Deciding whether a story is YA, Junior Fiction or Middle Grade comes down to the fundamentals of all writing. That is: story, idea, setting, language, character, voice, structure, length… All these factors help shape what sort of story you’re writing. But in making this decision, possibly the most important thing to decide is… Who is your reader?
After more than 20 years as a solicitor and legal academic, Penelope Janu thought it was high time she finally followed her creative impulses. She completed a short course at the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC), which gave her the confidence to pursue a creative writing degree – and led to her first novel, In at the Deep End, being accepted for publication. She has since gone on to publish several more popular romance novels.
In Episode 343 of So You Want To Be A Writer: You’ll meet Jeff Apter, author of Friday On My Mind. Discover why you need to remember that your genius comes naturally to you. Download Valerie’s free printable. Plus, we have 3 copies of Enid by Robert Wainwright to give away.
“Did I really kill them all?”… This week’s giveaway book comes from Australian journalist and bestselling author Robert Wainwright. His previous books include Rose: The
Some rules are meant to be broken. When author Deborah Abela and illustrator Marjorie Crosby-Fairall came up with an idea for a picture book, they
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its
Aspiring writers from diverse backgrounds are invited to take part in the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition and enter a memoir piece of 1000-2000 words on
Secrets can pull you under… Hot off the press is this week’s giveaway book – Across the Water – the second novel from Australian author
In the second part of our series of promotional tips from successful authors, here are 7 more ways to make yourself and your book stand
So your book – the labour of love you’ve poured countless hours of work into – is finished and ready for publication. Whether you’ve got
Recently, we thought we’d inject some creativity into our community’s week with a simple tiny fiction challenge. There were only two rules – the first
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its
We’re always thrilled to see our world-class presenters recognised for their work. This time, our congratulations go to Patti Miller (Life Writing) and David Leser
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its
Congratulations to AWC alumna Samera Kamaleddine (a graduate of our Creative Writing Stage 1 course), for being shortlisted in the inaugural Matilda Children’s Literature Prize.
Utopia Avenue might be the most curious British band you’ve never heard of… Your giveaway treat this week comes from the prize-winning, bestselling, Irish-residing, twice
AWC alumnae shortlisted for the 2020 Davitt Awards for best crime books Congratulations to AWC alumnae Astrid Scholte and Petronella McGovern who have been shortlisted
Are you feeling creatively drained after these past few weeks of “here we go again-ness”? We get it… so we thought it might be a
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its
In Episode 340 of So You Want To Be A Writer: Meet Sandy Barker, author of That Night in Paris and A Sunset in Sydney.
To those who RSVPed to our invitation to this month’s Furious Fiction, we welcome you to the big day. If you thumb through the order
This week’s giveaway is The Sandpit – a brand new contemporary thriller by British author Nicholas Shakespeare. It involves the disappearance of a nuclear scientist
Deciding whether a story is YA, Junior Fiction or Middle Grade comes down to the fundamentals of all writing. That is: story, idea, setting, language, character, voice, structure, length… All these factors help shape what sort of story you’re writing. But in making this decision, possibly the most important thing to decide is… Who is your reader?
After more than 20 years as a solicitor and legal academic, Penelope Janu thought it was high time she finally followed her creative impulses. She completed a short course at the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC), which gave her the confidence to pursue a creative writing degree – and led to her first novel, In at the Deep End, being accepted for publication. She has since gone on to publish several more popular romance novels.
In Episode 343 of So You Want To Be A Writer: You’ll meet Jeff Apter, author of Friday On My Mind. Discover why you need to remember that your genius comes naturally to you. Download Valerie’s free printable. Plus, we have 3 copies of Enid by Robert Wainwright to give away.
“Did I really kill them all?”… This week’s giveaway book comes from Australian journalist and bestselling author Robert Wainwright. His previous books include Rose: The unauthorised biography of Rose Hancock Porteous, The Lost Boy, The Killing of Caroline Byrne and Sheila. His latest is Enid: The Scandalous Life of a
Some rules are meant to be broken. When author Deborah Abela and illustrator Marjorie Crosby-Fairall came up with an idea for a picture book, they were also acutely aware of the unspoken rule that publishers DO NOT like authors and illustrators to work or pitch together. But, flying in the
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, the sky’s the limit… Q:
Aspiring writers from diverse backgrounds are invited to take part in the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition and enter a memoir piece of 1000-2000 words on the topic of ‘Growing up in diverse Australia’. What is the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition? The aim of the competition is to search “for the
Secrets can pull you under… Hot off the press is this week’s giveaway book – Across the Water – the second novel from Australian author Ingrid Alexandra. Ingrid is an AWC alumna, and you can learn more about her journey to publication on our blog. Described as The Woman in
In the second part of our series of promotional tips from successful authors, here are 7 more ways to make yourself and your book stand out. If you missed the first 8 tips, you can find them here. We’ve created a blueprint on exactly what you need to do in
So your book – the labour of love you’ve poured countless hours of work into – is finished and ready for publication. Whether you’ve got a publisher with a marketing team or not, as an author you still want to do everything you can to spread the word about your
Recently, we thought we’d inject some creativity into our community’s week with a simple tiny fiction challenge. There were only two rules – the first that it had to contain no more than 23 words. And the second, that it must be inspired by the picture above. We received almost
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, don’t be such a “Karen”…
We’re always thrilled to see our world-class presenters recognised for their work. This time, our congratulations go to Patti Miller (Life Writing) and David Leser (Profile Writing) who are both longlisted for the 2020 Nib Literary Award! What is the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award? According to the
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we’re racking our brain… Q:
Congratulations to AWC alumna Samera Kamaleddine (a graduate of our Creative Writing Stage 1 course), for being shortlisted in the inaugural Matilda Children’s Literature Prize. Launched in 2020, the mission of this prize is to discover Australia’s next great voice in children’s literature. Samera was shortlisted from nearly 300 entries!
Utopia Avenue might be the most curious British band you’ve never heard of… Your giveaway treat this week comes from the prize-winning, bestselling, Irish-residing, twice Booker-shortlisted David Mitchell (whose seven novels include Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks). This is in fact his first novel in more than five years
AWC alumnae shortlisted for the 2020 Davitt Awards for best crime books Congratulations to AWC alumnae Astrid Scholte and Petronella McGovern who have been shortlisted for the Davitt Awards 2020! Astrid Scholte made the list with her debut YA novel Four Dead Queens and Petronella McGovern with her debut thriller
Are you feeling creatively drained after these past few weeks of “here we go again-ness”? We get it… so we thought it might be a good week to give you a bonus tiny fiction challenge! As it’s the 23rd today, so we’d like you to write a story that contains
Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we have a rent overdue…
In Episode 340 of So You Want To Be A Writer: Meet Sandy Barker, author of That Night in Paris and A Sunset in Sydney. Discover the steps you need to take to build your author platform. Learn how to use Pinterest for book marketing inspiration. Plus, we have 3
To those who RSVPed to our invitation to this month’s Furious Fiction, we welcome you to the big day. If you thumb through the order of service, you’ll see that the following criteria are gathered here today: Each story had to take place at either WEDDING or a FUNERAL. Each
This week’s giveaway is The Sandpit – a brand new contemporary thriller by British author Nicholas Shakespeare. It involves the disappearance of a nuclear scientist in Oxford – and has been described as a sophisticated literary thriller in the vein of Le Carré, William Boyd or Graham Green. We have
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