Do you always fall into the same writing habits? The same tone, the same phrases? You’re in good company. At my lovely Creative Writing class yesterday I was explaining how writers have tics – not facial ones, although perhaps we have them too – the ones...
Here are six common causes why writers panic – and six solutions You get stuck halfway through Don’t worry. I’ve referred to this before as embracing the chaos. Former Good Weekend editor Fenella Souter described it as the ‘slough of despond.‘ Keep chipping away and...
I’m always looking for ways to boost my creativity. This week I’ve been dipping into The Creative Habit by the American choreographer Twyla Tharp who offers plenty of inspiration on how to make creativity a habit. For a start she believes in rituals. Rituals help train...
Two months ago I challenged you to make the most of the last quarter. To finish those half-written stories, to sign up for a workshop or join NaNoWriMo. How many did it? A friend was telling me that since she stopped doing a creative writing course...
A friend recently sent me an email asking when I had time to ‘dream and write?’ She’s been trying to connect up and I’ve been busy running workshops or busy mentoring or busy working on my new website. Busy. It’s the catchword for our age. ‘I...
When I heard that Richard Flanagan had won the Man Booker prize for his novel, The Narrow Road To The Deep North, I whooped and did a little dance. Since he was shortlisted I’ve been hoping that he’d beat the odds to become the third Australian...
Happy 1st October! It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the last quarter of the year. Be honest, now. How many of you made some writing resolutions back in January that you still haven’t completed? You’re not the only one. I have a few outstanding… With...
So many writers don’t succeed because they don’t finish stories. Don’t be one of them. As a journalist I’m used to deadlines. If I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t always finish stories. Or even start them. When you’re working on a book or a bigger writing project...
I’m lucky enough to be writing to you from Byron Bay today. I’m here for the Writers’ Festival and sitting in a café playing John Lennon’s Imagine. Yesterday I saw a koala out of the bedroom window of where I’m staying. Incredible to see this cuddly...
Who’s going to be interested in the story of my life? Who cares? I hear that a lot from aspiring writers. Novelists think their stories are clichéd, another Harry Potter, another Bridget Jones. Memoirists believe they have nothing to say and their lives are boring. Travel...