Bad news for writers

check it out here

Good opportunity for novelists!

Check it out here!

The Word Tree

I think I'm just lurching forwards at the moment, from Word Tree to Word Tree - that will soon settle because I've had to take leave without pay from Box Hill Tafe just to fill some of my own work commitments. So, look for more writing-related and reading-related posts soon.

In the meantime - The Word Tree leafs again -
Saturday 4 July, 3.00 - 5.00 pm
featured reader - Kristin Henry - ideal date as Kristin was originally from Chattanooga and has been described as having a voice like slow molasses.
Burrinja Cafe, 351 Glengern Road (cnr of Matson drive, Upwey
melways 75 B12
Limited open section
$3.00/5.00
Look forward to seeing you there.

Great news from Liz!

Liz Corbett's short story, 'Beyond the Blackout Curtain', made the shortlist of twenty stories in the Bristol Short Story Prize. There were 1729 entries! The shortlisted twenty will be published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology.

'Beyond the Blackout Curtain', has since been picked up by a small start up Melbourne literary magazine [untitled].

Liz's short story, 'Silent Night', was short listed for the Allan Marshall Short Story Competition.

Congratulations Liz!

Sick!

Hi everyone - I've picked up some cold/'flu thing in Sydney and have been sick ever since I got home. I won't be in to teach tomorrow. Sorry about that - I hate missing two weeks in a row, but really can't manage teaching yet.

We'll catch up with all the workshops, book reviews and short story analyses next week. In the meantime, think about archetypes. Can you choose one of the following archetypes to write a story about - or move them from one archetype to another during the course of a story? Or, alternatively, can you name or use one of them in your novel?
1. The Innocent
2. The Orpahn
3. The Warrior
4. The Caregiver
5. The Seeker
6. The Destroyer
7. The Lover
8. The Creator
9. The Ruler
10. The Magician
11. The Sage
12. The Fool

These are from a book called, Awakening the Heroes Within - Carol S. Pearson. You can read more about the archetypes here. But you can also use your own intelligence and intuition to think them through - and think about their dark sides, as well. It's often the dark side of someone that pushes the story through into the light.

Grammar tests and information

I know, I know - grammar is booorrrrinnnngggg! But, really, it's simply a tool of communication. And it's essential to know the rules before you break them so you've got a good idea why you're breaking them and what it is achieving for your writing.

Here are some fragment exercises.

Read this on active and passive voice.

Read this on parallel construction and do the test at the end.

Read this on subject/verb argreement and then do this quiz.

Write lots!

one of the new faces of publishing -

the internet has opened up a myriad of different publishing opportunities for writers. Instead of the old photocopied broadsheets handed out at various poetry venues, there are now ezines. check this out. Amazing new publishing worlds...