Q&A: Among vs Amid

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

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Word of the week: Soporific

Soporific (adjective) “I love this word. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, it means ‘causing or tending to cause sleep’. So you might say that someone’s

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How to turn your commute into characters

Bored on your trip to work? Perfect! Why not use that time to fill your stories with fascinating, well-rounded characters? Character creation is central to writing fiction – great characters can keep people reading long after their bedtime, and bad characters can have a reader dropping a story in mere

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Word of the week: Ineluctable

Ineluctable (adjective) “This means impossible to avoid or inescapable. It comes from the Latin ‘to struggle’. So you might say that it reached an ineluctable conclusion. Or that it is ineluctable that my cat Rexy is going to land a modelling deal one day soon because of his amazing beauty…”

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2016 Ned Kelly Awards shortlist announced

The Australian Crime Writers Association recently announced their shortlist for the 2016 Ned Kelly Awards for best in Australian crime writing. We were thrilled to spot a couple of familiar faces among the acclaimed authors. Candice Fox, our amazing presenter of our How to Write About Murder course, is up for her

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Q&A: Coming vs Upcoming

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, in an upcoming Q&A… Q:

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Convicted on a Comma: The Trial of Roger Casement

We couldn’t help but notice that there is a play opening in Melbourne called Convicted on a Comma: The Trial of Roger Casement. It’s the world premiere of a play written, directed and narrated by Brian Gillespie, marking the centenary of Casement’s execution on 3 August 1916. If you’re not

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Word of the week: Stentorian

Stentorian (adjective) “Do you know what stentorian means? It actually comes from Greek mythology. A stentor was a herald with a loud voice. So the word stentorian is used to describe a loud voice or sound. So you might say that when Darth Vader was angry he expressed this in stentorian

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Q&A: Harry Potter and the Protagonist’s Stone

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 casting a protagonist spell…

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Word of the week: Bombastic

Bombastic (adjective) “I know it sounds like an explosion, but actually ‘bombast’ is an old word meaning material used for padding. These days, it often refers to pompous speech. Like ‘he had a bombastic way of talking’.” And to hear Valerie and Allison chat more about this and more on

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Isabelle Li talks “A Chinese Affair”

This week, we’re chatting with writer Isabelle Li – author of A Chinese Affair. So, tell us Isabelle, for those who haven’t read your book, what’s it about? “A Chinese Affair consists of 16 short stories, exploring the experience of recent Chinese migration to Australia – what it means to

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Q&A: Among vs Amid

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 amid the action… Q:

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Words of the week: Predilection and Propensity

Predilection and Propensity (noun) “Predilection is almost the same as preference. So you have a predilection for wearing black. Or a predilection for peanut butter on Cruskits. Propensity, on the other hand, is an inclination or tendency. Like someone might have a propensity to blame people for his mistakes. Or

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Author Rajith Savanadasa is in “Ruins”

Hot off the press is the first novel from Australian author Rajith Savanadasa, Ruins. “A stunning debut novel from a fresh voice in Australian fiction, for fans of Zadie Smith and Rohinton Mistry,” says the press for this one. So we asked around and tracked him down to answer a

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Q&A: A matter of principle

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, it’s a matter of principle…

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COMP CLOSED: Win our “fabulous five” book pack!

Throughout the month of July, we have another book pack up for grabs. We’ve curated five fabulous female authors’ books and bundled them together with some twine for one lucky winner! The books in this “fab five” pack are: The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende Rosetta by Alexandra Joel A

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Word of the week: Soporific

Soporific (adjective) “I love this word. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, it means ‘causing or tending to cause sleep’. So you might say that someone’s voice is soporific. Or a particularly boring television show is soporific. Or, for me, listening to my cat purr late at night while he’s cuddling

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