Concerning The Magazine Section
p. 55 · Read in the full issue
WHEN the Magazine Section of “PIM” came into being. 18 months ago, it did so over the prostrate (if not dead) bodies of a number of people. It has survived because the atmospherics created by this writer in defence of it were slightly more potent than those created by the people who wished it to the devil.
Readers’ reactions to this section we do not know; but, judging by the increasing number of contributions to it, it at least is read.
It is our belief that every Islands resi dent has got at least one good factual story to tell, and that the Magazine Section is where it should be told. How ever, the majority of those who feel the urge to write prefer, for some reason, to write fiction, in the form of the short
stopy- This is the most difficult of all types of writing, and as a conse quence the short stories we receive arc generally far below the standard of the factual stories which we prefer.
We do not wish to discourage the fiction writers; but it may be pointed out that in the Islands there is usually no need to journey into the realms of fancy to get an entertaining story.. There is, in every day’s march, something to create interest and surprise, or to give one a laugh.. A factual story, with photographs if possible, is worth a dozen mediocre short stories. Even the small “Tropical ity,” for which we pay 5/- irrespective of length, is not to be sneered at.
All stories should be kept to modest length—space is a consideration these
clays.