach]

Definitely, my opinions are never set in stone, so many people out there far more knowledgeable than I am, have to listen to them all and let their opinions at least inform mine. Oh rambling Em this evening, sorry :P

Andrew Culture said:

A pint being missed here is that changing an opinion is a sign of intelligence!

[Emma]

Gianni Simone said:

I couldn't agree more, and I think all or most zinesters think just the same. Put out that first zine soon, THEN start thinking about how to make the second one better.

definatly... when i started writing about 2-3 years ago i was 15 writing in my history class about total rubbish and my first zine was horrendus! But you work on it, people within the community write back about things they enjoy and to a certain extent you take that on and use the bits people enjoy to write more of or more of a similar thing in that style. I think with zines its important to get them made esp perzines to get them made so how you feel now is all contained like a public diary to some extents.

I think zines are amazing documents of time, place, people and culture.

[Anna]

I wish I'd made nicer covers for my Creatures of Habit zines. They're pretty plain looking. Maybe I'll do a reissue of them once I've completed the series.