Year: 2014

Update: The Hungry Australian visits Turkey!

Christina Soong from The Hungry Australian was the winner of our 2014 Best Australian Blogs competition and a trip to Turkey (thanks to Trafalgar!)  Today Christina is sharing her top five moments from her trip. Woman in door (Visiting Demircidere) One of the highlights of my Turkey trip was visiting

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Fiction writing
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

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

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Fiction writing
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Kylie Ladd on mothers, daughters, writing

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

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Fiction writing
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Why you need to "show, don’t tell"

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

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Decking halls, bobtails and yuletide

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we chat to Carol. Oh wait, no, we chat ABOUT carols… Q: (Carol

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Podcast: So You Want to be a Writer
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Ep 44 Meet Allison Tait, author of ‘The Mapmaker Chronicles’

In Episode 44 of So you want to be a writer we reveal our top 10 most downloaded interviews for 2014 (in no particular order): Graeme Simsion, Fleur McDonald, Allison Rushby, Kylie Mason, Deborah O’Brien, Liane Moriarty, Lex Marinos, Kylie Ladd, Chris Ducker and Charlotte Wood. Click play below to

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Memoir writing
Dean Koorey

Ian Simpson laughs at wheelchairs in his new book

Things like severe crippling injuries or diseases don’t typically make great fodder for a funny book. But for Ian Simpson, who has lived nearly half a century in a wheelchair, it’s as natural as writing about cups of tea or supermarkets. To find out the wheel story (cringe) we put

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

“I got published!”: Stephanie Hunt

We spotted Stephanie Hunt in Sunday Life recently! Congratulations Stephanie! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so right here. We’ll share it with the world! For more success stories, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

"I got published!": Christine Christopoulos

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Christine says: I finished an

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

"I got published!": Libby Hakim

We spotted Libby in Sunday Life recently! Congratulations Libby! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so right here. We’ll share it with the world! For more success stories, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Interviews with writers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Chris Ducker’s Virtual Freedom and free advice

Chris Ducker is a busy man. Many things on the go, and always looking to squeeze more out of them all. And he also has a lot to say. (When we interviewed him recently for our top-rating podcast, So you want to be a writer, he sent the run-time of

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Freelance and copywriting
Australian Writers' Centre Team

What are freelancers paid?

Rachel’s List is a media recruitment and connection website for job-seekers, editors/employers, and PRs. This month they released the results of their annual survey, giving us a peek into the minds (and wallets!) of freelance writers. We’ve included the results below, but for more information head to the Rachel’s List website.

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: ’Tis the season…

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we’re getting festive… Q: Season’s Greetings Australian Writers’ Centre! A: Well, you’re in

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Podcast: So You Want to be a Writer
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Ep 43 Meet Bernadette Schwerdt, founder of the Australian School of Copywriting

In Episode 43 of So you want to be a writer: “only pizzas are delivered” – the new UK Government style guide, good news about journalism, handwriting versus typing, Seth Godin answers digital publishing questions, blogs versus podcasts versus videos, Copywriter in Residence Bernadette Schwerdt, how to manage your Christmas deadlines

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Competitions and Opportunities
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Short Story Challenge – Google Docs & National Novel Writing Month

Google recently partnered with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to bring three authors together to write a short story in real time. While we don’t necessarily think this is the best approach to produce a quality story, we certainly think it’s a lot of fun! Here is the video of

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

"I got published!": Kristie Bedford

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Kristie says:  I did the

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Applications invited for Editor of Meanjin

From Meanjin’s website: Applications are invited for the position of Editor of Meanjin, one of Australia’s most significant literary publications. The Editor ofMeanjin will continue to benefit from over 50 years of financial and intellectual support from the University of Melbourne. The successful applicant will be required to manage the

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Fiction writing
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Character-driven versus plot-driven stories

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

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Further vs Farther

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we go further than ever before…or, wait, is it…    Q: Hello Australian

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Fiction writing
Dean Koorey

Robert Hollingworth on the art of writing

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,

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