blog – Page 121 – Australian Writers' Centre

The business of writing with Kate Hennessy

Kate Hennessy is a professional writer who splits her time between corporate writing, journalism, editing and communications consulting. Her love of writing goes beyond the offices of Australian businesses, however.

She is also a journalist and writes weekly music reviews for Fairfax and other arts publications as well as travel features for newspapers and magazines. Kate presents our Business Writing Essentials and Professional Business Writing seminars. Here she tells us what she loves about writing, teaching, and her life as a writer.

Ep 25 Meet New York Times bestselling novelist Liane Moriarty, author of ‘The Husband’s Secret’

In Episode 25 of So you want to be a writer, why it’s important to write for your goals, the best suggestion I ever got from

‘The Rosie Project’ author on productive days writing nothing

Do not adjust your sets. Yes, we really did just say that you can be a productive writer without actually writing a word. At least that’s how Graeme Simsion (author of the ridiculously popular 2013 smash hit, The Rosie Project) sees it.

Well, kind of anyway. It’s true that The Rosie Project does indeed have words – around 75,000 of them, and that Graeme actually did write them himself. In fact, when we spoke to him in Episode 1 of our top rating podcast So You Want to Be a Writer earlier this year, he also had some interesting things to say about the evolution of the story from screenplay to novel.

Student Successes: The Drum, SMH Traveller, SBS.com.au

We had so many reports of graduate success this week, we thought we’d better do a bumper edition!

Michelle Stacpoole was “slightly excited” (read: thrilled!) to see her first article published on The Drum, and Stacey Gladman’s article on Australia becoming a “nanny state” debuted on Essential Kids.

Catherine Rodie was a commissioned-article-machine in June (with a total of 21 we believe!), including an article on the dangers of US-style kids beauty pageants. Speaking of which, another Magazine and Newspaper Writing graduate, Lisa Almond, explored beauty standards recently on Essential Kids, as well as lamenting her wedding planning mania on iVillage.

Ask Valerie: Help! My case studies have fallen through and now I can’t deliver the story I promised to the editor

Help! I pitched a story to an editor and they accepted my idea. But now all my case studies have fallen through. What should I do?

The answer to this lies in what you do BEFORE the pitch. Avoid over-promising and under-delivering by lining up all your ducks in a row well in advance. Yes, that means ensuring your case studies agree to the fact they may…

Q&A: Sow be it

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!)

Publishing startup Tablo launches social network for authors

Here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we love social media and connecting with other writers around the world. When this press release arrived in our inbox we were pretty excited. We think it looks promising – but what do you think? Would you use Tablo?

From press release:

Publishing startup Tablo today announced the launch of new social features for its cloud-based e-book publishing service. This marks the biggest shift in the platform since its launch in 2013.

Student Successes: MiNDFOOD, body+soul, Essential Kids and more!

We love seeing our graduates out and about in the world, being published in all manner of ways. People like Sharlene Zeederberg on SApeople.com, striking a note on what it means to be South African in Australia. At the same time, Elly Michelle Clough proved the topical stories work by celebrating World Gin Day with a piece on Australia’s fast growing boutique distilleries – in The Guardian.

Thuy Yau has been blogging up a storm as a regular on HuffPost UK, along with articles in Essential Kids – covering topics such as motherly love and teaching empathy.

Being published for the first time is especially sweet. One of our first Perth graduates, Tania Connolly, was thrilled to see her “Twice the Trauma” piece published in Offspring magazine, and Michael Carland adapted his Creative Writing Stage 1 assignment piece into a short story that was published in the Stringybark anthology “Behind the Wattles” last year. And Kym Campradt was published for the first time on Essential Kids for her piece on parenting when your partner works away. The first of many for you all!

"I got published!": Victoria Birch

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

Ep 24 Meet blogging sensation Nikki Parkinson, author of ‘Unlock Your Style’

In Episode 24 of So you want to be a writer, Kurt Vonnegut’s beautiful letter, how to find the time to write, why writing no longer

Newsmodo founder Rakhal Ebeli is changing the game

The only thing that stays the same is change, right? Founder of Newsmodo, Rakhal Ebeli, would surely agree.

Established in 2012, Newsmodo is an online network that connects freelance writers with clients to work on a range of job opportunities. Rakhal set it up in response to the “rapid dismantling” of the media industry that he saw taking place right before his eyes. Just two years on, Newsmodo has disrupted the industry, with around 14,000 journalists across the globe registered to the service, generating content for newspapers, magazines, publishers, television networks and a growing number of consumer brands.

Q&A: Exercising your but

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!)

How to find time to write: advice from the experts

As a writer (or wannabe writer) you’re often juggling many other priorities and it’s easy for writing to become the last item on your to-do list. So how do you find the time to write?

The short answer is: you make time. There is no way to wave a magic wand and hope that more than 24 hours will somehow appear in your day. If you want time to write, you are the only person who can make this happen.

Too many writers think: “I’ll write that when I have more time” or “I’ll wait till I retire or the kids grow up”. The reality is that’s an excuse. If you really want to succeed as a writer then you need to … write! And the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll succeed. Because guess what? It takes time to…

COMP CLOSED: Win a copy of My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

My Salinger Year is the bestselling memoir by Joanna Rakoff. It’s an account of the year she spent working in the hallowed New York literary agency which represented JD Salinger, among a number of other literary greats. Her first job about of university, Joanna navigates the frenetic world of New York while trying to come to terms with the archaic practices of the agency.

Despite the fact that it’s already 1996 when this occurs, the agency does not own a computer and Joanna is expected to respond to Salinger’s copious amount of fan mail by typing every response individually on an electric typewriter.

This beautifully written memoir is not just a behind the scenes look at the New York publishing scene, it’s also Joanna’s journey into adulthood, including her relationships, breakups and realisations about what she really wants from life.

Ep 23 Meet Joanna Rakoff ‚ author of ‘My Salinger Year’

In Episode 23 of So you want to be a writer, book cover cliches – do they sell? Why writers are opening up about finances, 37

Kate Forsyth on creating worlds

Writing any kind of fiction, purely by definition requires an element of suspended disbelief. After all, it’s a ‘made up’ story. And Kate Forsyth knows a thing or two about the subject, having written many fantasy novels over the years, often with a fairy tale angle or inspiration.

When we had a chat with Kate recently – in episode 21 of our top-rating podcast So you want to be a writer – we asked her about her fantasy novels, and what the most valuable lessons were that she’d learned creating her own worlds?

Ask Valerie: Letters to the editor…

I’m starting out in freelance writing for magazines and newspapers, and it’s very frustrating to spend so long working on a pitch only to have a negative response from the editor or, worse still, nothing at all! This is particularly frustrating if I’ve spent the time researching the publication, finding a relevant hook, gathering information and stats, and putting effort into collating the information into a succinct pitch.

Of course, I know editors won’t commission every pitch they receive but is this something that we just need to get used to? Or is it simply a matter of honing our pitching skills which can only come with time?

Q&A: There’s no need to obsess about it…

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!)

Getting Published: What are my options?

Blaise van Hecke is the publisher and co-owner of Busybird Publishing. She is also the author of The Book Book: 12 Steps to Successful Publishing and a contributing author to Self-Made: Real Australian Business Stories. For more information visit www.busybird.com.au or contact [email protected]

It wasn’t long ago that if you wanted to be published, there was only one route: submitting to what’s known as a commercial (aka ‘traditional’) publisher. Of course, this was during an age where you banged out your work on a typewriter and had to mail out submissions. After all, this was before computers became as common to households as toasters.

Then vanity publishing (now known as self-publishing) came into vogue, but it was an expensive endeavour and lacked credibility. If the book couldn’t make it with a real publisher, then it couldn’t be any good, could it?

Making a name for yourself: author trade marks

This is a guest post by Barry Newman of Armour IP – Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys. Barry wrote to us in response to a discussion about trade marks recently on our podcast.

Just a quick glance at the relative size of a bestselling author’s name compared with the title on a book cover will tell you that our names can be valuable commodities. But can an author register a trade mark for themselves? What about their book title? And what protection do they actually provide?

When it comes to creative endeavours such as writing, the rules surrounding Intellectual Property (IP) rights aren’t always black and white. To provide a little more clarity, we threw some quick questions across to Barry Newman, principal at Armour IP – patent and trade mark attorneys. They assist their clients in dealings with IP Australia and other government and international bodies.

Ep 22 Meet Rakhal Ebeli, internationally acclaimed journalist and founder of Newsmodo

In Episode 22 of So you want to be a writer, what not to say when you’re a writer, stop using character names as a crutch,

For the Grammar Police, Pedants and Purists

This video by by “Weird Al” Yankovic is making the rounds, and we wanted to share it with you!

Q&A: Centres around vs centres on?

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!)

"I got published!": Stephen Denham

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

“I got published!”: Lucille Wong

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

The business of writing with Kate Hennessy

Ep 25 Meet New York Times bestselling novelist Liane Moriarty, author of ‘The Husband’s Secret’

In Episode 25 of So you want to be a writer, why it’s important to write for your goals, the best suggestion I ever got from my editor, the difference between editing features and editing fiction, how to become a productive freelance writer, the book No Plot? No Problem! by Chris

‘The Rosie Project’ author on productive days writing nothing

Student Successes: The Drum, SMH Traveller, SBS.com.au

We had so many reports of graduate success this week, we thought we’d better do a bumper edition!

Ask Valerie: Help! My case studies have fallen through and now I can’t deliver the story I promised to the editor

Help! I pitched a story to an editor and they accepted my idea. But now all my case studies have fallen through. What should I do?

Q&A: Sow be it

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, sowing seeds of doubt… Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, help! I’m utterly confused about

Publishing startup Tablo launches social network for authors

From press release:

Publishing startup Tablo today announced the launch of new social features for its cloud-based e-book publishing service. This marks the biggest shift in the platform since its launch in 2013.

Student Successes: MiNDFOOD, body+soul, Essential Kids and more!

Thuy Yau has been blogging up a storm as a regular on HuffPost UK, along with articles in Essential Kids – covering topics such as motherly love and teaching empathy.

"I got published!": Victoria Birch

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. Victoria says: I had an

Ep 24 Meet blogging sensation Nikki Parkinson, author of ‘Unlock Your Style’

In Episode 24 of So you want to be a writer, Kurt Vonnegut’s beautiful letter, how to find the time to write, why writing no longer buys a champagne lifestyle (or does it?), how to get ‘show, don’t tell’ right, Writer in Residence and blogging sensation Nikki Parkinson, why you need

Newsmodo founder Rakhal Ebeli is changing the game

The only thing that stays the same is change, right? Founder of Newsmodo, Rakhal Ebeli, would surely agree.

Q&A: Exercising your but

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 obsessed with buts. Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, I was wondering why

How to find time to write: advice from the experts

As a writer (or wannabe writer) you’re often juggling many other priorities and it’s easy for writing to become the last item on your to-do list. So how do you find the time to write?

COMP CLOSED: Win a copy of My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

Ep 23 Meet Joanna Rakoff ‚ author of ‘My Salinger Year’

In Episode 23 of So you want to be a writer, book cover cliches – do they sell? Why writers are opening up about finances, 37 books every creative person should read, how to become a prolific writer while holding down a day job, Writer in Residence Joanna Rakoff (and a

Kate Forsyth on creating worlds

Ask Valerie: Letters to the editor…

Q&A: There’s no need to obsess about it…

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 share an obsession of ours… Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, I’m obsessed

Getting Published: What are my options?

Making a name for yourself: author trade marks

This is a guest post by Barry Newman of Armour IP – Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys. Barry wrote to us in response to a discussion about trade marks recently on our podcast.

Ep 22 Meet Rakhal Ebeli, internationally acclaimed journalist and founder of Newsmodo

In Episode 22 of So you want to be a writer, what not to say when you’re a writer, stop using character names as a crutch, the future of libraries, the book Port Out, Starboard Home by Michael Quinion, why we write, Writer in Residence and founder of Newsmodo Rakhal Ebeli,

For the Grammar Police, Pedants and Purists

This video by by “Weird Al” Yankovic is making the rounds, and we wanted to share it with you!

Q&A: Centres around vs centres on?

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, which phrase is correct? Q: Hi there – a friend of mine wrote

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