Month: October 2015

Fiction writing
Australian Writers' Centre Team

10 nuggets of writing advice from 10 AWC presenters!

We love our presenters here at the Australian Writers’ Centre – all of them are either writers or industry experts, meaning you’re getting schooled by people who don’t just talk about the ‘biz’ – they’re out there in it. To illustrate this point, here are 10 of our presenters (that’s

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Meet the 10 new dictionary words of 2025

Recently Oxford Dictionaries released this year’s list of new words that due to popular use had made their way into the dictionary; a validation of their mainstream (or at least very fervent niche) existence. We’re talking about terms such as “manspreading”, “wine o’clock”, “mic drop” and “awesomesauce”. It can be hard

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Ernest Hemingway wishes AWC a happy 10th birthday

The irrepressible Ernest Hemingway gulped a dry martini at the bar of the Afterlife then stood at his typewriter to write this congratulatory note to us. He wanted to wish us a happy 10th birthday from beyond … “I’ve always loved the moveable feast of tutored courses all year round –

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: WHICH vs THAT? And a zebra.

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, a real crowd favourite… WHICH

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Freelance and copywriting
Australian Writers' Centre Team

The 27 habits of highly successful copywriters

If you want to make it as an uber-successful copywriter, here are 27 habits you should nurture … Put yourself in the shoes of the person you want to buy the product. Why should he or she want to buy it? What are their interests, their worries? Tap into them. Be

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

“I got published!”: Bettina Deda

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. Bettina says:  After attending Nigel

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Other
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Tim talks screenwriting

Recently spoke with screenwriter Tim Gooding for episode 67 of our top-rating podcast So you want to be a writer. Tim has nearly 30 years’ experience in the industry – creating the ABC TV series Sweet and Sour and writing for shows including The Aunty Jack Show, The Norman Gunston Show, Blue

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Competitions and Opportunities
Australian Writers' Centre Team

COMP CLOSED: Win Swimming Home by Mary-Rose MacColl!

This week’s book giveaway at AWC is Swimming Home, the fifth novel by Mary-Rose MacColl. It’s about a young Australian and her aunt … each on a journey of self-discovery – one by attempting to swim the English Channel, the other to rediscover the woman she used to be. You’d

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Enid Blyton wishes AWC a happy 10th birthday

Remember reading the Secret Seven and Famous Five books? Well, the author Enid Blyton heard we are big fans of her work. So she sent us a congratulatory message from beyond when she heard it was our 10th birthday! “I don’t believe in things like fairies or brownies or magic.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC graduate Megan Blandford: From human resources to successful writer

After becoming a first time mum, Megan Blandford, then 34, surprised herself. She didn’t feel compelled to return to her human resources role in the corporate world.

Her company wanted her to return to work full time. “I remember sitting in front of my computer one day and thinking: ‘what do I do?'” she says. “I always wanted to try writing since I was a little girl and I got caught up in this sort of sensible path of the mainstream thing people do. So I sat there and thought, right it’s now or never.”

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Freelance and copywriting
Australian Writers' Centre Team

What the life of a travel writer is really like (and how do you get it?)

Sipping cocktails, flying first class and jet-setting to the most exotic destinations in the world. Does that sound appealing? Well, if you’re a travel writer, this could be your reality. However, prolific travel and features writer Sue White says that it’s not all about five-star luxury and 1000-thread count sheets

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

“I got published!”: Bettina Deda

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. Bettina says: A BIG shoutout

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Relative pronouns – Who vs That?

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. And there are many to choose from… Q: Hi AWC, this week we have a question from Carolyn. A: Carolyn? Who’s that? Q: Precisely! A: Huh? Q: WHO and THAT! She was keen to find out about

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

JRR Tolkien wishes AWC a happy 10th birthday

Taking some time away from his world of hobbits, dragons and … New Zealand … famous Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien sent us a message from the Afterlife to wish the Australian Writers’ Centre a happy 10th birthday! “One place to school them all, One voice to find them,

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

23 words you didn’t know were named after people

1. Saxophone Back in 1846, a Belgian by the name of Adolphe Sax decided to invent the sort of musical instrument he wanted to see – something with a little Sax-appeal. The result was a very cool looking single-reed woodwind design, a conical bore, and all that jazz. Along with

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

#AWCTurns10: Meow, woof… moo?

It wouldn’t be a 10th Birthday Celebration without a party… and what’s a party without your pets? While we can’t bring our pets to our 10th Birthday Meetup, they’ll all be joining in from home. Or sleeping. Probably sleeping. So here’s our the ‘supporting crew’ behind the Australian Writers’ Centre…

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Uncategorized
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Dr Seuss wishes AWC a happy 10th birthday

We’ve had lots of great messages from people around Australia – and the world – helping us celebrate this rather excellent milestone for the Australian Writers’ Centre (we turned 10!). But a few were quite unexpected, such as this one from famous late author Theodor Geisel – better known as

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Competitions and Opportunities
Australian Writers' Centre Team

COMP CLOSED: Win big with Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert!

Creativity and inspiration combine this week with our giveaway book being the eating-praying-loving Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest offering, Big Magic! It may have only been released in late September 2015, but it instantly shot to the top of the charts on the New York Times Bestseller list. And the praise has

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