Competitions & opportunities
What’s the best way to get your writing noticed? Let people read your work. You’re writing because you want to read, correct? So you need to take a chance on your work being seen by those in the know. Entering short story, unpublished manuscript or poetry competitions is one great way to firstly, get your […]
Editing is a strange life
Any writer knows that the creative mind is a tenuous friend, given to disappearing just when you need it most. You think you’ll never speak again, that the relationship has desiccated into a hot crumbly mess you could use as chili flakes. But then, like a cool fifty bucks you find in the pocket lining of […]
Wringing pain into writing
Many writers question whether they should take advantage of witnessed pain by incorporating their family or friends’ stories into their writing. Helen Garner is famous for it in ‘The Spare Room’. Lee Kofman has just released a glaringly honest account of her personal relationships in ‘The Dangerous Bride‘. I’ve been facing this dilemma recently with my […]
The writing process – blog hop
Diamonds don’t start out shiny My gorgeous friend and fellow scribe, Nicole Hayes, author of YA novel The Whole of My World, among many other great YA and Children’s books, has asked me to participate in a Blog Hop, called “The Writing Process”. I thought it might be a good opportunity for some introspective examination — a […]
The sound of proofreading
First impressions count Nothing says ‘novice writer’ more than sloppy mistakes. I can’t tell you how often I’ve cringed because a silly blooper has crept through my work. Usually, it’s because I’ve been a bit blase. Truly, it’s a form of laziness, not bothering to go back and read and re-read your own words before […]