ZINE RESOURCES
Workshop Companion Doc
In this workshop, you're going to create a piece of writing or art.
Get weird. Get speculative! Get big! Get joyful!
Below, we have lots of different ideas we have for places to start. You can use one of these, or come up with your own!
Optionally, when you're done, you can submit your piece to be included in a little anthology zine.
If you are submitting graphics, it will display best if it's 5.5" x 8.5".
Table of Contents
WRITING
- • Haiku
- • Blackout
- • Mad Libs
- • Free write!
ADDING GRAPHICS
- • Collage
- • Graffiti Wall
- • T-Shirt Design
- • Haiku & image
WRITING
Haiku
A poetry form with 3 lines: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, then 5 syllables!
template
here five syllables
and here seven syllables
and here five again
example
you and i are here
in this moment, to enjoy
this one precious life
Blackout
The blackout poem is a form of poetry where you remove words in a text to create a new, "found" poem. Idea: pick a recent article from a tech news outlet like Tech Crunch, Hacker News, or Wired, copy a piece of it, and make it into a blackout poem.
template
Dating sucks. The apps are broken. Whether it's Hinge, Tinder, Bumble, or something else, everyone on them has become algorithmic fodder in a game that often feels pay-to-play. Colloquial wisdom suggests you're better off trying to meet someone in person, but ever since the arrival of Covid-19 people just don't mingle like they used to. It's not surprising, then, that some romance seekers are skipping human companions and turning to AI.
People falling in love with their AI companions is no longer the stuff of Hollywood tales about futuristic romance. But while it may feel uncanny to some, as a video game reporter the concept doesn't seem so foreign to me. Dating sims, or games where you can otherwise date party members, are a popular genre. Players grow affection for and attachment to characters; some want to have sex with those characters. After its release, Baldur's Gate 3 die-hards were even speedrunning sex with the game's cast.
Source: I Dated Multiple AI Partners at Once. It Got Real Weird, WIRED
example
Dating sucks. The apps are broken. Whether it's Hinge, Tinder, Bumble, or something else, everyone on them has become algorithmic fodder in a game that often feels pay-to-play. Colloquial wisdom suggests you're better off trying to meet someone in person, but ever since the arrival of Covid-19 people just don't mingle like they used to. It's not surprising, then, that some romance seekers are skipping human companions and use AI.
People falling in love with their AI companions is no longer the stuff of Hollywood tales about futuristic romance. But while it may feel uncanny to some, as a video game reporter the concept doesn't seem so foreign to me. Dating sims, or games where you can otherwise date party members, are a popular genre. Players grow affection for and attachment to characters; some want to have sex with those characters. After its release, Baldur's Gate 3 die-hards were even speedrunning sex with the game's cast.
Source: I Dated Multiple AI Partners at Once. It Got Real Weird, WIRED
Mad Libs
Stuck on ideas? Here are some templates to help you get started writing. Copy all of it, or just a section, and fill it in with your ideas!
template
It's _______ years from now and it's strange to think about how much things have changed since 2025, especially when it comes to technology.
For example, I took a walk through my neighborhood today. It was a _______ day outside. When I was walking around, I reflected to myself— the thing I _______ the most about my city is the _______:
(Write the next section here…)
Or, just the other day, I was talking to my friend and thinking about how technology is _______; It's such a _______ reality, but
(Write the next section here…)
And I couldn't talk about technology these days without talking about much it's shaped _______. A massive recent change really shook things up:
(Write the next section here…)
If I could send one message to the past about how to handle all of the changes in technology, it would be this:
(Write the next section here…)
example
It's a year from now and it's strange to think about how much things have changed since 2025, especially when it comes to technology.
For example, I took a walk through my neighborhood today. It was a beautiful day outside. When I was walking around, I reflected to myself— the thing I hate the most about my city is the public advertisements:
It's all targeted ads based on tons of surveillance!!
Or, just the other day, I was talking to my friend and thinking about how technology is such an important part of how I communicate with my friends. The biggest change I've noticed since 2025 is
Everyone uses AI-generated text all the time.
And I couldn't talk about technology these days without talking about much it's shaped education. A massive recent change really shook things up:
Generative AI chatbots and tools became so widely available, suddenly every teacher and student could use them for everything.
If I could send one message to the past about how to handle all of the changes in technology, it would be this:
Remember how to read and write and think critically!
Free write!
Write anything. Here are some more writing prompts to get you started, if you'd like:
hope in my body
What's a song that makes you feel hopeful and hyped-up and excited? Go listen to it. Describe what it feels like in your body to listen to it. What does it make you think and feel?
unwatchable
Surveillance technology is a thing of the past. What's different in the world now?
utopian dreaming
Think of something that bothers you about the world today. What would a world look like where that problem would be unimaginable?
future diary entry
Imagine you're in 2100, 2200, or even 2500. Where are you? What is life like? What's normal? What do you wish happened, and what happened? Are there still people? Or just massive flying birds? Write a diary entry imagining the world in that time and space.
short poem
Write a poem with exactly 205 characters about the year 2050. (challenge: write one with exactly 2050 characters)
Image-ining
Choose a picture from the image bank. Imagine this picture tells you something true and important about the future. What does it tell you?
ADDING GRAPHICS
Combine images and text to make a zine page!
It's a little out of the scope of this workshop to teach image editing. So, we leave you with a few options:
- How to make a collage in google docs [easiest]
- Here is a figma template [slightly more complicated]
- Use your own favorite image editing software!
We have a variety of image sources for you to pull (free-to-use) images from:
Not sure where to start? Scroll through our curated Pinterest board
Know what you're looking for? These websites have ample free-to-use images:
Note: that if you want to submit to our final zine, we will not accept any pieces that use generative AI.
Collage
Combine lines, text, and images to tell your story.
Graffiti Wall
T-Shirt Design
Haiku & image
Blackout poem on a screenshot
