or why writing is a bit like cinematography. I took the following pics when we were camping a few days ago (yes, I know I’m an abysmal photographer). It occurred to me much later that this series of shots mirrors my approach to writing. It’s funny how the mind works. Sometimes, when I’m stuck, I […]
Category: Uncategorized
‘The Next Big Thing’ meme…
Thanks to Paula Weston and Fiona Wood for asking me to sign up to this. I wasn’t going to participate in this meme because so many other wonderful authors are on the brink of a new release and I’m barely out of the gate, but here we go – it sounds like fun. Here’s my […]
Refilling the Well…
or Where Inspiration Comes From, Part 2… I can feel a pre-writing-frenzy fugue coming on so I won’t spend too many words here. Here are some pics from our redneck weekend instead: A shoe-tree just outside Waikerie in the South Australian Riverland. Bizarre things like this restore my faith. In what, I don’t really know, […]
My 60 point checklist for becoming a writer…
Someone just asked me what you have to do to become a writer. Here’s what I should have said: have an imaginary unicorn friend, take your hands off the handlebars, explore stormwater pipes, grow silkworms, get lost in a forest, fly a kite, turn the lights out in a cave, get dumped by a colossal […]
Go on, you know you want to…
You can read the prologue (yes, a prologue, cunningly disguised as ‘THEN’ – as a general rule I detest prologues, except this one, because it’s a prologue by proxy and because it’s mine) and first chapter of Friday Brown here on Text Publishing’s website. Five things you didn’t know about Friday Brown: I changed the entire […]
Ninjabread men…
In the weeks before pub day, an author will get around with a permanent grimace, because it’s a period of helplessness and disquiet. The book’s coming out—ain’t nuthin’ I can do about it. And I’ve just thought of a line I desperately want to change. That’s on top of the line I wanted to change […]
The truth about ‘voice’ in YA fiction…
I’ve touched on this before in previous posts, but for those writers beginning their writing journey and particularly those who write for young adults, finding your voice can be a challenge. This is just my take on a hazy concept that you either instinctively get, or you don’t. For a long time I didn’t get […]
What writers really talk about…
In case you’ve ever wondered what writers talk about between gigs at festivals, wonder no more. Sydney Writers’ Festival – day one, hotel foyer. Two famous writers and one not-so-famous writer are waiting for the hotel lift. The call button is an illuminated ‘ʌ’ on a touch-sensitive glass panel—very hard to see and even harder […]
Watch this space…
Do you see it? Nah, me neither. I’ll be speaking for my supper over the coming months, starting with the Sydney Writers’ Festival Secondary School Days events on 21st and 22nd May. Go here to check out the program. I’m hanging with the fabulous J C Burke (Pig Boy, The Story of Tom Brennan) on […]
Finish. Your. Shit.
I had a Word.docx called ‘Advice for Aspiring Writers’. It was eleven pages and still growing. Whenever I used to have a lucid thought about the process of writing, I would jot it down. See, most interviews and questionnaires end with that dreaded question: Do you have any tips for aspiring writers? Yes. And I […]