It’s tempting to think that to write a book you need a shiny new laptop, or to indulge your love of stationery by buying a brand new notebook or pen, or a book about the craft of writing that will reveal all of the secrets of being a writer. But
Writing is an art, which means it is mysterious. It rises from the deep bog of our subconscious and is guided by impulse and intuition and imagination. However, writing is also a craft. A writer must learn how to shape and control the artistic impulse, to bring logic and structure
Charlotte Wood has been described as one of the most intelligent and compassionate novelists in Australia. She writes fiction and non-fiction and has been short-listed and long-listed for several prestigious prizes, winning the People’s Choice Medal in the 2013 New South Wales Premiers Literary Awards for her last novel, Animal People.
A confession: I never have a plan when I sit down to write a new book. And that is the most liberating thing, once you get over the fear of not knowing where you’re headed. All you need is one idea for one scene. One idea. Simple right? How ideas fit
Saggy Middle Syndrome. We all know what it is. A novel that starts brilliantly well – vivid, intriguing and compelling – yet somehow, around the middle of the book, you find yourself beginning to yawn. You check the pages to see how many are left before the end of the
Bernadette Foley has worked as an editor and publisher in the Australian publishing industry for over 25 years. Her career had also taken her to New York to work with the Penguin Putnam publishing company. She has spoken at writers’ festivals and conducted editing and writing workshops around the country.
2015 is set to be an exciting year for Lisa Chaplin, Australian Writers’ Centre graduate and author of The Tide Watchers – to be released in June. Not that the years that have come before have been particularly dull. We asked Lisa some questions recently, and here’s what she had to say…
At the new year, there was a quote doing the rounds. It went something along the lines of “today is the first page of a 365 page book – make it a great one.” (Hang on, hasn’t that just described a diary?) Anyway, after clicking “like”, I started wondering just
One of the key concepts any writer needs to understand is “Show, don’t tell”. If you haven’t already read our explanation of this, check it out here. For many, this explanation just clicks. But let’s recap. “Telling” is like a statement of fact. Here’s a “telling” sentence: John was bored.
Dialogue can be one of the most challenging parts of the writing process. It takes skill to write dialogue that is convincing and which takes your reader on a seamless journey through your story. When you’re writing direct dialogue (the exact words spoken) here are some important factors to consider:
There’s a famous saying in the world of writing that you need to be able to “kill your darlings”. What’s that all about? And what “darlings” should you be killing? In everything you write, you have to ask yourself, “am I moving forwards, am I taking my reader closer to
American writer Kurt Vonnegut is well known for his books Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. His musings on the writing process are well documented and shared. We love this excerpt from a lecture he gave on “The Shapes of Stories” (4:37). You’ll never look at Cinderella the same
Kylie Ladd is a novelist and freelance writer and part-time neuro-psychologist. So, the usual mix then. Her previous three books have all gone gangbusters – picking up many accolades along the way. She spoke with Allison Tait recently for our podcast “So you want to be a writer”. They discussed
Show, don’t tell. This age-old adage is a well deployed technique of creative literature. Wikipedia explains it well: When applying “show, don’t tell”, the writer does more than just tell the reader something about a character; he unveils the character by what that character says and does. Showing can be
Think about whether you want to write a story that’s driven by your characters or your plot. ‘Character-driven’ stories are those where the action is not predetermined, but grows out of the character’s traits – their needs, their insecurities, their desires, their fears. Most literary novels are character-driven. So are
Robert Hollingsworth is the author of The Colour of the Night. Robert, pop your coffee down for a moment and sum up the book in 105 words or fewer. “This story is a gentle rumination on the relationship – and distance – between nature and culture. In a wired world,
It’s not just new writers who find worth in an Australian Writers’ Centre course. Elizabeth Farrelly is one of Australia’s most respected journalists and columnists, but when she stepped outside her usual writing realm, she sought specific industry advice from the Australian Writers’ Centre to help her write and publish
Nick Earls is author of 13 novels, across the past two decades – known primarily for their quirky humour. In a recent episode of our top-rating podcast, So you want to be a writer, Allison Tait had a long chat with Nick about his writing process and his views on
Aha, there you are Eva Novy – sitting in your circle-shaped chair all relaxified. And wow, check out the cover of your debut book, Darling, Impossible! – great name by the way. We are certain that every writer currently glancing at the cover wishes they were sitting at that gorgeous
Why write a novel, when you can write an interactive novel? That was the challenge for author Annabel Smith in her latest venture – a digital interactive novel and app called The Ark. This is Annabel’s third book, but the experience was completely different to what had come before. So
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