You've Reached Your Destination

You've travelled this far - making your Softcopy submission is the final step.

SoftcopySubmissions are open until COB 30 November 2016. There's still time!

If not now, when?

Surely this week is one that requires a creative response.

Let everybody know! SoftcopySubmissions are open until 30 November.

Dare to Dream?

If you dare to dream of being a writer, Softcopy is for you.

We are looking for creative, fresh and unpublished Australian short fiction and non-fiction up to 1000 words for our next edition.

Let your muse free and check out the submissions info at SoftcopySubmissions

Submissions close 30 November 2016.

Don't Wait - Softcopy Submissions are open!

One of the challenges about starting out as a writer is having your work accepted for publication.

Leaving aside the question of whether your story is compelling and well written, too often emerging writers do not think enough about the market for their work. I'm not suggesting that you constrain what you write. The genre, style, tone, theme, character and plot will depend on you and your experiences and imagination.

What matters is, having created something original, that you make informed decisions about where to send your work. An agent or publisher whose speciality is young adult fiction will not be interested in your post-Nordic crime thriller, while the crime fiction publisher won't consider your teen romance. Research those agents and publishers who handle your type of writing. Target these, keeping a keen eye on their submission guidelines and requirements.

Having your short stories published will give a fillip to your writerly credentials. Softcopy grew out of the ACT Writers Centre Hardcopy  2014 Professional Development Program and is designed for those writers starting their writing journey. If you have a short story of no more than 1000 words, Softcopy would love to hear from you. 

SoftcopySubmissions close 30 November 2016. Don't wait!

Softcopy Submissions Open

Entering its third year, Softcopy is calling for submissions from emerging Australian writers.

Softcopy is looking for creative, fresh and unpublished Australian short fiction and non-fiction up to 1000 words for our next edition.

Submissions close 30 November 2016.

Buckle up and check out the submissions info at SoftcopySubmissions

Adventure Calls

I have travelled to a lot of places in my lifetime, but never to India - until now.  The inspirational lightbulb is on and dozens of ideas are buzzing around.

You can keep up-to-date with my writing journey on my special blog Mullum to Mumbai where I will be documenting my travels as well as the process of writing over the next two-three months.

How Full is Your Cupboard?

‘We find what we are looking for in life…if you look for happiness you will see it.’
Alexander McCall Smith – The Full Cupboard of Life

Even when I sit down to write, I'm never quite sure what kind of story will emerge. The characters seem to have a mind of their own. There they are, skating off when I thought they were going to look inside the broken box, or picking up a gilded spider when they should be watching the road for smugglers. That's part of the excitement.

When this happens, I keep writing because something unexpected and wonderful might flow.

Still, there are times when the plot takes a turn for the worse. A character is sick, has an unhappy life experience, is no longer talking to their significant other, seems to be dwelling in the darker spaces. At these times, I wonder whether I have the courage to take the story where it needs to go. Will I be happy with the outcome? Will the character recover, be better for the experience? Will people enjoy reading the end result?

At this point, I remind myself that readers will bring to the story their own life history. A sad or confronting story can be meaningful, satisfying or even uplifting. So with a full cupboard of life, I can carry on even if the wayward characters eschew the broken box, or fail to safeguard the pass. All I have to do is open the cupboard door.

Hard Work Pays Off for HARDCOPIERS

The ACT Writers Centre HARDCOPY Professional Development Program has paid dividends for emerging writers. Over its two year life, sixty new voices have been nurtured by the combination of professional development and industry connection. Kelli-Anne Moore, ACT Writers Centre Director is delighted. ‘We wanted to give our HARDCOPY participants the tools to give themselves the best chance of having a sustainable career as a writer, and if they choose to embark on their journey to publication, they would do so with their eyes open and aware of the realities of the industry,’ she says.

According to Moore, one of the most important contributions of the HARDCOPY program is the sense of community it has engendered: ‘We love to hear about the connections that the participants have made, with each other, and with the Industry.’ This view is shared the HARDCOPY alumni. ‘HARDCOPY gave me invaluable insights into and access to the Australian publishing industry, the opportunity to connect with other writers in a similar stage of the process (the query game is a lot more bearable with company!) and, critically, the confidence to accept that I was ready to start submitting,’ says Sam Hawke, a 2014 HARDCOPY participant. ‘Since the program concluded I have been picked up by a London agent and am currently preparing for submission to publishers. I’ve also made ongoing wonderful friendships and am looking forward to following the careers of all the HARDCOPY alumni.’

Sam is likely to be busy because the Hardcopiers are a talented group with no time to waste. Leearni Hamilton, one of the 2015 participants says that, ‘Since HARDCOPY I have been working on my YA memoir and making my writing as powerful as I can (writing the tough memories). Recently my memoir was shortlisted for the Templeberg Fellowship in Sri Lanka. While I don't have a publishing deal yet I am very focused on polishing my manuscript with the hope that I can submit to more competitions and agents/publishers in the future.’

Developing an individual voice is something Serina Huang also attributes to the HARDCOPY Program: ‘Since HARDCOPY, I have begun to find my voice. I am becoming more authentic in my writing. I have worked through an issue that was blocking progress with my book manuscript. I am engaging more with readers on my blog. I don’t have a big fat publishing deal (yet), but I have focus. I am reaching within and sharing more, and it feels right. A few months ago I wrote a guest blog post about my Australian-Asian identity. And in the last few weeks I have written about my experience of leaving a physically and emotionally abusive relationship.’

HARDCOPY has inspired a series of related writing projects. In September 2014 four Hardcopiers bonded over a shared love of cultural commentary and joined forces to form the Cringe, an Australian voice on literature, culture and the arts. Launched in October 2014 the site is now celebrating its first anniversary, reflecting on the many articles, short fiction, reviews and profiles to have been featured on its pages, penned by both familiar Australian authors and emerging literary voices. Due to the range of material on offer, the Cringe consistently attracts an audience from around the globe, counting author Jerome Charyn and film director Jeremy Whelehan among its readers. Now edited by co-founders Elise Janes and Ken Ward, the Cringe is constantly evolving to build on its success and continue toward its mission of promoting an Australian voice on culture and arts both locally and around the world.

Three other members of the HARDCOPY alumni, Christine McPaul, George Dunford and Lesley Boland have gone on to establish Softcopy, an online e-journal for emerging writers. Since its launch in May 2015, when Softcopy included contributions from the inaugural HARDCOPY program, it continues to be a success. In its first two days, Softcopy received more than 1000 unique views, proving it is an exciting platform to showcase the work of emerging writers. With fiction and non-fiction submissions open until 30 November 2015, this new offering is an important contribution to the writing landscape. Moore agrees. ‘We love to hear about projects–such as the Cringe blog and the Softcopy anthology–and the support and nurturing that participants are in turn providing other emerging writers,’ she says.

For others, like Jane Abbott, HARDCOPY provided a fillip for an already promising career. Jane wrote her manuscript, Watershed, in 2013. In early 2014 she applied to both the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, and the ACT Writers' HARDCOPY Professional Development Program for Australian Writers (Fiction Edition); Watershed received a commendation in the VPLA, and Jane was one of thirty participants selected for HARDCOPY. Her submission to the final round of the program proved successful and participating literary agent, Gaby Naher, expressed an interest in reading Watershed in its entirety. Subsequently, Jane signed with The Naher Agency in Sydney, and has spent the last six months developing the manuscript to the highest possible standard. In September this year Jane was offered a two-book publishing contract with Vintage Penguin/Random House. Watershed is to be published in June/July 2016.

HARDCOPY has also provided the backdrop for careers associated with writing. An example is Shu-ling Chua, from the 2015 round, who has been selected as the Live: Producer for Noted Festival 2016 (Canberra's experimental writing festival). Shu-Ling attributes being accepted for HARDCOPY as the moment she identified as a ‘writer’. ‘The program and HARDCOPY community have done wonders for my confidence,’ she says. ‘I've written my first-ever paid piece, ‘Love Like Mine’, and I write regularly for BMA Magazine. My manuscript is on the back-burner but for me, HARDCOPY is really only just the beginning.’

Arts worker and writer, Nigel Featherstone, along with the ACT Writers Centre, can be justifiably proud of the many offshoots from HARDCOPY, only some of which are included here. Funding from the Australia Council has been an important factor in the success of HARDCOPY, enabling emerging writers to engage with the writing and publishing industries, and to form connections that have led to a range of creative endeavours. ‘Without the Australia Council funding, none of this would have been possible,’ Moore says. 

This blog post is part of my Blogger in Residence with the ACT Writers Centre and first appeared in Capital Letters 

Characters in a Jar

Recently I posted about how to make a Happiness Jar. If you haven't already started one, now is a great time to create an ongoing source of inspiration for your writing.

How often have you struggled to find an interesting starting point for a character in your short story or novel? You want someone engaging, right, someone you can come to know and (hopefully) understand, someone you care enough to write about.

So here is a neat tip. Randomly choose three slips of paper from your Happiness Jar. These slips will contain something that you wrote down about a happy experience.

You could:

1. Create a character using the scenes suggested. Unless you are intending to write a memoir, remember that the character is not you - they are just inspired by the experiences you have had. 
2. Transport the character forwards or backwards in time. Think about how they would respond to this happy experience if they lived a hundred years ago, or some time in the future. 
3. Imagine what the character would do if they didn't have these happy experiences. Explore how they would feel, what they would yearn for, who they would envy.
4. How would your character go about seeking out or achieving these experiences? Who would help them? Where would they look? What obstacles would they overcome? Would they be successful or not?
5. Explore how your character talks about the experience, the longing for it and the sense of pride or anger associated with the search for happiness. Do they sound boastful, wistful, despondent, jubilant, doubtful, curious?

Time to scribble those thoughts down, so happy writing!

Q&A with Susanne Gervay

Recently I, caught up with Susanne Gervay, ambassador for Room to Read, author of the children’s book series I Am Jack and young adult novel Butterflies

How/when did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was always a writer, but publication didn’t cross my mind. I thought everyone wrote novels and by eight, I was writing to work out the ‘meaning of life’ or to escape ‘the meaning of life.’ I only became an author when my beloved father passed away. The intensity of the loss was so great, that I needed to write about him. I wrote story after story. Writing and life became intertwined.

Slowly came the realization that I wanted to share my writing. I wanted other people to know that my father was special, that he survived war, prison and migration and protected us all. Then as a sole parent of two young children, I wanted to write for young people, so they’d always feel there’s a friend in their corner – to play with, share growing up, be there for the challenges of life and know they can be all they can be.

Were there any significant mentors/supporters who really assisted you when you were starting out?

My writing group of unpublished writers was a key support in my journey of becoming an author. I developed a lifelong friendship with fellow novice author Moya Simons. We workshopped each other’s writing, shared disappointments and successes. The writers in my writing group all became published in the end, which was a great joy to me and to each other.

The craft of writing for children and young adults might seem challenging to some.  What attracts you to that demographic?

 Writing for young people is challenging as authors face parental, teacher and community gatekeepers. How do you navigate truth with the inbuilt and well-meaning censorship implicit in writing for children and young adults? You tread lightly but do not compromise your commitment to the story and your readers.

Writing down to young people for worthy reasons can never be acceptable. Young people feel and think about everything, except they do not have the experience to navigate life. Writing is partnering them on their discoveries. 

Young people read very differently to adults. If a story reaches them, they will read and re-read it many times. Story becomes part of their search for identity and it is a privilege to travel with them. I receive many emails and cards from adults and children sharing the impact of my I Am Jack books, Butterflies for young adults, my picture books for all ages. 

I receive emails and letters for my books all the time from young readers, parents and teachers. Some emails in response to the I Am Jack books are:

When I knew I Am Jack was true, I imagined myself in Jack’s shoes. I felt sorrowful and sad as Jack had to put up with bullying for a long time. It would have been a burden forever if I was Jack. – K

 My heart just floated into nothing when I discovered that Jack and Samantha were your actual children. – A

My son was a victim of a false gay rumour at a school camp. [Later] they studied I Am Jack. My son's teacher told me that my son finished the book before the class did, participated in the class discussion which he is normally very shy in doing, all because he identified with Jack. Thank you – L

I get bullied at school almost every day and it makes me sick. I just didn't feel like going to school. I pretended to be sick and stay home for the day. I've talked to the School Councillor, I've tried to tell my mum, I've thought of getting back at the bullies, but all these things don't seem to work. But I Am Jack inspired me to tell everyone that I am being bullied. It makes me feel great and today I treated my mother with respect (I wasn't doing that ….) – L

The cemetery scene really resonated with one of my students as both his parents died in Afghanistan. He is comforted by the thought that they are watching over him and that he can talk to them at anytime, just like Nanna and Jack do with Grandad. – R

I love writing for kids and young adults.

When you set out to write, do you have a particular topic or issue in mind? If so, how do you choose it (or perhaps it chooses you)?

I write from a very personal perspective. When something touches me, it swirls in my mind, often for years, until it emerges as the core of my book. For my young adult novel Butterflies, a girl asked me to write about growing up with severe burns. While I initially refused to do it, it wove into my passions on difference, disability, disempowerment/empowerment and giving young women a voice. It was years of thinking and research – interviewing burn survivors, parents, siblings, doctors, firefighters, community until I understood it in my heart. Then I wrote Butterflies. When The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney asked if it could endorse Butterflies. I cried.

Like tempering steel, the process of passing through the fire helps make a person of exceptional quality. Butterflies captures these subtleties for the reader, and gives a stunning insight into a difficult topic.

 – Dr Hugh Martin OAM

President of the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association and

Head of the Burn Unit, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney.

In a world that is increasingly complex, how do you approach the task of having an authentic voice for younger readers?

As an author for younger readers or adults, it is the same process. You get into the mind and emotions of a character and react to the world as that character does. This is the basis of all stories. An authentic voice means you understand and are that character, know how they react and feel.  For example, in To Kill A Mockingbird the narrator, Scout, is eight years old. The voice is authentic because it reflects a child’s voice and her exploration of an adult world fraught with adult issues of racism, sexual abuse, mental health, group violence, sole parenting and more. It also reflects her journey, understanding, courage, values and who she wants to be within the joys and adventures of being a child in a world that is so new to her.

You’ve been asked to conduct a workshop for the ACT Writers Centre. In what ways do you think your workshop will benefit emerging writers?

At a key level, it provides the opportunity to network with other writers and help establish and/or deepen your creative community. It’s an opportunity to work as a group where ideas and craft issues can be explored, developed and answered.  It demystifies the complex world of publishing which is essential for those entering the world of children’s writing.

Is there any general advice you can give emerging writers?

Read the books of much loved children’s writers. Read school journals and short stories. Establish a writers’ group to share your work, edit, comment, develop your craft, enjoy as well as struggle with the process. Join your local writers centre, go to festivals and participate in the creative life. When you feel ready, submit your work to magazines, journals, enter competitions. Research publishers and what they are publishing. Then submit the appropriate work for the appropriate publisher. Pin your badge of courage on and learn from rejections so you can get closer to your goal.

Do not write for the market. Write from your passion and belief in what you are doing. Publication is precarious, so you need to write something you love and are committed to.

For those who want a quicker process, write on the computer as it makes editing so much easier. Research during your writing process. The internet can be a great friend.

The Biggest tip is to be willing to work on your craft to ensure that your piece is as good as it can be.   

This blog post is part of my Blogger in Residence with the ACT Writers Centre and first appeared in Capital Letters 

Industry Wrap

Day three of the ACT Writers Centre Intro2Industry sessions wrapped up with eBook Revolution's Emily Craven providing the low down on Indie and digital publishing. She argues that in the digital age, there is no need for authors to think only about 'bound, glued, dead-tree things'. Instead, writers can take the challenge to explore those diverse online mechanisms that enable their ideas to be shared with others.

This doesn't mean that the hardcopy book is dead, far from it. But it does mean that you need to be networked and seek out the best approach for your work.

These days, the options range across podcasts, direct downloads, subscriptions, apps and more.

'We are storytelling animals', so make the most of the opportunities the digital world offers.


The Hardcopy 2015 Intro2Industry program rounded off with a Q&A session provided by freelance editor, Mary Cunnane.

Emerging non-fiction writers now have a better insight into the many ways an author might seek publication. There's no right or wrong way, and definitely no one pathway to publication. As Emily Craven suggests, use the Velcro approach and see what sticks.

Innovation @Hardcopy 2015

Day two of Intro2Industry at the ACT Writers Centre didn't disappoint with an informative line-up headed by digital marketing specialist, Eva Bui from Random House. Her message to writers is to keep up with the digital age and embrace the opportunities for connection offered by technological innovation. Get a FaceBook page, tweet like you're a nightingale, seek out YouTube to reach the 18-34 year age bracket. And Instagram your heart out.

A new session at this year's Hardcopy was from Linda Funnell who shared her experiences at Newtown Review of Books. According to Linda, authors should not look to book reviews for validation, but if your receive a splendid review, don't be afraid to spread the word.

Of course, if you follow Eva's advice and have a strong digital presence, this will be easy.

The day was rounded off by a panel discussion about how to prepare for speaking in public and overcoming the (inevitable) stage fright before confronting your excited fans. My thought on this: make fan interaction a media event so you have something to post to YouTube and Instagram!

I2I @Hardcopy 2015

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the Intro2Industry sessions of HARDCOPY2015 to hear the latest from Charlotte Harper of Editia and literary agent, Jacinta di Mase.

We got down to basics in Charlotte's workshop where participants explored the imperatives facing publishers. While authors struggle with writing that perfect manuscript, publishers are worrying about marketing, rights management, publishing schedules, and the economics of choosing an author who will be noticed and sell. For those non-fiction writers out there, understanding the issues being considered by non-fiction publishers like Editia, Affirm Press, Text Publishing or Scribe is essential if you want to pitch your work successfully.

Jacinta provided insights into the relationship between non-fiction authors, agents and publishers with real life examples about the vibrancy of the Australian non-fiction book industry. It's not enough merely to have written a wonderful memoir, biography or history. Writers need a back story – why they wrote the piece, their connection to the topic, their credentials to deal with the issue. Authors might also consider whether their work lends itself to other forms such as documentaries or radio programs.

Congratulations to the ACT Writers Centre for once again conducting HARDCOPY. This is a leading professional development program backed by industry interest and commitment.

Looking forward to the sessions tomorrow.

GNH to HJR: Happiness in a Jar

People keep telling me I look happy. And it's true. I have a general sense of well-being, of contentment and satisfaction with my life.

For me, it's not about having things to be happy, but being happy with the things I have.

Bhutan measures its Gross National Happiness (GNH) based on psychological well-being, health, education, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and living standards.

Perhaps this offers some insight for happiness at a personal level: look after yourself emotionally and physically, make learning a life-long journey, be organised so you can achieve your goals, seek out difference and take in a broad range of experiences, act ethically, contribute to your community, create a garden, make the most of what you have - however much or however little this is.

Another way to know if you are happy is to create what I call your Happiness Jar Rating (HJR). It's simple. Choose a container (jar, pot, basket) and each day write down something that gave you happiness. Put the piece of paper into the container. Before long you have a ready-made reminder of positive, affirming, uplifting and dare I say it...happy memories. At this rate you'll have a seven star rating in no time!

There are fun ways to use your Happiness Jar as inspiration for writing. I'll explore this over the coming weeks.

Glass Half Full

Halfway through my Blogger in Residence for the ACT Writers Centre and time to do a stocktake of the experience so far.

One of the most interesting aspects is that my Residency is like a professional writing position. I submitted a timetable which was accepted and now it is a process of writing to deadlines, something quite different from the day to day free-form creative writing experience where a day or two, or a week or even a month won't make that much difference initially.

An enjoyable part of my Residency has been the professional contact with established writers, editors, bloggers and presenters. Not only have they been generous with their time, but the information they have provided has been inspiring and insightful.

A by-product of the experience is a greater understanding of the activities going on at the ACT Writers Centre. This has been in part due to the wonderful office there, but also through contact with workshop leaders for the spring program.

This brings me to the final thought for today, which is that while writing can be an individual pursuit, I've found that the Residency has enabled a greater sense of connection to the writing community. My Residency has given me more confidence as a writer, and with positive feedback about my blogs, I feel more capable and definitely appreciated.

Spring into Action

It's official. Spring is here.

If, like me, you've experienced a long, hard winter, shake off both Shakespeare ('Now is the winter of our discontent') and all thoughts of G R R Martin ('Winter is coming') and prepare your Writerly Things to Do in Spring checklist. Mine looks like this:

Organise your files - really it's about version control. You might have some pearls in the early versions of stories or the soon-to-be-best-seller, but you don't need to look at them all the time. Whether electronic or paper, put the older versions into a separate folder. It will clear your workspace and your mind. It also prevents you accidentally editing the 'wrong' version, or 'losing' the changes.

Set yourself a writing challenge - if writing matters to you, no more excuses! Get on with it. Can you create 500 words every day for a week? Or write for 24 hours straight? Or write 200 words in every coffee shop in town? Or create a short story in 100 words while you're on the bus to work?

Find a writing buddy - someone who is interested in writing too, who will hold you to account, who will encourage and nourish you and tell it like it is when you share early drafts. Avoid partners/spouses/parents/children/close friends. These people are lovely, but they don't have enough emotional distance for the task.

Enter a competition - yes, everyone else is doing this, but you have to be in it to win it. At the very least you will have a new piece of creditable writing that you may be able to publish elsewhere. If are the winner, fantastic!

Dust off old ideas - take something you have set aside for a while (yes, even for years) and give it a good going over. Change the perspective, introduce a new character, find a different location, try new dialogue, create a new opening sentence or revamp the title.

See, this is why you need to have a good filing system, be prepared to set yourself a writing challenge, have a writing buddy and a competition to send the finished product to.

So spring into action - there's no time to waste.

Softcopy: The Road to Self-Publishing an e-journal

‘The road to publication can be rough, take snacks and a friend’ – Elizabeth Hein

Three of us were crammed into my spare room with homemade muffins, chocolate-chip buns, a whiteboard, a laptop and an idea. We had already met a few times, and the plan was taking shape. We felt bold, excited and a little shaky – we intended to create a literary e-journal for emerging writers.

Last year I was one of thirty writers selected for the HARDCOPY 2014 program at the ACT Writers Centre. It was there that I met two friends, Lesley Boland and George Dunford, who would share the road to publication for Softcopy.

The choice to go digital was something we debated. But not for too long. Forums like Facebook and YouTube have over 13 million users each. In 2004 the amount of time people spent on the Internet was around six hours per week. By 2014 it had risen to 17.5 hours per week. If that seems like a lot, it might surprise you to learn that book readers spend above average time online compared to non-readers. With this in mind, we decided to embark on a pathway to independent online publishing.

One decision down. About fifty more to be made. What do we call the journal? Do we have the technical skills to make it happen? What are our design values? Can we secure the URL we need? How often will we publish? Do we have submission guidelines and will anyone want to submit their work? Will we finish our own stories in time? How will we edit? Assuming we make it to publication, will anybody read it?

Some of these decisions were straight forward. Others required cake, coffee, alcohol.

For the inaugural edition, we decided to focus on our fellow participants from HARDCOPY 2014, with sixteen submissions forming the basis of Softcopy Edition 1. George secured the Softcopy URL and provided suggestions on design. Lesley applied her expert organisational skills to editing and version control. I learnt how to use HTML so our stories could be wrangled into the online environment in a consistent format. We juggled jobs, writing and families while we tried to keep up the tempo to complete publication.

Since its launch in May 2015, Softcopy continues to be a success. With more than 1000 unique views in its first two days, Softcopy has proven to be an exciting platform to showcase the work of emerging writers.

The road from concept, through writing and editing, to publication, was a journey of around six months. When I’m asked what I think the key learnings from this experience have been, three things come to mind:

1. Have the courage to back your ideas
2. Build a team that shares the vision and has complementary skills
3. Never lose sight of the important cultural work that storytelling performs.

A few months on, and with rucksacks stuffed full of ideas, we are ready for the next contour on the cultural landscape.

Softcopy Edition 2 will shortly be calling for submissions from emerging writers.


This blog post is part of my Blogger in Residence with the ACT Writers Centre and first appeared in Capital Letters

No Ragrets

Blogger in Residence, Christine McPaul, caught up with Angela Meyer of LiteraryMinded to find out about her experience as an author, editor and blogger.

If there was a single word to describe your writing journey what would that be?

Intertextual. I am/my work is completely the product of every text I’ve absorbed.

Do you remember the first time you had something published? Could you describe the way you felt? Could you describe the process you undertook?

It would have been a review in Books+Publishing magazine, but more exciting was my first short story publication – though I can’t remember if it was the one in Hecate or Lip Magazine! I remember the room I was in. I remember the feeling of overwhelming joy bubbling up and the way I exclaimed out loud. I guess I was about 21. Every time I have a story accepted it still feels that good. Sometimes there are a lot of rejections in between. But I’m also lucky enough to have gotten to a point where I am now sometimes asked to contribute to a publication.

Were there any significant mentors/supporters who really assisted you when you were starting out?

Yes. Growing up in regional Australia it was a bit different to where I now live in Melbourne. My Oma used to write and encouraged me early, so did a few influential teachers. But Peter Bishop is someone who really saw something in my work as an adult, before many people did, in my early 20s. Peter was the director of Varuna Writers Centre in the Blue Mountains, and has nurtured many great writers. He read my first novel manuscript when he was travelling around to regional places, meeting with writers, and he gave me the feedback I needed (basically, it’s not great, but keep writing). Then, along with a panel, he chose my next manuscript for a residency at Varuna. We had some great and very real conversations about life, writing, and death. I’ll never forget it. I had come from a place where I felt a little starved, to be honest, of intellectual or philosophical (or even just honest, or raw) conversation, not to mention conversations that go deep into ideas of story, character, literary style, and what it even means to be a writer. That manuscript was unpublishable, too, in the end, but it was absolutely worth writing and working on because I learnt so much about my own concerns as a writer and I was on my way to finding better ways to express them, thanks to Peter’s encouragement, and then many others once I landed in Melbourne.

How did that first publication influence your writing career?

I wouldn’t say the short story had much impact on my ‘career’ as a writer, but it was an encouragement to keep writing them. But the first review – that certainly kicked off a whole, completely unexpected career as a book blogger and professional reviewer, which led to work also as a book industry journalist, and frequent festival chair, and eventually contributed to the range of experience which got me my current job in publishing.

If you could have your time as a writer over again, what would you do differently?

Nothing.

You’ve been asked to conduct a workshop for the ACT Writers Centre. In what ways do you think your workshop will benefit emerging writers?

I’m conducting TWO workshops! And both are aimed at inspiring emerging writers and giving them some mad skillz. I’ve been teaching ‘flash fiction’ for a while, as my book, Captives, is a collection of these tiny stories. I really enjoy introducing students to this small, satisfying form. At the end of the day they’ll even have completed a story or two!

My ‘reading to write’ workshop is very close to my heart. There’s no way my writing would have improved so much over the past ten years if I hadn’t also been such a voracious reader, and someone who had to ‘close read’ books for review, for study, for competition judging, and in my work now as an editor. I will encourage the students in this workshop to see their joyous reading time as something that can also be helpful in their development as writers. (And you get to spend time in the workshop banging on about your favourite book, which is always fun.)

Is there any general advice you can give emerging writers?

Others have said it before me, and better than me, but just read a lot and write a lot. Be dedicated. Love it. And go to those places you fear going to. Your writing will be better for it.

This piece first appeared on Capital Letters, the blog of the ACT Writers Centre, as part of my Blogger in Residence.
Thank you to Angela Meyer who generously answered my questions.

Persistence Pays

Persistence Pays. This was the advice from industry expert, Mary Cunnane, when asked what she would tell writers who were starting out.

This persistence can take many forms. Here are my five tips:

1. Keep Writing. This seems so obvious, and yet I often hear people bemoan the range of activities and issues that prevent them from writing. Set a regular time (first thing in the morning, when the kids have gone to bed, at the soccer game, on the bus). It doesn't matter when or where. Keep your notebook or writing device with you and start. Make a commitment to yourself that you will write for 30 minutes each day. It will add up.

2. Join a Writers Group. If you love to write, you probably also love to read. So join a writers group and be the first to read what one day might be a bestseller. Writers groups can provide support and knowledgeable feedback. Learn to give constructive critiques about the writing you read and the other members will thank you.

3. Research the Industry. One way to become successful is to be well connected and well informed. For those unfamiliar with the publishing industry, having an idea about current trends, what publishers want, and how to position your work in the market place will help. With the rise in electronic sources of information, and social media, it is easier than ever. All reputable publishers have websites, Facebook or Twitter accounts. Follow them.

4. Become a Member of Your Writers Centre. These are a wonderful source of information. Not only become a member, but attend some of the workshops they offer. Writers centres are starting to explore online chat sessions, so distance is no excuse.

5. Learn from Rejections. We will all receive rejections. The important thing is to learn from them. Occasionally a rejection will include some feedback. Try to set your emotional response aside and take it on board. Even when no feedback is provided, think about whether your work is suited to that style of publisher. Perhaps you need to refine your query letter, or do a better copy edit on your manuscript. Publishers (and agents) have specific requirements for submission - check that you have complied. Each rejection offers an opportunity to learn about the industry and about your writing.

Cat/chy?

Isn't it interesting how poems stay with you years after you first hear them?

The Owl and the Pussycat conjures up a fantastical world where animals speak and take on human qualities.

Their possessions fill me with an envy arguably the colour of the 'beautiful pea green boat'. Oh, to have a small guitar, not to mention a five pound note and that runcible spoon!

Read your children poetry - or better still, write some for them.