Tag Archives: Queensland Writers Centre

Coming to Bundaberg: How to Write Popular Fiction

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Queensland Writers Centre and Bundaberg Writers Club will be hosting a two day workshop covering the A-Z of Writing Popular Fiction.

These interactive workshops suit beginners and emerging authors, or experienced writers who feel they need to refine their technique.

Venue: BWC Meeting Rooms, 80A Woongarra Street, Bundaberg Central.

 

 

On Saturday, May 18

10.30am – 4.30pm

Learn how to pace your novel so that a reader won’t want to put it down.

Develop and  improve your writing skill-set through practical exercises and group discussion.

  • Create compelling hooks and story questions
  • understand the different pacing required in different genres
  • understand pacing needs to vary within a novel
  • learn how to slow or speed the pace of your story
  • recognise the boring bits, and have the courage to leave them out
  • learn how to ratchet up the tension in each page
  • understand how structure affects pacing

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On Sunday, May 19

10.00am – 4.00pm

Everything you need to know about writing commercial fiction, in a nutshell

Explore key areas using practical exercises.

  • how to generate ideas and turn those ideas into a workable premise
  • investigate voice, and how voice relates to genre
  • Understand conflict, and how it generates plot
  • What is ‘classic story structure’?
  • Learn to develop a framework for your story
  • Learn about character arcs and how to show character growth and change.
  • Understand the commercial fiction market and pathways to publication

 

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Poetry’s Gift to Prose

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Simon Kindt – Cool

Every now and then a book arrives full to bursting with an idea so thought provoking, or titillating, that nobody cares how well it’s written. Despite the novel’s faults, people who’ve hardly read books (let alone buy one) will see it for sale in a service station, or games emporium, or stacked in a toy store, and buy it just because they’ve heard the buzz this little slab of paper created.

Even while you shake your writerly head over them, you can’t deny the power of the ideas that gave us Fifty Shades, Ready Player One, Da Vinci Code or even those Potter books.

The rest of us can’t rely on coming up with a world defining idea.

We’re going to have to haul ourselves out of the ordinary with our word skills, and that’s where the gift that is poetry enters the mix. While prose is all about sentences and what comes next, it’s the poetic eye (or is that ear) that adds the colour and feeling to the prosaic. When your writing is too flat, too ordinary, too bolted down to reality, it’s poetry that helps writers add sensory detail, playfulness, and a rich imagery deftly drawn.

Poetry is about nuance, about showing and suggesting connections. Story should be about nuance too, but it’s so easy to forget all that when your main aim is to achieve a word count.

And, of course, poetry is about language and how it fits together to create an effect as well as create a story.

Simon Kindt – in action

On Saturday, May 19, Queensland Writers’ Centre is bringing Brisbane poet, arts worker and teacher Simon Kindt, to Bundaberg, to our rooms at 80A Woongarra Street.

The morning session, The Spaces Between: An Introduction to Poetic Writing   is an exploration of metaphor, imagery and writing for sound, designed for writers who want to test the notion that poetry can lift there words out of the doldrums.

The afternoon session focusses on bringing poetry off the page. Beyond the Page: Exploring Movement, Sound and Music  is for beginner and intermediate writers, and explores the power of sound and music intrinsic to poetry.

To book, click on the links above. Costs per session range from $30 QWC members’ concession to $55 non-member non-concession.

Is there a difference between Landscape and Setting?

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I think there is.

But what I think doesn’t matter. On May 21, BWC will be hosting T M Clark, a writer born in Zimbabwe, now calling Queensland home (having also lived in England) to help us understand how writers need to be Inspired by Landscape, rather than settle for using setting as an atmospheric backdrop.TMClark

Bookings are Essential through the Queensland Writers Centre.

As you can imagine, setting features strongly in TM Clark’s books, which are described as African Suspense. Some might think Tina Marie is ‘lucky’ to have first hand knowledge of a landscape we Australians probably consider exotic.

One point might be that we are all living our own exotic lifestyles. We just don’t notice any more.

The other point might be that Landscape is much more than a location, exotic or otherwise. Landscape isn’t a relief painted with broad brushstrokes. It’s not an accessory. It is the living world your characters find themselves in.

Elizabeth George, American Queen of Crime, a writer of mysteries set in England (you might know the Lynley Mysteries), has this to say in her book, Write Away.

On the surface, it would appear that landscape and setting are the same creatures, identical twins given different names just to confuse the beginning writer. This, however, would not be the truth since setting is where a story takes place–including where each scene takes place–while landscape is much broader than that…Landscape in writing implies much the same as that which is implied by the word when it’s used to refer to a location in a country: It is the broad vista into which the writer actually places the individual settings of the novel, sort of like the canvas or other medium onto which a painter has decided to daub color.

“You need to think about the landscape of your book because if you’re able to make the landscape of place real, you can make the land itself real, which gives you a leg up on making the entire novel real for the reader.”

If you want TM Clark’s take on the Inspiration Landscape can lend to your latest MS, make sure to book early.

It’s All Good for Today’s Authors

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Which ever way you intend to publish –Justin_Sheedy
*Indie
*Self
*Trad
Whether e-books have peaked and readers really are re-committing to paper –

No matter what your publishing route, it’s all good news for today’s author.  The reading world is your oyster, assuming you have the tools to crack it.

Meet Justin Sheedy.

He knows his oysters, and he’s either built, borrowed or taught himself the tools he needs to get his words out to the world.

As he says, ‘I’ve gone solo, and am still flapping my wings.’ As publishing models continue to change, he’ll have to keep flapping, and we’ll all be there with him.

Justin’s wing flapping has seen him host six sell-out book-signings during 2015, including his last for the year at Dymocks George Street, Sydney (arguably Australia’s Premier Bookstore) with more event planning underway in 2016.

His first book, Goodbye Crackernight (2009), failed to interest publishers – it’s a memoir – yet Justin continues to secure feature spots in broadcast media, most recently  on 7 News Sydney and Radio 2UE.

He’s currently 60% through his fifth book, No Greater Love, Part Three of an Australian historical fiction trilogy begun in 2012 with Nor the Years Condemn, followed by Ghosts of Empire (2013).

He’ll share what he’s learnt at WriteFest 2016

Check out 2016

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Late 2105 release from Queensland Writers Centre:

  • Books from our Backyard – for the fourth year, a catalogue of books published as advised by Queensland authors.
  • Programme, January -June. Check out the online courses. Be aware, if the fees are daunting, grants are available (try RADF [Regional Arts Development Fund] or local councils) for professional development.

 

Opportunity for Queensland’s rural and regional writers

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QHMPQueensland Writers Centre (QWC) and Hachette Australia have announced a new program aimed at rural and regional Q’landia writers – the Queensland Hachette Mentoring Program.

Now, if you wondering who is rural and regional covers, it’s any writer NOT living in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, the Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redlands, the Scenic Rim, Somerset, Sunshine Coast or Toowoomba.

Those areas are considered part of South East Queensland, as defined by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure, local Government and Planning.

Writers accepted will have the opportunity to work closely with a leading industry expert and major publishing house, to receive professional feedback on a manuscript, and to bring it to publication standard.  Check Queensland Writers Centre for full application details.

APPLICATION  DEADLINES 2015 5:00pm Monday 30 November
Recipient notified: January 2016

This is the real world people. Applications had better be in their hands by November 30, or you’ll have missed out.

Oh, and in case all you bush babies are wondering, submission to QHMP is free.

Workshop – How Many Pages Make a Novel?

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ShortStoryGraphicIf the short story is back, so is the novella.

Defining a story as a novella was once the equivalent of scratching the author behind the ears while muttering, “Good lad”.

And while it can be quite easy to tell the difference between a short story and a novel,  exactly what is a novella. It sounds like it should be a short novel. But could it be a long short story.

So how do writers work out the scope of a story before they start writing it.

Dr Kim Wilkins will be dropping by BWC at 80A Woongarra Street , March 21, from 10-30am to explore this very question. “You might find as you write that the story is pulling up too short, or going on far too long.”

So, are you writing a short story? A novella? A novel? A series?

This half-day workshop will help you judge the scope of your story and give you tools to help tighten it up or flesh it out.

Three dollar entry fee to cover morning tea.

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If you can’t make it, let us know any questions relevant to the workshop topic and we’ll try to find answers for you.

Dr Kim WilkinsKimberley-Freeman was born in London, and grew up at the seaside north of Brisbane, Australia. She has degrees in literature and creative writing, and teaches at the University of Queensland and in the community. Her first novel, The Infernal, a supernatural thriller was published in 1997. Since then, she has published across many genres and for many different age groups. Her latest books, contemporary epic women’s fiction, are published under the pseudonym Kimberley Freeman. Kim has won many awards and is published in 17 languages. She writes regular writing tips columns for the Queensland Writers Centre.

Losing Kate out in April 2014

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2013 WriteFest Masterclass participant Kylie Kaden is thrilled that her first novel, Losing Kate, will be published by Random House in April 2014. In March 2013, Kylie undertook a Writer’s Surgery (through the Queensland Writers Centre) with Sandy Curtis, the Director of WriteFest, and encouraged by Sandy’s enthusiasm for the story, submitted a partial for the Masterclass with editor Deonie Fiford. 

Kylie said, ” I was signed up in July, not long after doing quite a few rejigs after WriteFest (and your Writer’s Surgery sessions with me) so I am very thankful for your contribution and encouragement.  I am still shocked it happened so quickly though!”

It’s wonderful news like this that can come about as a result of the great opportunities available at WriteFest.

We wish Kylie a happy and successful career. Details of her book can be found at
http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/kylie-kaden/losing-kate-9780857983404.aspx and also on her website www.kyliekaden.com.au

LosingKateCoverFinal

Hustling Hinkler

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Dr Darryl Dymock shares his story of publication in a blog on the Queensland Writers Centre website.

One of his milestones was attending WriteFest and scoring an interview with senior agent, Sophie Hamley, based on his 30 page submission. Her advice and guidance led Darryl on the path to re-write his young adult novel into the non-fiction narrative Hustling Hinkler: the short tumultuous life of a trail-blazing Australian aviator.

Hustling Hinkler will be published by Hachette Australia on 30 July, and will be launched at River Bend Books in Brisbane on 9 August.

Darryl has been invited to talk about Hustling Hinkler at the Bundaberg Library at 11am on Saturday, 24 August.

Congratulations to Darryl from all at the Bundaberg Writers’ Club and the WriteFest committee. It’s inspiring to learn that a prior WriteFest attendee has gone on to attain publication.

Check out Hustling Hinkler on the Hachette Australia website.

 

The Amplified Author with Meg Vann

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What does digital publishing mean for writers today? With the advent of new technologies and ideas, today we have a host of choices and opportunities for writers looking to connect with readers, and writers have a lot more options when it comes to driving their own careers. From traditional publishing houses, to e-books, to social media, in today’s world there are as many paths to publication as there are writers.

Join Meg Vann, manager of Australian Writers Marketplace, to learn about digital publishing options for writers today, and what it means to be an Amplified Author. [All participants will receive a free three-month subscription to the Australian Writers Marketplace online.]

Meg Vann is Manager of The Australian Writer’s Marketplace published by Queensland Writers Centre, Convenor of Sisters in Crime (Brisbane Chapter), and a tutor and guest lecturer in Writing, Editing and Publishing for The University of Queensland. Meg has a special interest in supporting aspiring and emerging writers to develop their creative works and pathways to publication.

The Amplified Author will be a morning workshop at this year’s WriteFest, Saturday 19 May.