Issue 2: April/May 2014
Glam and glossy What it’s really like to be an intern
WIN
a trip to
Turkey!
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How to
transform your
career
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From stay-at-home mum to
best-selling author
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Geena Leigh's moving memoir
More student successes
Contents
As we head into the middle of 2014, we hope you’ve been sticking to the writing goals you made at the start of the year. It can be easy to let work, life and the daily grind get the better of us. We find excuses not to sit down and write. We discover new ways to procrastinate, which means we don’t nurture our creative spark. While it may seem like a luxury to indulge in our creative pursuits, it’s time to think differently about this. Giving in to your desire to write isn’t an indulgence. It’s essential. It’s an important part of feeding your creative soul. But remember that you don’t have to pen a best-selling novel in order to do this. You might just want to start a blog, or write a short story. Or perhaps you want to craft a freelance magazine article. Whatever your passion, we want to help you make it happen. And we hope you find the articles in this issue inspiring.
Keep your writing resolutions
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Call me Sasha
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Rediscover your city
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Glam and glossy
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Parachuting to publication
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Student successes
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Where can your blogging take you?
15
Business writing
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Career transformation
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Competitions 22 What Jessica did next
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Upcoming courses
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The Team at the Australian Writers’ Centre
This is a publication of the Australian Writers’ Centre, the leading national centre for writing courses. You’ll find us in Sydney (02 9929 0088), Melbourne (03 9005 6737) and Perth (08 9468 0177). We also have a huge community of students from all over the world who learn in our online classrooms. www.WritersCentre.com.au
National Director: Course Manager: State Director – WA: Marketing Manager: New Media Manager: Administration Coordinator:
Valerie Khoo Danielle Williams Alecia Hancock Leona D’vaz Tracy Tan Nicole Sharpe
Teachers: Karen Andrews, Nicole Avery, Geoff Bartlett, Nigel Bartlett, Kim Berry, Nic Brasch, Deb Doyle, Grant Doyle, Trae Flett, Tim Gooding, Alecia Hancock, Nicole Hayes, Kathryn Heyman, Kate Forsyth, Pamela Freeman, Lisa Heidke, Kate Hennessy, Julietta Jameson, Kylie Ladd, Natasha Lester, Cheryl Lin, LA Larkin, Anna Maguire, Jeni Mawter, Patti Miller, Holly Nott, Catriona Pollard, Carli Ratcliff, Judith Ridge, Judith Rossell, James Roy, Kerri Sackville, Claire Scobie, Allison Tait, Cathie Tasker, Sue White.
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Be inspired
pend less, save more; lose weight; stop drinking/ smoking – these are the New Year’s resolutions that most people will fail at. Why? Often because they’re resolutions made on a whim, at a particular hour of a particular evening at a particular time of the year. They’re not meticulously planned goals. Now that’s not to say everyone who makes a New Year’s resolution will fail, and it certainly doesn’t apply to all resolutions – particularly if your goal in 2014 is to write more. Think about it. Previous years’ and resolutions’ experience aside, the New Year is the ideal time to re-assess (or just assess!) your writing goals and put in place the strategies that will help you achieve them. And, with just a little planning, it’s these strategies that will be the key to your success.
Here are our suggestions for making 2014 your year of writing.
Set your writing goals
What exactly do you want to achieve this year? Do you want to just dip your toe in fiction writing or do you have a novel in mind? Are you looking for a career change or a chance to write feature articles on the side? Whatever your goals, you need to write them down. This step is important because having a physical reminder of what you hope to achieve this year will help you stay on track. It will also give you something to measure come the end of the year.
Do a course
Keep your w r it in g r e s o l u t io n s You’ve made a resolution that you’re going to write more in 2014. That decision, in itself, isn’t enough. Set your goals, plan your strategies, and get ready for your year of writing. By Danielle Williams.
Okay, so of course we’re going to suggest this, but if you’ve been thinking about writing – and consistently putting it off – you may be surprised by just how life-changing taking part in a writing course will be. Pamela Freeman, author of over 25 books and creator of the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Creative and Novel Writing programs, says taking a course must be on your “How I’ll become a writer” list. She says: “Doing a writing course shows you that you are taking your writing seriously, and that’s the most important step.” But there’s so much more you can gain by learning from an expert, and even the most gifted new writer needs to know the basics before they can embark on their first novel. “You don’t know what you don’t know. Because the courses I’ve developed with the AWC are focused on techniques, we can guarantee that your writing will improve in ways you never expected. Also, paying money upfront gives you not only the motivation, but the excuse to prioritise your writing.” Not only will you learn the techniques and tools you need in your chosen field of writing, you’ll also meet like-minded people who share your love of the written word.
Schedule time to write
Want to be able to answer the question, “What do you do?” with “I’m a writer”? Well then, it’s time you started treating writing like a job. In the same way you need to schedule time for work, study and play, you should learn to schedule time for your writing. Seems obvious, doesn’t it? Australian crime-writer and author of Infamy (Allen & Unwin) Lenny Bartulin says discipline is the key to developing a strong writing habit.
and readers can spot a fake in 10 seconds. Besides, you’re going to re-read your manuscript so many times, you really have to love it.” Thinking of writing for newspapers and magazines? That’s easy – visit your local newsagent and stock up. Read all the magazines you want to write for and maybe even some you’ve never thought of approaching. This kind of research is vital if you want 2014 to be the year you really kickstart your freelance feature writing career.
Surround yourself with other writers
“You have to write regularly, without fail. You have to get down to the work and create some kind of rhythm that suits your life and personality and abilities, and stick to it no matter what. You need to discover and set your own patented, personalised, unique writing body-clock.” Whether your writing body-clock has you sitting at your computer bright and early in the morning, or writing in your notebook in bed at night, treat writing like an appointment and schedule time in your diary to do it – ideally every day. This way, you’re setting yourself up for 12 solid months of writing. By the end of the year, you’ll have a healthy writing habit and who knows – maybe that 20 minutes a day will have become 60 minutes a day and, before you know it, you’ve finally finished that manuscript!
Read more books and magazines
Gary Disher, the prolific Australian author of over 50 books, says: “Be a reader – I know from my years as a writing teacher that many intending writers are not readers.” This is a big mistake. How can you possibly hone your craft or research your chosen genre if you’re not reading the books published already? Reading these books will help you understand why a certain author’s novels work, why you see their books on the shelves and not yours (yet!), and how writers apply those all-important techniques you’ve learned about in your writing courses. And you certainly shouldn’t limit yourself to reading in your own genre. Broaden your horizons a little and explore the classics – what makes them so timeless? What is it about them that you love? Or hate? Asking these questions of every book you read will help you understand your craft and what you want to achieve with your own writing. Not only that, as Matthew Reilly points out, being well read will give your writing more authenticity. “Write what you yourself love to read. It’s as simple as that. You can’t fake enthusiasm
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Don’t underestimate the benefit of a regular meeting with fellow writers. Whether that’s a weekly coffee with a friend who’s also writing a novel or a monthly meet up with a larger group, chatting about your writing to like-minded people will really help you keep those 2014 goals in mind. Author and journalist Tara Moss agrees: “Get involved with a writers’ centre, get involved with writers’ groups, meet writers, speak to writers. I think that’s one way to get a grasp of the publishing industry and what’s necessary to finish a novel.” Even budding feature or travel writers can benefit from regular contact with fellow wordsmiths. The Australian Writers’ Centre’s online graduate groups give former students a chance to stay in touch (no matter where they’re from), workshop ideas and share success stories. The Centre’s national director Valerie Khoo says: “We now have a thriving community of former creative writing and magazine and newspaper writing graduates logging in every day to catch up.” Ultimately, what you really need to do if you want to achieve your writing dreams is follow this advice from best-selling novelist and editor at the Australian Women’s Weekly, Caroline Overington: “Write! A lot of people say they are going to write a book but they don’t get started, or they do get started and then give it away. You have to keep at it.” t
Moving memoir
“Call me Sasha …” Australian Writers’ Centre graduate Geena Leigh has written a memoir that is not only darkly entertaining but which packs a punch with a powerful and important message. By Lisa Schofield.
M
any of us have a “story inside us”. And sometimes these stories are so compelling, so slam-down riveting, that they just need to be told. Geena Leigh’s story is just that. From an abusive childhood and equally abusive relationships, to 19 years of working as a prostitute, most people would understand if Geena Leigh (41) never wanted to look back at the life she’s escaped from. But for Geena it was important to share her story and, by doing so, give hope to others that there is always another way.
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Living in Sydney’s eastern suburbs with girlfriend Gene, a lighting director, and their dogs Brooklyn and Brody, Geena’s life couldn’t be more different now to where she’s come from. Raised in Australia and New Zealand, Geena’s childhood was so difficult that, by the age of 15, she was living on her own in order to escape the abuse at home. A relationship with an abusive partner was followed by yet another abusive relationship, and in her desperation to get out of it, a friend of her mother’s sold a compelling story to her. “I was lured into the sex industry”, remembers Geena. “I was told it was easy money, not much sex, and was just about providing companionship. It was put to me very enthusiastically and I was at a point where I was desperate to do anything to get out of the abusive situation I was in. So I agreed.”
Entering another world Geena entered the sex industry working as an escort when she was 18 and remained in that world for the next 19 years. Four years ago, she finally summoned enough courage to leave it behind. “It’s a life of misery. And once you’re in, you change as a person and you can’t go back,” says Geena. “I’d already learnt to detach from the abuse at home when I was growing up, so then I learnt to detach from my body and just do the work”. Turning to alcohol and drugs was another way of coping for Geena, both while she was working and often after coming home from a shift also. “The only thing that gave me hope was this knowledge and belief that I would leave the industry”, says Geena. “I knew I was going to get out.” So Geena started to arm herself with the resources she needed to extract herself. For eight years, while still working as an escort, she completed two degrees – a Bachelor of Business from the University of NSW and a Bachelor of Creative Industries and Media from Queensland University of Technology. And she also got clean from her drug and alcohol addictions. “It was harder to work after that”, says Geena. “I continued working as a prostitute very sporadically just to pay bills, and really focused on trying to get out.” Which is exactly what Geena Leigh did after 19 years working as a prostitute in the sex industry in Sydney. She got out.
A new chapter in life With her life on a very different track – she found a new home, renewed old friendships and a started her career as a property strata manager – Geena had a watershed moment after reading the book The Millionaire Messenger by Brendan Burchard. This book encouraged people to share their life story and, by doing so, make a difference through inspiring others to live a better life. It struck a chord with Geena. “I knew that I needed to share my story and offer help to others,” says Geena. “So I started to write a self-help book. I went to a writing seminar and pitched my idea.” The response was an overwhelming agreement that Geena’s book should in fact be a memoir. She had a story to tell. Her story. “I went and bought 10 memoirs to research and signed up for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Life Writing course with Patti Miller,” remembers Geena. “The course gave me a lot of writing skills, but it also gave me validation that I could do this.” Prior to writing her memoir, Geena hadn’t done any writing at all, but she knew from emails and letters she’d written that she had a way of putting words together to make an impact. When Geena started writing her memoir, she was simply on a mission to get the words down. For seven months in 2012, with a goal of writing 1000 words daily, she carried notebooks everywhere, writing down memories when they occurred to her. In the morning before work and then later at home, she would write. Then, following an unexpected redundancy from her job, she siezed the opportunity to continue working on her memoir fulltime. “It wasn’t easy at times, that’s for sure”, Geena remembers. “Initially, I just wanted to get the content out. It wasn’t until I reviewed the first draft that it hit me – I had gone back and
relived every horrible memory.” The consequence for Geena of that process was falling into a deep depression. “I was amazed with how easily you could access memories if you choose to,” recalls Geena. “I could recall incredible detail – the pattern of the linoleum on the floor or the markings on the mirror. It was all very real.”
A book deal With her manuscript complete, Geena asked Patti Miller from the Australian Writers’ Centre to edit it, after which Geena pitched it to two publishers who both turned it down – but with positive words of encouragement. Then independent consultant publisher for Allen & Unwin, Richard Walsh, saw value in Geena’s manuscript, and guided her in its development over the next few months. Many edits and subsequent drafts later, Geena had not only a powerful manuscript, but also a publishing contract with Allen & Unwin. Ironically, Geena received the news of her publishing contract as she was about to walk into an event at the 2012 Sydney Writers’ Festival. “I walked into the talk, sat down and then was too excited to concentrate so I had to leave and go and find Gene,” remembers Geena. Her book Call Me Sasha: Secret confessions of an Australian callgirl was destined for the printing press and Australian bookstores. Geena then secured Sydney literary agent Selwa Anthony after the contract was signed with Allen & Unwin. Selwa also represents Australian Writers’ Centre graduate Jessica Shirvington and established authors such as Tara Moss. “I wasn’t sure I needed an agent, but I’m so glad I got one,” says Geena. “She’s given invaluable advice in aspects of the book like the cover design and really helped move the project forward.” Holding a copy of the finished book was a powerful moment for Geena. “I’m thrilled with what Allen & Unwin have done, I’m really happy with it.” And with a second manuscript, this time a fictional work, in its final draft, Geena is hopeful that her newfound passion and success as an author will continue. Her book hit stores in January 2014. “It’s intensely private and I feel very exposed”, says Geena. “But I knew then and I know now that it’s going to help someone. There’s going to be some young woman out there who’s been through a similar thing, she’s going to see that I got through it. At the very least, I knew I had a story that would entertain. “I found happiness, love and my purpose in life. And I want my book to give hope”. t
You can find Geena at GeenaLeigh.com. This profile was written by Lisa Schofield (givingbackgirl. blogspot.com.au), a freelance writer based in Sydney and also a graduate of the Australian Writers’ Centre.
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Write what you love
R e d is c o v e r y o u r c it y
sionate about her hometown Urban explorer Maree Coote is pas is her ode to a city. and its history. The Melbourne Book
W
hile some travel writers think you have to journey to far-flung locations in order to write, Maree Coote doesn’t need to look any further than her own backyard for inspiration. Her love of Melbourne has led her on a decades-long journey of recording and writing the everevolving history of Australia’s “second city”. Maree has written three books on the city of her birth, which is also her current home. But it’s The Melbourne Book: The History of Now, now in its 10th year and fourth edition, that really showcases Maree’s passion for this most liveable of cities. The Melbourne Book is a unique exploration of a city. Maree was inspired by her own childhood growing up in bayside Melbourne in the 1960s. “I had an idyllic childhood on the beach, very outdoors, natural and healthy. So I loved the excitement and contrast of trips to town with mum, and I was amazed at her
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street-smarts, her knowledge of shortcuts highlights. It was an adventure! We explored every lane and viaduct, basement cafeteria and roof-top carnival.”
Rediscovering a city
As an adult, that love of urban adventure inspired Maree to record the rapidly disappearing heritage of Melbourne and she took on the mammoth task of photographing many of the city’s condemned buildings. A moment’s contemplation then inspired her to delve deeper into the city’s history. She says: “One day, when I was shooting, I looked up at the Swanston Street sign and wondered why I didn’t know who Swanston was. So I resolved then and there to find out, and the photographs came together with my research to build story after story until I had a lot to tell Melburnians about their own town.” And so The Melbourne Book was born. This truly is a love letter to a city. As a designer
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS’ CENTRE | APR/MAY 2014
and illustrator with a long background in advertising, Maree has a keen aesthetic eye and has created a fascinating as well as beautiful ode to Melbourne. Its pages are filled with Maree’s photographs, one accompanied by one of the city’s many stories. But the book is not just a triumph of design. Researching the history of a city involved “lots of reading, interviews and leg-work.”
Finding the missing links
While research was clearly essential to the original premise of the book, it also threw up some fascinating detours. “I love the way that research throws up surprises and ideas. I also love unearthing the people who are the oracle of a particular subject, meeting them and recording their stories, sitting with the descendants of E.W. Cole [founder of the Book Arcade] and discussing the old man’s amazing life, or chatting with Lillian Wightmans’s daughter about growing up
in Le Louvre, or with Mirka Mora about our shared crush on [the French adventurer and photographer] Antoine Fauchery.” For Maree, finding these stories and reading, interviewing and exploring were the most enjoyable aspect of the book’s production. “I simply love the immersion and detective work involved.”
Bringing it all together
Research is one thing, but Maree’s next challenge was bringing all that work together. Maree noted, “So many things had to be left out, or condensed. I like to mix the iconic with the unexpected. I have been forced by my own book layout to keep the chapters short, and this is good because I want each story to be accessible – a précis really.” But keeping in mind her original goals for the book helped her compile the final chapters. “The role of the book is to introduce readers to history in a light way. The trick is to keep the book manageable for the reader, and as lightweight as I can for the traveller. It’s hard to trim some stories to fit this model, but it’s good practice for me. I follow my own passions and connections, tell the stories that I think people need to know about, forgotten stories and new ones. “I try to keep history top-of-mind so we can learn from the past and protect the present. It’s an ongoing and organic process of maintaining contact with our own stories, seeing why they resonate and where the pitfalls are for the city. I am very conscious of how we create history and the impact of the choices we make every day.” Maree also wanted to capture Melbourne’s personality and so divided her book into four categories she felt best represented the
city. For her, those things were Opportunity, Sanctuary, Passion and Beauty. “‘Opportunity’ covers the early years, the impact, failures and successes of the early figures and events, the birth and growth of the settlement, the accidents of gold prosperity, the opportunists and the visionaries. ‘Sanctuary’ is where I explore the physical amenity of the place, the geography, ideas of liveability, the river, the parks and gardens, the port – the natural features that underpin our places of interest. “‘Passion’ is everything we love, hate, or love to hate: racing, politics, sport, Vegemite, Germaine, Ned Kelly, music, gambling, the weather – so many things get Melburnians going. ‘Beauty’ covers the histories of architecture, fashion and design.”
‘Comrade’s Reward’ by William Eicholtz at Werribee Mansion
Travel writing in your own backyard
What Maree’s book really demonstrates is just how much inspiration writers and artists can find in their own surroundings. Every city has its own history, culture and food scene, and opportunities for the savvy urban explorer are endless. Maree’s built a devoted following for her unique travel guides to Melbourne. She has also written two children’s picture books on her favourite subject – When You Go To Melbourne and Alphabet City Melbourne – and compiled another tribute, The Art of Being Melbourne, a collection of artworks by some of Australia’s (and Melbourne’s) best loved artists. Like all good travel writing, Maree hopes her work will inspire not only visitors but locals to explore the wonderful city of Melbourne. When she first embarked on the project she hoped to protect many of the city’s treasures from “ignorance and demolition.” But her work has grown to mean so much more. “I broke new stories, and unearthed some treasures. It was very exciting, and making this ongoing contribution to Melbourne’s story over the past decade has been a revelation in many ways.” t
Southern Cross Station
Ceiling, Parliament LIbrary
To find how you can find inspiration in your home town and write about it check out the courses in Travel Writing and Food Writing. Learn in person or online at writerscentre.com.au.
Photos: ©Maree Coote 2013 from The Melbourne Book: A History of Now MELBOURNESTYLE BOOKS 155 CLARENDON STREET SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3025 0419 002 619
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more than an intern
y s s o l g d n a Glam by Ara Sarafian
I
t’s 5.30am. Gabrielle Tozer, 28, shuts the door to her study and sits at her desk. Sydney’s concrete jungle is quieter so early in the morning and Gabrielle likes to write in silence. A gumtree stands outside her window – the only greenery among the nearby buildings. It’s a reminder of where she came from: Wagga Wagga in regional NSW. Gabrielle brings her focus back to her PC monitors – she uses two of them now. Her desk takes up half the room and it’s covered with Post-it notes and paper, cups of undrunk green tea and water bottles. “Writing is hard work,” she says. “You need to keep hydrated.” One Post-it, stuck on the wall before her, reads: “You’ve done this once. You can do it again.” Gabrielle is in the process of writing her second young adult novel: a sequel. Her first novel, The Intern, hit book stores in February 2014. It’s about Josie Browning, a high-achiever who lands an internship at a glossy fashion magazine – a profile that resembles Gabrielle’s own.
Where it all started Rewind to 1990. A five-year-old Gabrielle already knows she wants to be an author. “Once you get a hang of reading, you want to start telling your own stories,” she says. She started her own writing with Babysitters Club fan fiction. She had a book review published in Year 8; a poem published in year 12. And in 2004, while studying journalism and creative writing at the University of Canberra, she was a winner of the ABC Heywire competition, where young regional Australians submit scripts for
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radio stories about their lives. “I’ve had all these experiences that keep reinforcing that I’m doing what I love.” After a journalism internship at Monitor Online, the newspaper of the University of Canberra, she moved to Sydney and, at 21, landed her first job as a sub-editor of ACP Magazines’s kids’ titles. “One of the fabulous things about working in magazines is the amazing experiences you come across. It’s a great industry with a lot of colourful, crazy characters,” she says. It was these experiences that formed the foundation for her first novel. “The novel is absolutely fiction; however, there are some moments that have actually happened to me, or that I’ve included and exaggerated to the extreme, just for a bit of fun.” Now, after eight years of working in magazines, Gabrielle works fulltime for Hoyts as a senior editor and copywriter: writing and
editing communications, web copy, flyers, booklets, social media and anything else they throw at her. But between 5.30am and 7.30am, before work, she’s an author, sitting at her desk, writing the sequel to The Intern. In those two hours before work, she just writes and worries about the editing later.
A double life The privacy and silence of Gabrielle’s study contrasts sharply to her corporate workspace: open plan, people rushing in and out of the office, phones ringing. “I’ve had to learn, over the years, how to write surrounded by people. And I will tell you, it is tough.” She must have learnt well; she’s written for DOLLY, Girlfriend, Cosmopolitan, Mamamia, Bride to Be and The Canberra Times, among others. She’s worked as a managing editor, deputy editor, chief subeditor and senior features writer. But at her desk in her two-bedroom apartment, writing is not as glamorous. She wears a faded navy tracksuit and Ugg boots. And her hoodie is stained with peanut butter: battle scars from the writing process – she eats from the jar when stressing out. Gabrielle has always been this proactive in her writing. After completing a writing course in 2009, she stayed in touch with her teacher who, impressed by her writing, forwarded Gabrielle’s details to HarperCollins. The publisher contacted Gabrielle around September 2011, asking if she was interested in having a chat. Gabrielle pitched some ideas and some sample chapters and they asked to see a full manuscript. She wrote a first draft of The Intern in less than five months, while working as a fulltime journalist. “I wrote and wrote and wrote, without planning, without plotting. I just got everything out of me and put it on the page. It’s impossible to edit a blank page so I got the words out and fixed them up later.” She sent HarperCollins a polished manuscript in June 2012, suggesting a sequel or series; Harper Collins replied, offering a two-book contract, which was officially announced in October 2012. Gabrielle follows Stephen King’s advice from his book, On Writing. He suggests, “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.” For Gabrielle, creative writing is a solitary task. “I fly quite solo on the creative thing. I don’t even like to talk about the details,” she says. No workshopping groups, no feedback from family or friends. Her husband is allowed to read the manuscript only when she’s finished the draft; only then does she open the door to her work. While writing her first novel and working fulltime, Gabrielle was also planning her own wedding. “It was the most stressful time of my life,’ she says. “Daily meltdowns. But I am determined.” “It was a struggle between feeling like I didn’t have the time or the energy to do it all and not wanting to miss out on a wonderful opportunity. It was difficult and I wouldn’t encourage it,” she laughs. “If you can space out your life events a little bit more, I’d highly recommend it.” After a meltdown, she makes sure she has enough breaks. Perhaps she’ll binge watch a season of a TV show. She’s passionate about good TV and good movies, though she also treats them as research. She confesses to being a big procrastinator, susceptible to the lure of Twitter and social media. And she doesn’t want to neglect those close to her. “Juggling my social life is difficult with juggling my author life. I love my friends and family and I want to make sure I’m not dropping the ball in that department.”
Gabrielle Tozer
Occupational hazard In her author life, when writing The Intern, Gabrielle swapped daily between writing journalism for work and writing young adult fiction in her spare time. But she found the switching of gears easy. It was being in gear that caused problems. “The hardest part was, I was spending so many hours a day in front of a computer, writing. It was just the number of hours dedicated to one type of task that became very, very difficult. I ended up having to see physios for my back and my arms and neck. It’s quite dangerous, writing,” she says, laughing. “I didn’t know how to cope at the start. What has helped me is being a creature of routine.” Gabrielle gets up so early in the morning because it’s when she writes best. She also dedicates at least three to five hours of her weekend to the task. “Writing a novel is absolutely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s a daily, weekly, and monthly struggle.” Her routine is simple: “I always write the blurb of the book first. I usually have the opening scene or two in my mind, very vividly, and then I usually have a bit of an idea of where I want to take the story. But nothing is set in concrete. And then I just sit down and start. Once I’ve run out of energy, I’ll stop and re-evaluate and brainstorm in a separate notebook. Then I put a bit of a plan together for the following chapters.” Gabrielle also keeps spreadsheets, tracking her word counts. “It’s a little bit nerdy – and it’s weird because I barely know how to use Excel – but I find it incredibly motivating to see that number rising,” she says. “Once you get rid of all the self-doubt, all of a sudden inspiration starts flowing. And when it rains, it pours. You just have to back yourself.” Chasing her dream hasn’t been glamorous, and it’s involved meltdowns and stress-induced peanut butter cravings, but none of that matters for Gabrielle if that’s what it takes to make her dreams to come true. Gabrielle sets down a cup of green tea and starts writing. The door to her study is closed; the door to her writing is closed. For the moment, she just writes. She’ll open the doors later. t
Ara Sarafian is a freelance writer based in Melbourne who travelled the world for eight years. You can find him on Twitter at @ara_sarafian.
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Thriller Writing
Parachuting to publication Over 20 years, Chris Allen built a successful career in the military. Then the digital publishing revolution helped him achieve a lifetime dream.
T
he military may not seem like the ideal training ground for a writer, but then Chris Allen has an unusual way of going about things. Despite his English teacher’s belief that his early fiction attempts were “woeful”, Chris began his career in the army, but always with the intention of returning to his dream of writing a novel. For Chris, a career in the military was not so far removed from his dream of being a writer. After all, his favourite authors both served in the armed forces in between writing their famous characters. “It’s been really interesting for me to discover that of the authors I have enjoyed reading the most, almost all have at some point in their lives served in the military. With regard to my two favourites, Ian Fleming served as a Naval Intelligence Officer which inevitably became the basis of the James Bond character, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an army doctor which, of course, was the foundation of Dr John Watson.” Still, Chris’s path to publication was unique and he was fortunate to be able to take advantage of great change within the publishing industry, making self-publishing his first book, Defender of the Faith, a very viable option. He has now published three books in his Intrepid series with the digital-only publisher Momentum Books and is busy working on his fourth.
From Major to author
In 2012, Chris was serving in the historical role of Sheriff of New South Wales, after a stellar career that saw him qualify as a paratrooper and serve in conflict zones around the world. When he left the military due to injury he began working in humanitarian aid, joining CARE International and serving during the East Timor crisis in 1999. On his return to Australia in 2000 he started experimenting with a character he had in mind, spending the next 10 years refining his idea. “I guess
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it was all about just feeling ready. I was well into my thirties and I needed to get the ideas that had been floating around in my head for many years down on ‘paper’.” That character eventually became Alex Morgan, the main protagonist in Chris’s Intrepid series. Alex Morgan is a Major serving in the Parachute Regiment, serving in conflicts all over the world – and the parallels to Chris’s own career don’t end there. “I’m fortunate in that I can draw on my own life experiences to some extent and also on the experiences of some of my closest friends. Those real life elements tend to provide me with the basis of an idea or a character or a reaction and so on. Beyond that, like most authors, I research critical elements of the story to ensure as much authenticity as possible.” While Chris himself describes his books as “escapist action thrillers for realists”, he’s also keen to include some social commentary for his readers. “When researching possible material for my stories I like to focus my attention towards human issues as the foundation of Alex Morgan’s missions in the hope that I can encourage awareness of things that I feel strongly about.” That philosophy has taken centre stage in his latest book, Avenger. “When I began thinking about a suitable backdrop for this third instalment my thoughts turned to human trafficking, which is obviously topical at the moment and has been for some time. I discovered to my absolute horror that global profits made from the exploitation of human beings in forced labour situations is estimated to be in the order of US$30 billion dollars annually. This statistic alone prompted me to look at the issue further and, in pretty short order, the story emerged. I’ve drawn heavily from reality to set the scene and establish some of the main players and then I’ve allowed the characters to tell their own stories within that setting.”
Thriller Writing
Ebook to publishing deal
While the Alex Morgan character gradually took shape over 10 years of writing and re-writing, so too did Chris’s plan for publication. The first book, Defender of the Faith, was self-published after some promising trade publishing opportunities fell through. “I had submitted the various manuscripts to a number of major publishing house here in Australia and, in most cases, came very close to being signed. In essence, I kept hearing that I wrote incredible action but it just wasn’t ‘what we’re looking for right now’ – a familiar response I’m sure for many aspiring authors out there. And, if you hear those words often enough, then you could be forgiven for questioning your choice of career.” Luckily he didn’t question it for too long. Chris was confident in his story so decided to “take the bull by the horns” and self-publish Defender of the Faith as an ebook on Amazon. With the help of his wife, who managed the social media and marketing campaign, the book was a instant success. “I’m glad to say that I received a very encouraging start to my publishing journey as we eventually sold around two and a half thousand books ourselves via Amazon over the space of about three months – on the back of a very targeted social media campaign that Sarah ran. Short version is that this approach got me noticed.” In fact, it got him noticed by Momentum Books, the digital publishing arm of Pan Macmillan Australia. They republished the first book as Defender and signed him on for an additional two books in the series – Hunter and Avenger.
The next step
Since then, his books have regularly featured on the bestseller lists of Amazon, iBookstore and Kobo. And Chris hopes he may soon be able to incorporate more traditional publishing in the Intrepid series. “My focus is to see my books available in every type of format – digital, print, audio – and in as many languages as possible, because one thing is clear and that is that the world is still coming to terms with digital, and many readers have, or will eventually determine, their preferred format in which to experience a story. I don’t wish to be limited just to one format and certainly I have been asked many times ‘where can I find your book?’” Now that the Intrepid juggernaut has been launched, Chris is writing full-time and working on the next book in the series. He’s also busy negotiating a potential film or television series with US producers. His path to publication may have been an unconventional one, but Chris proves that the discouraging comments from an unappreciative English teacher don’t have to mean the end of your writing dreams. “You must always have faith in your work. If you don’t, no-one else will. Stay the course you have imagined for yourself.” t
If you’re interested in writing action thrillers check out our Thriller Writing course with L.A. Larkin. You can do courses in Creative Writing in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and online.
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Congratulations! Congratulation
Every day, we receive emails from students who are getting published in high-profile magazines or scoring coveted book deals. Here are just a few recent successes.
Kat Tate (NSW) completed the online course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing and the seminar From Blog to Book. Her article on how to wind down in India and Nepal, “A quest for rest”, was published in Wellbeing magazine (Issue 147).
Trisha Wilson (WA) completed the online course in Travel Writing and had her first feature published in the The Weekend Australian’s travel section.
Ann Major (NSW) completed the Life Writing course with Patti Miller in 2012, and her memoir, A Carpet of Jacaranda, has been published by the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Cassandra Laffey (NSW) was one of the Australian Writers’ Centre’s first ever students. She completed the Magazine and Newspaper Writing course and her latest article was published in Cosmopolitan Pregnancy.
Megan Blandford (VIC) completed the Magazine and Newspaper Writing and her latest article, “Self-promotion has arrived”, was published in The Age’s My Career section.
Chris Muir has completed the Magazine and Newspaper Writing course, as well as the seminar How to Get Your Book Published. His first novel A Savage Garden has just been published by Random House.
you’ve got to be in it
Where can your
blogging take you? For starters, Istanbul … find out how with our Best Australian Blogs Competition.
T
elevision appearances. Blogger talent agencies. An entire industry built around writing about your life, passions or interests – online. It’s a concept that barely existed a mere five years ago. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. It’s a world that can shoot people to stardom, provide a lucrative source of revenue and give bloggers a sense of identity. If you’re wondering where you fit in, let’s take a short tour of the blogosphere.
The It Girls The blogosphere has spawn a new breed of It Girls. Gone are the days when a hit movie and red carpet appearances turned you into a style icon. These days, this can be achieved through regular Instagram pics and your blog. Consider 26-year-old Nicole Warne from the Central
Coast of NSW, who mainly posts stunning pictures of herself dressed in designer or vintage clothes on her blog garypeppergirl.com. The images and the life she portrays are unashamedly aspirational. She only became a full-time blogger in 2012 and has now graced the covers of magazines, was recently the face of Westfield’s premium stories, has collaborated on campaigns with the likes of Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana, and is the first blogger to be represented by international talent management agency IMG. She follows in similar footsteps to US blogger and It Girl Emily Schuman, from the blog cupcakesandcashmere.com who began blogging about “things she loves” in 2008. She has since released a best-selling book Cupcakes and Cashmere: A guide for defining your style, reinventing your space and entertaining with ease.
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The passion projects However, it’s not just fashionable young women who are making it in the blogosphere. Foodies also abound. When anyone can publish on the internet, you don’t need to be a famous chef or culinary icon like Margaret Fulton to gain a loyal following. When you have a blog where you can showcase your expertise – and your creations or recipes – you have a channel where you can promote yourself. Gone are the days where you need a cooking segment on a top-rating show in order to make it as a food guru. Sydney-based Sneh Roy blogs at cookrepublic.com and won the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Best Australian Blogs Competition last year. Her book Tasty Express is being published by Random House in April 2014. While you may not be interested in either fashion or food, the blogosphere proves that there is seemingly an audience for everything. One of last year’s Blog Competition finalists, Neil Fahey, blogs about bushwalking. He is now co-authoring a book on bushwalking and it will be released in December 2014. And Clint Greagen, who won the Personal and Parenting category of the Best Australian Blogs Competition last year, for his humorous take on life as a stay-at-home dad at reservoirdad.com, has received so much positive feedback on his musings that Random House is publishing his book Reservoir Dad in August 2014.
The newbie blogger’s dilemma While blogging success stories abound, many new bloggers often wonder why anyone would be interested in what they have to say. Especially if you are the sort who normally shuns the limelight. However, national director of the Australian Writers’ Centre Valerie Khoo says that these people miss the point. “Blogging isn’t about trying to become famous,” she says. “Even though many bloggers have managed to gain high profiles, there are many others who blog for the sheer joy of it. They don’t care about getting a book published, they don’t want to go to Fashion Week. They blog because they simply love to write – and a blog is a place where you can make your own rules. You decide what you want to write about, you decide whether you want an audience of many, or none. Many emerging writers find their voice through blogging.” Having said that, Valerie is keen to point out that not all blogs are created equal. “There are some blogs that merely feature someone’s stream of consciousness. That’s fine if you just want to pour out what’s in your brain for your own purposes. But if you actually want to improve your writing then it’s important to take care when you write. Craft your sentences, think about your reader, be proud of what you put out there.”
The Best Australian Blogs Competition for 2014 is in full swing again. The closing date is 3 April 2014 so if you haven’t entered, just go to bestaustralianblogs.com.au and complete the entry form. It only takes two minutes! This year the prize pool is bigger and better than ever. We’re thrilled to announce that the winner of the Best Australian Blogs Competition this year will receive a sevenday trip to Turkey with the global leader in guided holidays, Trafalgar.
You could win: • A seven-night guided holiday to Turkey comprising return economy flights, centrally-located accommodation, most meals, an array of exclusive Insider Experiences, in-destination transfers and ground transportation, services of a Trafalgar Travel Director and insider moments from Local Experts. • $1500 worth of writing courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre. • $1000 in cash from Random House. • A one-hour mentoring session with Brandon Van Over, managing editor at Random House, to discuss publishing a book based on their blog or any other writing projects the blogger wishes to discuss. Last year, two of the winning blogs went on to sign publishing deals with Random House Australia. • $500 worth of books from Random House.
Enter at bestaustraliablogs.com.au
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Turn your writing dreams into reality Whether you want to get published in a glossy magazine, blog about your passions, or pen a best-selling novel, the Australian Writers’ Centre can help you achieve your writing goals. You’ll learn from dynamic and experienced teachers who love sharing their craft. You’ll also join a community of aspiring and established writers so that you can get professional support and encouragement when you need it. Most importantly, the students of the Australian Writers’ Centre achieve results. So don’t be surprised if you get published, discover a new career and change your life. What are you waiting for? Enrol today.
Sydney | Melbourne | Perth | Online
writerscentre.com.au
business writing
Are you keeping up with the times? The rules have changed in the world of business communication. What are the old-fashioned phrases you need to ban from your writing?
I
n the past, letters from companies – large or small – adopted a formal, serious tone. Peppered with terms like “herewith”, “therein” and “aforementioned”, these letters often started with the officious sentence: “I refer to your recent correspondence dated 25 November”. However, times have changed. These days, a letter that’s written in a tone that’s too formal can be interpreted as rude or pretentious. Nevertheless, people still insist on writing this way because they think that business letters need to sound “official” in order to be taken seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of a business letter/email should not be to sound serious and formal. The aim should always be to convey information clearly and concisely. In business, you should always write in a style that’s accessible and understandable. There are some old-fashioned business phrases that should be retired forever. Do you use any of these? If so, it might be time to say goodbye!
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“Attached for your perusal” Ban this dinosaur. Unless your aim is to sound behind the times, there are far friendlier ways to convey the same meaning. Simply write: “Please find attached the annual report you asked for” or “Attached are the resumés for you to review so you can shortlist the candidates”. “I refer to your correspondence” This old-fashioned doozy was the default opening to most business letters about 20 years ago. However, now some of us just can’t let it go. This phrase was typically followed by the date of the correspondence in question. For example: “I refer to your correspondence dated 12 October”. Understandably, the date is important because it indicates that the letter is being written in response to a certain query. However, the phrase is as old as the hills and should be retired in favour of friendlier, more modern alternatives like: “Thank you for your email dated 12 October” or “Thanks for your enquiry dated 12 October about our new widgets …” “With regards to your query about …” This phrase is clumsy. It was often used to address specific points in a letter or email such as “With regards to your query about the annual general meeting, the date is on 20 December …” However, it can be easily replaced with. “You asked about the date of the annual general meeting. This is on 20 December …” “With regards to” has often been considered an awkward expression. It should have been phased out with the horse and buggy!
Using the word “herein” makes you either sound pompous or like you’re from another era. Ban it. “Please send a signed copy of the agreement back to the writer” Since when have you felt the need to refer to yourself in the third person? In this day and age, a sentence like this simply seems like you’re trying too hard to sound grandiose. Again, this harks back to the days of yore when companies wanted desperately to sound like big faceless organisations. Most companies have now done an about face and want to sound more personal, rather than aloof. If you’re writing the letter, simply say: “Please send the signed copy of the agreement back to me”. “The purpose of this correspondence is to inform you …” This is a wordy opening to a letter or email that simply doesn’t need to be there. Of course, you sometimes do want to establish the purpose of a letter or email. But there is no need to waste time, words and space spelling it out. Let’s say that the purpose of your communication is to inform people about changes in the interest rate on a home loan. A perfectly acceptable sentence would be: “We would like to inform you about the new interest rate on your home loan.” The tone is friendlier and still conveys the purpose of the letter in no uncertain terms. So, are some of these old-fashioned phrases still in your repertoire? If so, ask yourself why you’re clinging to them. Maybe the time has come to take a fresh, modern approach to your business correspondence. t
“Enclosed herein” Oh my goodness. I ask you: where else is it going to be enclosed? The word “herein” is redundant. Simply write: “Enclosed is the brochure on …” or “Please find enclosed the brochure on …”
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student success
CAREER
TRANSFORMATION Lindy Alexander goes from social worker to freelance writer, thanks to the Australian Writers’ Centre. By Sarah Wayland.
I
f you regularly read newspapers and magazines, it’s likely you’ve come across Lindy Alexander’s writing. There’s a good chance that when you browse through the papers on the weekend, her byline will appear in Sunday Life! magazine or in one of the sections of The Age. That’s because Lindy, 34, completed the course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing at the Australian Writers’ Centre. That was in 2011 and, at the time, this social worker was pregnant with her first baby.
The turning point
The course changed the way Lindy introduces herself to people. “I’ve always had a strong affinity with writing and, every New Year, I would promise myself that, if I travel overseas this year, I want to be able to fill in ‘writer’ in the occupation field of my passport’.” For the last 10 years,
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Lindy has been a social worker in the complex world of child and family services and community development in at home in Australia and also in Uganda. At a professional and personal crossroads she decided to enrol in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing. “I loved my job and it was fulfilling, but there was that part of me that wanted to write. So, when I fell pregnant I knew I wanted to work towards that – and the course felt like a way to make that happen.” She found that her curiosity about people’s lives, strengthened by
her professional background, led her to a career that provided a creative outlet. And she made money at the same time.
Access to new ideas
Lindy, who lives in Castlemaine in Victoria, felt that her writing career became a possibility from the very first week of the course. She likened her learning to having access to a “secret writers’ society” that had previously been beyond her understanding. “I think I probably would have got there eventually as a writer but it would have taken me 10 years to get the kind of expertise that the course offered.” The course offered both tips and tricks in developing ideas, learning to pitch to editors and then delivering the article. It also helped Lindy understand the culture of writing. Lindy soon found that she was able to combine her two worlds – as a social worker and a writer – and successfully deliver the ideas she pitched to a variety of mainstream media publications. Lindy believes “that sense of being able to listen to people, to ask questions, to be curious and to be non-judgmental has been incredible for my writing”. It has allowed her to craft the stories that others want to read. She now focuses on taking these natural thoughts – the thoughts that stem from her interests in social justice as well as parenting – then finding a market for them and delivering the stories of those she interviews. “While the course taught me the structure and the language around the writing I’ve really focused in on the tiny gems that have allowed me to form a picture as to how you make it as a freelancer,” she explains. The ongoing support after the course has been just as valuable. Access to the private Facebook group (only available to Australian Writers’ Centre course graduates) created a virtual writers’ community that Lindy would not have been able to access within her own networks.
AWC Marketing Manager Leona
D’vaz, Net-a-porter founder
Megan Quinn and AWC consultant extraordinaire Terri Ann Daniels.
Little doggie Rambo – an AWC mascot – at AWC in Melbourne.
Rex at the AWC office in Sydney.
Success as a writer
Lindy now profitably combines part-time work, part-time study and freelance writing and raising her 18-month-old son. Her first paid article was published on Fairfax Media’s Essential Kids site within two months of completing the course and Lindy admits it was easier to get published than she had anticipated. She has gone on to write for Sunday Life!, Daily Life, Essential Baby, Essential Kids, Practical Parenting, Modern Farmer, The Age, Melbourne’s Child, Coles Baby, Toddler magazine and the Jetstar inflight magazine. Lindy now writes regularly about a variety of topics that tap into her professional expertise and personal experiences. Writing about parenting, social justice and humanitarian issues, family relationships and environmental causes gives her scope to pitch to a range of publications. She is now focused on a writing career. “I want to make writing my full-time gig in whatever way that works for me and my family.” While she isn’t quite ready to step away from her current job she hopes that combining writing with academic research will become possible when she completes her postdoctoral studies next year. “Freelancing gives me flexibility, creativity and something different every day, which many workplaces are unable to offer.” The stories Lindy writes and the people she interviews feed an outlet she has been searching for. “It’s a privilege to be able to be the ear, to bear witness to someone’s story when they may not have had the chance to tell it before. I just can’t recommend the Australian Writers’ Centre course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing more highly.” t This post was written Sarah Wayland, a graduate of the Australian Writers’ Centre’s course on Magazine and Newspaper Writing. She blogs at sarahwayland.com.au
at the AWC Perth The obligatory selfie ie Khoo and State meet-up with Valer ecia Hancock. Director of WA Al
National Director Valerie Khoo with globe-trotting blogger Natalie Sisson at our Melbourne meet-up.
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Just do it
g n i t i r W s n o i t i t e p m o c n o wi t t i be in enter! o t t you e go e v ’ r u u Yo ake s so m
Cash prize plus a two-day retreat with author Toni Jordan
it,
University of Canberra poetry competition
Alan Marshall Short Story Award • Closes: 30 April 2014 • Win: The winner of the Open Section will win $2000 plus travel and accommodation to attend Toni Jordan’s writers’ retreat in August 2014. • What: Short stories of up to 2,500 words are invited from writers anywhere in Australia (for the Open Section) and writers living in the the Shire of Nillumbik in Victoria. Author of Addition and Fall Girl Toni Jordan will judge the competition. Entry fee is $16 per story. tinyurl.com/alanmarshall
Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize • Closes: 30 May 2014 • Win: There is a total prize pool of $25,000. The winner will receive $15,000 and the runner-up $5000. Four shortlisted poems will also be selected. • What: Poets from all over the world are invited to enter poems up to 50 lines. Entry fee depends on when you submit – poems submitted by 31 January 2014 will be $15 per entry, poems submitted after that date will be $20 per entry. canberra.edu.au/vcpoetryprize
International award for short stories
Cowley Literary Award • Closes: 30 June 2014 • Win: One overall winner will win $5000 and one runner-up $1000. • What: The prize is open to writers of any age and from any country (as long as stories are written in English). There are two categories – fiction and non-fiction – and entries must be a maximum of 1000 words. Entry fee is $25 per story. australianartsales.com.au/cowley-award
Bristol Short Story Prize • Closes: 30 April 2014 • Win: First prize £1000; Second prize £700; third prize £400. Shortlisted finalists will also win £100. • What: Short stories of up to 4000 words on any theme are eligible. Your story can be in any style – including graphic, verse or genre-based. Entry fee is £8 per story.
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Short and sweet
Inspiration starts here The beauty of fiction is that it simply knows no limits. Your imagination is your inspiration; creativity is your new best friend. You see, everyone has a story to tell – and Creative Writing Stage 1 will harness all your ideas, thoughts and drafts into a story that’s worth reading.
Sydney | Melbourne | Perth | Online
Join our community and learn from wherever you are.
Tell your story
What Jessica did next Australian Writers’ Centre graduate Jessica Shirvington turned the seed of an idea into a bestselling young adult series, but her story’s only just beginning.
E
ndings are not always happy but for Jessica Shirvington there’s one ending that will mark the conclusion to an incredible chapter in her writing journey. She has just published the fifth and final book in The Violet Eden Chapters, a young adult series that has seen her go from successful businesswoman and stay-at-home-mum to a bestselling author with six books and a television deal under her hat in just a few years. And her story is far from over. In 2009 Jessica was living in Sydney with her two young children. Life as a stay-at-home mum – coming after a frenetic life running her own coffee importing business – proved difficult to adjust to. Jessica admits that at this stage that she had a “touch of the baby blues”. What she did next not only helped her tackle those blues, it led to an astonishing new career. “I just started writing one day, and it was literally a one day, one moment, one minute decision. I opened the laptop and I started writing. At the time, I had been reading copious amounts of books. I mean I was just churning through them, and it was just my coping mechanism. It was keeping me centred and giving me a bit of escapism but maybe I went through a bit of a run where I wasn’t reading the book I wanted to read. I just finished a book one day and I opened my laptop and started writing.”
A story begins Like most writers, Jessica always loved reading, but, also like most writers, the urge to tell her own stories faded in her 20s as her career took off and she headed overseas for a few years. “I always loved stories. I went through a stage in school where I was really into poetry and always writing a lot of poetry. But then it kind of faded out … I was working, I had a business, I got married, had a family… I just didn’t consider that [writing] was an option for me.” But very soon a story Jessica had been writing began to flesh itself out and she realised she had the beginnings of her young adult series. “At some point, very close towards the end of the first draft of the manuscript, which ended up being Embrace (Hachette Australia, 2012), I realised I might be writing a book.” In fact, she was writing what grew into a five-book series. And it was at this point she decided she needed help to keep her on track.
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The next step
Getting published
Jessica says: “I was writing a story and I was so passionate about it. I really believed in it, but I was like, do I have any writer friends? No. Do I know any authors? No. Do I know any journalists I can talk to? No. So, I thought, well, I just need to – if I want to give this a go, I’ve got to just put myself in this writing world.” Her entry into this writing world was the Australian Writers’ Centre. Being a new – but clearly committed – writer she needed professional guidance on her writing. But she also needed to know how to go about getting a book published. So, she enrolled in the online course in Creative Writing Stage 1. “My main motivator was to put myself around people who knew the industry and could talk through how it all worked. The other motivator was to simply learn more about the rules ... structure, plot strategies and so much more. “A big plus in doing the online course is you can give it as much time as you want and you not only get feedback on your work, but you can read the feedback on everyone else’s and that is very valuable.”
Jessica sent the finished manuscript to veteran author agent Selwa Anthony midway through completing the course Creative Writing Stage 2 at the Australian Writers’ Centre. By the last couple of weeks of the course, her hard work paid off. Selwa signed her as a client and told Jessica that publishing powerhouse Hachette were interested in Embrace, the first book in what came to be known as The Violet Eden Chapters. Jessica can still recall her joy at realising her dream. Jessica says: “I smiled. A lot. For about a week, everywhere I went I had this huge cheesy grin plastered on my face!” Embrace was quickly followed by four more books – Entice, Emblaze, Endless and, the final instalment, Empower. No doubt fans will be disappointed the series has come to an end, but Jessica is adamant this will be the final book. “I love the characters in the series. I think this is their time – this is their time to end. I can’t see myself in all honesty ever writing another book after this one from Violet’s point of view.”
Honing her craft
What’s next?
Throughout the course, Jessica continued to work on her draft, reworking and rewriting everything from sentence structure to whole chapters. Once that early draft was finished, she had a manuscript assessment done with the Australian Writers’ Centre. The manuscript assessment confirmed many of Jessica’s intuitions, clarifying the issues and forcing her to work on them. “There were two really big things I got from the manuscript assessment,” says Jessica. “The first was to cut back on exposition, which I knew I had to do but really needed someone to put it there in black and white to force me to start cutting. The second was a suggestion that actually led me to create a new character in the book and add an additional chapter to the front half. Now, I can’t imagine the story without that character, so I am completely indebted!” Jessica then enrolled in a classroom course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, Creative Writing Stage 2 (now called Advanced Fiction Writing Techniques). “By the time I enrolled for the second course, I had written and rewritten Embrace a number of times. I did the course at that time just to keep myself moving forward really. I knew I wanted this so much and was hoping my manuscript would get picked up, but if it wasn’t I didn’t want to just drop the bundle so I used that course to just keep me moving forward.”
But there are plenty of new challenges ahead. All of her books, including her one stand-alone novel, Between the Lines (2013) have been sold into 13 countries including the Czech Republic and Brazil. She’s also working towards an adaptation of Embrace for a television series to be produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television for the CW Network in the US. Next up is a two-book series, the first of which will be published in 2014. For now, though, Jessica’s main priority is her two daughters, aged five and seven. But she says that being able to write and tell stories means she’s also “living her dream”. Jessica says: “If you want to be a writer, the Australian Writers’ Centre is a great place to learn. You can’t force writing but you can refine it. The Australian Writers’ Centre helps with this. It’s also a good way to surround yourself with people that want to be doing it too. You get to hear from published authors that have been there, done that. “Taking that first writing course was definitely a landmark time in my life – and the Australian Writers’ Centre was a part of that.” t If you want to find your story, check out the Creative Writing Stage 1 and Advanced Fiction Writing Techniques courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre. Courses are available in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and online.
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SYDNEY: Build Your Profile Using Twitter
with Kerri Sackville Tuesday 1 April 2014 (two hours) How to Get Your Book Published
with Geoff Bartlett Tuesday 1 April 2014 (two hours) How to Create and Sell Your Ebook
with Anna Maguire Monday 7 April 2014 (two hours) Creative Writing Stage 1
with Claire Scobie Starting Tuesday 8 April 2014 for five weeks Writing for the Web
with Grant Doyle Thursday 10 April 2014 (one day) Write a Chick Lit Novel
with Lisa Heidke Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April 2014 (weekend) Magazine and Newspaper Writing
with Sue White Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April 2014 (weekend) Writing Picture Books
with Cathie Tasker Starting Wednesday 16 April 2014 for five weeks Writing Books for Children and Young Adults
with Judith Ridge Starting Wednesday 30 April 2014 for five weeks Blogging for Beginners
with Kim Berry Thursday 1 May 2014 (two hours) Creative Writing Stage 1
with Claire Scobie Starting Thursday 1 May for five weeks Life Writing
with Patti Miller Saturday 3 and Saturday 10 May 2014 Creative Writing Stage 1
with James Roy Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 May 2014 (weekend) Professional Business Writing
with Sue White Thursday 8 May 2014 (one day)
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Screenwriting Stage 1
Magazine and Newspaper Writing Stage 1
with Tim Gooding Starting Thursday 8 May 2014 for five weeks
with Julietta Jameson Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May 2014 (weekend)
Writing for the Web
Blogging for Beginners
with Grant Doyle Monday 12 May 2014 (one day)
with Cheryl Lin Sunday 25 May 2014 (two hours)
Build Your Profile Using Twitter
Travel Writing with Julietta Jameson
with Kerri Sackville Tuesday 13 May 2014 (two hours)
Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June 2014 (weekend)
Grammar and Punctuation Essentials
How to Get More Blog Readers
with Deb Doyle Thursday 15 May 2014 (one day)
with Nicole Avery Sunday 1 June 2014 (two hours)
Faith-based Creative Writing
Writing Picture Books
with Pamela Freeman Saturday 17 and Saturday 24 May 2014
with Judith Rossell Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June 2014 (weekend)
How to Get Your Book Published
with Geoff Bartlett Saturday 17 May 2014 (two hours) Blogging for Beginners
with Kim Berry Tuesday 20 May 2014 (two hours) From Blog to Book
with Kerri Sackville Tuesday 27 May 2014 (two hours)
PERTH COURSES: Magazine and Newspaper Writing
with Alecia Hancock Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 May 2014 (weekend) Blogging for Beginners with Trae Flett
Saturday 10 May 2014 (two hours) Creative Writing Stage 1 with Natasha Lester
Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May 2014 (weekend)
Writing About Interiors, Style and Design
with Nigel Bartlett Wednesday 28 May and Wednesday 4 June 2014
ONLINE COURSES:
Writing About Food
with Sue White/ Allison Tait
with Carli Ratcliff Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June (weekend)
Travel Writing with Sue White
MELBOURNE: Creative Writing Stage 1
with Nicole Hayes Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April 2014 (weekend) Life Writing
with Patti Miller Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April 2014 (weekend) Creative Writing Stage 1
with Nicole Hayes Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 May 2014 (weekend) Blogging for Beginners
with Cheryl Lin Sunday 11 May 2014 (two hours)
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS’ CENTRE | APR/MAY 2014
Magazine and Newspaper Writing
Creative Writing Stage 1
with Cathie Tasker/Pamela Freeman Advanced Fiction Writing Techniques
with Cathie Tasker/Pamela Freeman Writing Picture Books with Cathie Tasker Writing Books for Children and Young Adults
with Judith Ridge Sydney courses are held in our harbourside training rooms in Milsons Point. Melbourne courses are held in the artistic precinct at The Abbotsford Convent. Perth courses are held in the Wembley Hotel. Online courses are held wherever you are!