I recently had a request for list of 2025 writing competitions for young writers in Australia. Although I keep a list of upcoming competitions and other publishing opportunities, I usually wait until I have definite details and closing dates, which often don’t happen until a particular competition is launched in any given year. However, I […]
Who fascinates you? Perhaps it’s an ancestor you’ve learned you have something in common with. Maybe it’s someone who didn’t fit the mold of the time and society in which they lived. It might be someone you still know well in your own life today. It could even be you. My current fascination is with […]
I recently had a friend tell me her son had created an imaginary world, but was worried about not being able to get his creative ideas out of his head. I love encouraging and supporting into young writers, so I’m developing a series of prompts to help him share the world he’s creating. Maybe these […]
In his book The Novel Project, Graeme Simsion mentions the questionnaires we can find and fill out to get to know our characters – but he doesn’t use them. He says, “There are real people I’ve known for years whose star sign and preferred drink I wouldn’t be able to tell you. If a character […]
After what has been a long dry summer in my part of the world, and a seemingly short warm autumn, we have been inundated with a deluge of rain as if Winter wanted us to sit up and take notice of her arrival. It has certainly made me think about the changing seasons, both physically […]
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change has famously stated that “most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply”. “When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply,” Covey […]