When Sydney-based Judith Stewart – writing as Judith Katherine – first signed up to Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers’ Centre, she was a mum with three kids, no writing practice to speak of, and a growing suspicion that “I would get round to writing one day” was getting a little tired as an idea. Fast forward through a pathway of AWC courses, a community of writing friends, and a manuscript that caught an editor’s eye, and her debut novel Simply Beside Herself is being published by Affirm Press.
It’s a story about reclaiming independence at every stage of life – about “the stories we tell ourselves, about our limits, responsibilities and choices” – and it opens with a compelling scene: Elizabeth, living in a retirement community, finds her own dead body sitting on a park bench. “Clearly this should be shocking,” Judith says, “but she is not that surprised having lost the sense of herself a long way back.”
From shopping lists to short courses
Judith had loved writing stories at school, “particularly if they made people laugh, or stop for a minute,” but life got in the way. University essays gave way to work, then raising a family, and for years the most she wrote was “an e-mail or shopping list.”
Then one day, with her husband working from home and the kids old enough to fend for themselves, she carved out some space. The family set up a system where anyone could put a note on a door and be left alone. “That’s when I started having a real go,” Judith recalls.
She started with Creative Writing Stage 1 at AWC, then followed the pathway into Novel Writing Essentials – both strong foundations for anyone wanting to write a novel. Along the way, she also picked up Writing Workout, Creative Writing 30-day Bootcamp, 2 Hours to Scrivener Power for Mac, and Reinvent Yourself – each adding new skills and momentum.
“The AWC courses were short and accessible, with online options they gave me little excuse to wriggle out of attendance and the teaching was excellent,” she says.
The writing community that changed everything
For Judith, the courses delivered far more than craft lessons. They gave her a community. “The camaraderie has been wonderful, learning how writers sprint and stop, sit down for a bit, feel overwhelmed and then cheer each other on,” she says.
Her first Writing Workout class was a turning point. “The group was encouraging and friendly, the teaching was fantastic, and I enjoyed trying out new ideas,” Judith says. She went on to Novel Writing Essentials, along with several members of that first class!
The connections formed in those AWC classrooms had a cascading effect. “If I had not done the AWC courses, I would not have met my wonderful writing friends,” Judith reflects. “Without that I would not have written a novel at all.
“Although I am not a fan of the expression, it has literally been ’a journey’, one foot following the other, with lovely people either side and others leading from the front.”
A novel about finding yourself
Simply Beside Herself follows three generations of women. Elizabeth, in her seventies, has spent years looking after everyone else and not making a fuss. When another resident snaps her into action, she simply gets up and leaves her retirement community, running away to London.
In Judith’s words, her daughter Lara is “also lost, but busily so. The last thing she needs, on top of everything else, is a missing mother she thought she had safely filed away for visits when she had some free time.” Meanwhile, Lara’s daughter Evie is a teenager drowning in peer and social media pressures, who finds unexpected relief when the family’s comfortable routines are upended.
“As a novel it is an unapologetic oversimplification of some very complex issues but is hopefully relatable and entertaining, nonetheless,” Judith says. “In tone it is gentle, blending sadness with a compassionate humour.”
The call that changed everything
The moment Judith learned she was going to be published is the kind of scene a novelist would be proud to have written. With her manuscript taking shape through her AWC courses and the writing groups that grew from them, Cate Blake from Affirm Press expressed interest in seeing the complete novel – which gave Judith the motivation to write the final 20,000 words.
Then came the call.
“I did not believe it. Ihad written a short list of questions to ask Cate when she requested a time to call, and hoped to be given some guidance perhaps towards another course, or to make a change of tack in my manuscript,” Judith says. “Once off the call it took me a while to speak. My son and husband were then delighted while I sat halfway down the stairs open mouthed, holding my phone-call notes in my hand.”
From there, the editing process was an education in itself. “It has been an enormous privilege and steep learning curve to work with skilled editors,” she says, adding with characteristic humour that she would “recommend updating iPad software/model ahead of time rather than trying to do last minute detailed edits of a full document on an iPhone in a coffee shop in Scotland.”
Writing life now
These days, Judith writes wherever she can. “On the back of envelopes in cafes and I do bits and pieces in cafes and airports, waiting rooms and queues sometimes,” she says.
“Going through the process of publication, working with editors and keeping to deadlines has formalised my writing, and I am hoping it will hold me to account as I try to write another!”
In her writing groups, she’s been exposed to all sorts of genres along the way: “I have read spec fic and family history, along with a smidge of gothic horror.”
Asked whether she’d ever imagined becoming a published author, Judith is blunt: “I didn’t. There is no way I would have even approached this without courses and motivated writing colleagues.”
As for recommending AWC? “It felt like a big deal to sign up for something just for me … and was such a great decision,” Judith says.
“I cannot recommend the teaching enough.”
Simply Beside Herself by Judith Katherine is published by Affirm Press.
Courses taken at AWC:
