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Building Your Career
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Building Your Career
What steps should you take to build your career? Plenty of writers, editors and agents are only to happy to share their insights.
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Interview with Bren MacDibble - Part 2
Finding Outlets and Lessons Learned
Interviewed by Marg McAlister
If you want to be a writer, you have to focus a good part of your attention on writing. Watch what kids are following, and what media is doing. Stories are combining with gaming, animations are increasingly sophisticated, there are interactive whiteboard stories for classrooms now. Find out how all these things work and what their requirements are for writers. . . . keep reading
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Preparing for an Intensive Workshop or Retreat
Marg McAlister interviews Jason Sitzes
Jason Sitzes is the the director for the highly-regarded WRW workshop and editor-in-residence for Don Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel workshops (as well as being a freelance editor). In this interview, Jason tells us what it's like for him being involved in these programs, and how they help writers move forward with their writing. He also shares some insights into the best way to prepare. . . . keep reading
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Is It Writer's Block, or Is It Depression...
Marg McAlister
All writers have been there: those days when you sit at the computer and nothing will come. The odd day or so doesn't really matter: frustrating, yes; an ongoing problem, no. It's when this goes on for days or weeks at a time that we start to worry. Is this writer's block...or something more serious? . . . keep reading
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Educational Lending Rights and Public Lending Rights
Margaret Warner
The ELR (Educational Lending Rights) and PLR (Public Lending Rights) scheme is an Australian government program that makes payments to eligible Australian creators and publishers on the basis that income is lost because copies of their books are held in educational and public lending libraries. Australia is one of 25 countries that operate this program. . . . keep reading
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Two Different Ways to Earn Money by Writing Articles
Marg McAlister
Freelance writers can build an entire career around writing articles for internet sites, or just do it to supplement their income. Many writers know about sites like Guru.com or Elance.com, where they can bid for jobs posted by clients. You'll find more information about how this works in an article by Bev Boorer about working for Guru.com. But there are other ways to earn money from writing articles. In this article we look at the two main ways it can be done. . . . keep reading
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Opportunities Lost and Found
June Keir
Writing, I've found, is largely about opportunity; to have the time, the place, the skills and the inspiration to get the job done. Sometimes opportunity knocks and sometimes you have to make it happen. Some writers are fortunate enough to have an office or other work space to which they can retreat. Others have to find a spot where they won't be disturbed so that they can concentrate and hopefully find the inspiration necessary to get the ideas and then the words flowing... . . . keep reading
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Cruising Through Your Writing Career
To be able to cruise smoothly in your career and personal life, you have to adjust your perspective. Achieving success in your career enables you to live your life to the fullest, not the other way around. Doing a good job at work while creating a valuable life outside work is worth the effort. Here are some tips for balancing the career and life scales... . . . keep reading
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Q&A on Doing a Writing Course -
A Writing Tutor Speaks
Ann Harth, our columnist on running a home-based writing business, wears several different hats as a writer. One of her income streams comes from being a tutor for a large distance education company. Ann interacts with writers on a daily basis, so I asked her if she'd answer a few questions about doing a course, from her perspective as a tutor. Here are her answers... . . . keep reading
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Getting a Literary Agent
Janet Woods
In this handy Q&A, Janet Woods explores the process of getting an agent. She looks at what they are, what kind of work they handle, which writers suit which agent, when your work is ready to send to an agent, and what agents are looking for... and more! . . . keep reading
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Set Yourself a Challenge
Marg McAlister
To keep moving forward in your writing career, it's essential that you do two things: (1) Decide what you want to achieve, and (2) Decide when and how you are going to complete each step along the way to getting what you want. It sounds simple enough, but many, many writers struggle to reach their goals. They might spend hours at the computer - but they don't seem to get very far. Why is this? . . . keep reading
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Why and For Whom Do Authors Write?
Felicity Pulman
I was recently part of a panel of writers discussing the topic: How do writers know what will appeal to teenage readers? How do they create worlds that will entice the young to read and treasure their stories? As part of an online children's writers' festival, I also addressed the question: Why should authors labour over a novel when students' hearts and minds are elsewhere? . . . keep reading
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Working with a Co-Author
Melinda Hutchings
Working with a co-author can not only be a uniquely rewarding experience, it can provide the opportunity to increase the potential success of your manuscript by adding to its publishing appeal. However, if you are considering working with a co-author, there are areas that you need to be mindful of in order to ensure both you and your co-author's expectations are met. . . . keep reading
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Pitching it with the Best
Janet Shaw
Janet Shaw found that hard work pays off, when she recently was chosen as one of twenty prizewinners out of 1200 entrants in the "Book in a Nutshell" competition. The task? To write three compelling sentences about an unpublished work. The prize? Twenty winners were to be offered the chance of a review, feedback or possible representation. Janet now passes on some tips about writing 'the perfect pitch'. . . . keep reading
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What's in a Competition?
Steve Martin
I spend many frustrating hours chiseling a unique and engaging story out of a blank block. Each entry is submitted with the belief it is a winner. Competition is fierce and success limited.So why is the lure so enticing? Competitions give my writing a purpose and belief as I hone my skills for the longer pieces I am working on. They force me out of my comfort zone and at times into unfamiliar genres, make me think and rise to a challenge... . . . keep reading
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How Do I Build a Writing Career?
Marg McAlister
WHAT YOU KNOW is your understanding of technique, structure, style and voice - and a lot more, including your gut feelings and instincts. WHO YOU KNOW refers to your entire writer's network. Whether you're trying to decide on a career direction or wondering how to breathe life into your existing career, it always comes down to a balance between the WHAT and the WHO. . . . keep reading
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Recording Your Progress
Marg McAlister
If you're having trouble achieving what you had hoped to with your writing, you might find that an easily-seen record of your progress helps you to stay on track. This shows you how you can use two different progress sheets for any number of writing tasks. On one of them you can record your progress in percentage points (with intervals of 10% up to 100%, when the task is finished) and on the other you can check off up to ten steps in a complex task. . . . keep reading
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Ann Harth
