Sometime after my memoir The Dangerous Bride came out, I received an email from a woman who had read my book. Her name was Anna, she was of a Russian origin and lived in Melbourne. There was also a Russian …
Events
Dr Writer & Mr Editor: A guest post by Dmetri Kakmi
As a writer who is also an editor, I’m often asked how it feels to be edited. In other words, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of criticism and someone else’s red pen, instead of being …
How to be a writer
The German novelist Thomas Mann once suggested that writers are those people who find writing difficult, and I suspect the vast majority of writers would agree with him (I don’t really want to know about the few lucky ones who …
10 tips for running a writers’ group: Guest post by Tracy Sayre
It was on a balmy evening in Mozambique that I discovered my love of writing groups. I was working there as a volunteer teacher. With lots of free time and few distractions, I hoped to revise a manuscript I had …
Alcohol, insanity & other methods for unblocking writer’s block
Writer’s block, as I discussed in my previous post, is a common, and debilitating, phenomenon among writers. The good news is it is possible to fight this condition, but the trick is to find what works for each of us. …
The challenges of writing historical fiction: a guest post by Linda Weste
Recently I gave a reading from Nothing Sacred, a work of historical fiction set in late Republican Rome, in Canberra, at the once-residence of historian Manning Clark whose A History of Australia is regarded as the best-known general history of …
The Myth, or Reality, of Writer’s Block
Ten years ago I was awarded my first writing residency in Australia. At that time I was living at a crazy pace, juggling several jobs, studying for my MA and trying to write a novel. Oh, and I had a …
WRITING AS PLAY: a guest post by Perle Besserman
Question: What did William Shakespeare, Friedrich Schiller, and Karl Marx have in common?
Answer: They all regarded play as the most exalted of human activities.
Two of these men were among the greatest poets England and Germany ever produced, and …
Re-connecting to writer’s voice in the cyberspace
In the autumn of 2008 I was approaching the fifth anniversary of my writer’s block. During those years I never stopped writing and sometimes even produced publishable works. However, writing had become much harder than it used to be and …
Being a writer & an earner: an oxymoron? A Guest Post from Naomi Stekelenburg
“I don’t look poor, so everyone believes I’m wealthy,” my grandmother said to me one day. And it was true. She wore beautiful fabrics and her hair was always set. Chic, I think, would be a word you’d use to …