Today marks 20 years since my first piece of writing was published, which, quite frankly, is terrifying. I was 12 years old and in Grade 6 when I was selected to take part in a ‘Newshounds’ program run by our local paper, the Maroondah Mail. Four students from local schools were chosen to write one article perContinue reading “Celebrating two decades in print”
Tag Archives: writing
The Jinx Kite
I had a conversation with some other freelancers recently about how our culture loves to celebrate youth, and particularly the wunderkind, whether that’s in business, the arts or whatever. We were discussing how we’d like to see more stories of older people who may have come to their field late, but nevertheless blossomed, and itContinue reading “The Jinx Kite”
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Click image to view full photo essay Last week I had the privilege of being part of an amazing art exhibition at the Annandale Creative Arts Centre in Sydney, called Creative Conversations with Women of the World: Access Denied. Artists and performers were invited to respond to the theme of women’s inequality globally, in whicheverContinue reading “The Stories We Tell Ourselves”
A day at the circus
Last weekend I did something I haven’t done since I was six years old. I went to the circus. And it was fabulous. Circuses seem to pop up in our area relatively frequently (once or twice a year) and each time I see the spires of a brightly coloured tent I think about going, butContinue reading “A day at the circus”
Anatomy of a Novel Part 6: The paper anniversary
When my husband Tristan and I first started dating three years ago, we had a ‘food-for-stories’ deal – he’d make me dinner and in return I’d read him the next chapter of Dragonscale, the long-running young adult fantasy novel I’d been writing off and on since 2007. We each thought we got the better endContinue reading “Anatomy of a Novel Part 6: The paper anniversary”
Behind the Scenes: Part 6 – Revision
In this series of posts, I’m going to be taking you behind the scenes of Greythorne and the process I went through to write it. Click to read Part 1 (The Idea), Part 2 (Plot and Structure), Part 3 (Setting), Part 4 (Characters) and Part 5 (Writing). As Ernest Hemingway famously said, with characteristic brusqueness:Continue reading “Behind the Scenes: Part 6 – Revision”
Behind the Scenes: Part 4 – Characters
In this series of posts, I’m going to be taking you behind the scenes of Greythorne and the process I went through to write it. Click to read Part 1 (The Idea), Part 2 (Plot and Structure) and Part 3 (Setting). I wrote in my earlier post on plot and structure about ‘architects and gardeners’Continue reading “Behind the Scenes: Part 4 – Characters”
Behind the Scenes: Part 2 – Plot and Structure
In this series of posts, I’m going to be taking you behind the scenes of Greythorne and the process I went through to write it. Part 1 looked at the development of the original idea. When I tell them I’m a writer, a lot of people respond with “Oh, I often think I’ve got aContinue reading “Behind the Scenes: Part 2 – Plot and Structure”
Behind the Scenes: Part 1 – The Idea
In this series of posts, I’m going to be taking you behind the scenes of Greythorne and the process I went through to write it. One of the most common question writers get asked is where our ideas come from, and to be honest, I wish I knew! Generally, story ideas creep up on meContinue reading “Behind the Scenes: Part 1 – The Idea”
To work or not to work…
For most of us, deciding whether or not to work as well as write is a choice we don’t have the luxury of making. But the assumption is that, if money were no object – if we suddenly became independently wealthy, or became hugely rich (or at least self-sufficient) off the proceeds of the NextContinue reading “To work or not to work…”
