What can I write about?

Anything, really. You could tell us about how you learnt to stress less and dream big, your adventures (or misadventures) in love and sex, or how you overcame a challenging time in your life.

Your story might be personal, political, about school, work or your friends. No topic is off-limits.

At this point in time, we only accept nonfiction writing which may take the form of personal essays, opinion pieces, interviews, and more. Check out some of Our Voices already on Rosie to get an idea of the kind of work we publish.

How to pitch your idea 

Have an idea for a piece? To get the ball rolling, send us a pitch by filling out this form. 

If you’ve never written a pitch before, don’t fret! It might seem daunting at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. Pitches should be around 200-250 words and include:

• A proposed heading. Don’t worry, this can always change later!
• Your topic and argument. Briefly explain your topic of discussion and outline the main points of your argument. Be concise, and clearly explain the angle you want to take. 
• Your personal connection to the topic. We want to know why you’re drawn to this topic and why you’re the best person to write about it. Do you have personal experience in the youth climate activism space or happen to be an expert on underground feminist filmmakers from the 90s? Please, tell us more!
• The broader relevance of this piece. Why should we publish this piece, and why now? Briefly tell us why this piece will appeal to young readers at this moment in time. For example, maybe you want to write about campaigning for better consent education at your school, which will appeal to our readership due to the major cultural shift around how we talk about consent in recent years. 

The writing and editing process

Got your pitch accepted? Now it’s time to get writing! 

In terms of a timeline, we ask our writers to submit their first draft around 2 weeks after their pitch has been accepted. We will decide on an exact deadline together, based on what works best for you. 

From here we will provide editorial feedback in working towards your final draft, which usually takes another 2-4 weeks. During this period, we offer questions, comments, and suggestions to further develop and clarify your writing. This might sound scary, but it’s a super friendly and supportive process, we promise! 

Remember that our suggestions are merely that—suggestions, and that we’re not here to tell you what to do. We see the editorial process as a two-way street and an invitation to dig deeper. The real aim of it is to help you flesh out your ideas and sentences, and really hone in on your points of discussion. 

For many of you, this will be the first time you’ve written a piece to be published online. As editors, our job is to help you make your work shine and be the very best that it can be! Our writers often find the editorial process to be a very valuable and rewarding learning experience.

Word limit

Articles should be around 800 words, although a little above or below is okay. We don’t have a strict word limit, so take this as a guideline! 

Rates of pay

We offer a payment of $100 per article. 

SEND US A PITCH

If you feel like it’s time to get your voice out there, send us a pitch through our submission form and we will get back to you as soon as possible! Note that the form is on the website of our parent organisation, Victorian Women’s Trust.