It’s not just the writing, it’s finding the time, finding the right head space, and sometimes finding the energy. I’ve had trouble finding both the physical energy and the emotional energy. Who’d a thunk you’d need both types of energy to write. Last Monday I had a meeting in the ...

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There are some basics that make every book easier to read. Text free from typos and good grammar are two of these basics. This is what Laura Goodin has to say about grammar: Good grammar and punctuation are both the CAUSE and the EFFECT of clear understanding. When they’re right, ...

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Where I take a paragraph and examine it in whatever way takes my fancy. Today, I’m taking a look at a paragraph from a piece called ‘One Plot, At Most’ by Jane Rawson. It was published in Overland Issue 230 Autumn 2018. An Australian short story is short. That is ...

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Here is where I take a paragraph, at random…actually, I lie, today’s paragraph is almost at random. I found a paragraph I wanted to use but it was a comment on a fan fiction and although it was brilliant I felt it wasn’t right to use the entire comment. Instead ...

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So, here is my weekly indulgence. It’s a time where I take a paragraph and examine it however I wish. I struggled with this one. I picked up a magazine, something I’ve been doing for this column recently, and opened at random. I landed on a really great first paragraph ...

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I’ve picked up a book that at over 900 pages might possibly keep me going for a few weeks. It is dense reading with many short stories and some critical articles about those short stories. The first few pages are about Writing About Fiction. As I was reading those pages ...

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I write this just prior to going to bed. I’m not planning on staying up to see the new year in, it’s not something I see relevant to me in 2018. I might regret this decision in 2019 but my body is telling me I’m tired and I’m going to ...

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I’ve been trying to catch up on my magazines. I know this one is rather important so I really shouldn’t get behind but it’s so easy to put it on the stack and continue with my books. This is the publication put out by Writers Victoria, it comes as part ...

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I’ve been a little slack with writing over the last few months. I’m part of a writing group and we meet online every two weeks to catch up and discuss each other’s writing. When I say ‘discuss’ I really mean ‘pull it apart and give each other ideas on how ...

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This is the journal of the Woorilla Writers Society. Convened in the 1980s by Maria Millers in her home in Ferny Creek called Woorilla. I haven’t found whether they’re still going but as of last year there was a Woorilla Poetry Prize still being awarded to poets of excellence. It ...

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Guest Informant Zines I love the Sticky Institute. If nothing else I love it for the typewriters it has within its little shop. I visit whenever I can but that’s only when I manage a trip to the CBD while they’re open. Every time I’m there I take a photo ...

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You know those times when you’re over-committed, there’s absolutely nothing you can drop? All of a sudden one more thing lands on your desk that’s absolutely really, really important and urgent and something else has to go. This is one of those times and I’m afraid what needs to go ...

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Yes, there is a connection. I’ll be at Oz Comic-Con this weekend and then the following weeks I’ll be writing about what I’ve done and who I’ve seen. There will be photos on Instagram, stuff on Twitter and Facebook and then some scribbles here. There are some awesome special guests coming ...

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Why am I writing yet more thoughts on this? Because I’ve got another short story in for publication. This one I had no time so I ignored my rules and submitted without having it edited. This is something I deeply regret, truly. Although they’re still publishing it and sent it back to ...

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