By R.A. Spratt. The latest book from R.A. Spratt is The Peski Kids 5: The Final Mission, a mystery story for kids. We get her to spill five tips on how to write a great mystery story for children. 1. Plot backwards I usually come up with the big reveal
By award-winning author, Allison Rushby. We’ve all been there. It’s Sunday. Your chores are done. Everyone else in the house has gone out. The dog/cat/ferret has been walked/played with/whatever you do with a ferret. You’ve got a few hours up your sleeve. Uninterrupted time! You were all set to write
Bestselling author of epic middle-grade fiction Allison Tait met with AWC CEO Valerie Khoo in a Creative Conversations episode to chat about her new book The Fire Star and answer the community’s burning questions about all things writing. Allison Tait, also known as A.L. Tait, is the internationally published bestselling
AWC courses completed:
Writing Picture Books
Writing Picture Books Masterclass
How to Write for Children and Young Adults
Build Your Author Platform
AWC courses completed:
Writing Picture Books
Creative Writing Stage 1
Allison Tait had it all figured out. Having worked for years as a staff writer and sub-editor at glossy women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan and Cleo, she could see the obvious genre for her first novel would be romance. It made perfect sense: she knew the audience, she knew what they wanted and she had the voice down-pat.
Looking at Tim Harris’ body of work, it would be easy to think he had planned it all out in advance. After spending 15 years as a primary school teacher, he picked up a pen and started writing for that same age group: less than a decade later, he has 11 children’s novels under his belt along with a pack of literary awards, and he’s an in-demand presenter at primary schools across Australia.
Bestselling author of several hilarious book series for kids Tim Harris joined Valerie Khoo in our Creative Conversation series to share his clever writing tips and tricks to writing stories that will make kids – and even adults – laugh out loud. A full-time primary school teacher for 15 years,
Deciding whether a story is YA, Junior Fiction or Middle Grade comes down to the fundamentals of all writing. That is: story, idea, setting, language, character, voice, structure, length… All these factors help shape what sort of story you’re writing. But in making this decision, possibly the most important thing to decide is… Who is your reader?
Some rules are meant to be broken. When author Deborah Abela and illustrator Marjorie Crosby-Fairall came up with an idea for a picture book, they were also acutely aware of the unspoken rule that publishers DO NOT like authors and illustrators to work or pitch together. But, flying in the
For authors looking to write for children and young adults, it’s important to understand that what they want to read is evolving. Young readers now have screens and devices constantly competing for their attention, but they are still interested in reading engaging, well-written books. While you don’t need to follow
Have you been working on a manuscript for a children’s book? Walker Books Australia are looking for new diverse Australian stories for kids. They’ve launched an initiative called Walker Wednesday – a biannual event where they will be reviewing unpublished manuscripts from new and established writers. Linsay Knight from Walker
Literary agent specialising in children’s and young adult authors Annabel Barker shares her inside knowledge with Australian Writers’ Centre CEO Valerie Khoo in our ‘Creative Conversations’ Facebook Live event. We’ve shared the replay here so you don’t miss out on Annabel’s invaluable insights. In a 20-year-long career in the literary
Our popular Writing Picture Books course has turned out some of Australia’s top picture book authors, and our graduates credit their publishing success to what they’ve learnt from our expert tutors. We checked in with some of our graduates to find out what specifically it was from the course that
Chapter books: They’re a massive part of a child’s journey to becoming an independent reader and, written properly, can encourage a lifelong enthusiasm for reading. Lesley Gibbes is the award-winning author of internationally published chapter book series Fizz, and teaches the Australian Writers’ Centre’s course on Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year
Courses taken at AWC: Writing Picture Books How to Write for Children and Young Adults Freelance Writing Stage 1 Engineer-turned-maths teacher Charlotte Barkla never imagined she’d become a published writer – but three children’s books later, she’s thrilled to have rediscovered her passion. Charlotte signed a contract for her first
So you’ve got a fantastic idea for a picture book – but you’ve never done it before, and you’re a bit lost on where to start? You’ve come to the right place. Here are seven surprising tips from successful Australian Writers’ Centre graduates and teachers on how to make your
The shortlist for the 2020 Text Prize has been announced – and we’re delighted to see two Australian Writers’ Centre alumnae among them! Miranda Luby, who completed our How to Write for Children and Young Adults course, and Lauren Draper, who has taken a creative writing course, have both been
Zanni Louise, author of Too Busy Sleeping and Archie and the Bear, has launched a new picture book series designed to help preschool and early primary readers engage with values. Feeling a personal draw to themes of friendship, family and kindness, Zanni says she wanted to create books which were
Award-winning author, speaker and Australian Writers’ Centre presenter Nicole Hayes has made no secret of her passion for AFL. Much of her back catalogue is football-adjacent, and she’s a founding member of weekly ABC podcast The Outer Sanctum. Nicole’s latest project speaks to a different audience from her previous young
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