Kia Ora, hello. I'm a struggling feminist still at high school with a lot of ideas and plenty of enthusiasim, I just need the low down on how to get stuff up and running. I'm looking to start a newsletter in conjunction with a lesbian group, also I'd like to get some contacts around the world. It would be great if you could send me any info. Thanks heaps, Marie, New Zealand

Thanks for your note. The basic ingredient to getting anything accomplished is enthusiasm, energy and commitment and it seems like you have that. From there you need to think very specifically about what it is that you want to do, map out a general idea of how to do it and then know that it will take a very long time to make that happen. For instance, if you want to start a newsletter in conjunction with a lesbian group--you have to think about what information do you want in your newsletter and who is going to write it? Also, who will design it? If these are two things that you can't do--I'm sure you could enlist other people to help you.

You probably don't want it to be too much information at first--better too little than too much to begin with. Also, it will make less work. You need to think about what kinds of sections you want in your newsletter--perhaps you could look at other magazines and newsletter and from those figure out what you do/don't want it to include. For instance, a news section, a listings section, personal essays, political articles.

Next, you should think about who you are going to send it to. Does this group already have a mailing list? That would be the first suggestion. Also, what about friends, other groups doing similar work. You name it. But like I said in the beginning the best ingredient is a commitment to wanting to get it done--and you have that, so you should be in good shape. Good luck.

—Amy