Welcome to our August Newsletter.
Congratulations to everyone participating in our 4-Week Unlocking Creativity Live and Online! It’s great to see the quality of everyone’s writing improve dramatically when they learn tools that enable them to access the power of their imagination.
And well done to those writers participating in our Novel & Script courses. It is gratifying to see how everyone’s story evolves and progresses as they work through the iterative process one step at a time.
Remember, writing a novel or a screenplay is an art and a craft that takes time to develop and master. Like any journey, it begins with the first step.
“Having seen and enjoyed Pixar movies, many people assume that they popped into the world already striking, resonant and meaningful – fully grown, if you will. In fact, getting them to that point involved months, if not years, of work. If you sat down and watched the early reels of our films, the ugliness would be painfully clear.
“The natural impulse is to compare the early reels to our finished films – by which I mean to hold the new to standards only the mature version can meet. Our job is to protect our babies from being judged too quickly.” Ed Catmul – Co-founder of Pixar.
2023 Writers’ Studio Short Story Competition!
We are excited to announce the dates for our 2023 Short Story Competition.
The competition will be open in September and we will provide you all the details in our September newsletter.
But please note now for those keen to enter – the Closing date for the Competition will be: 5pm AEST on the 31 October 2023
Word limit is 2,500
First Prize $500/Second Prize $250/Third Prize $100
Winners will be announced in our December Newsletter & published on our website.
Get writing!
Make sure to check out our Competitions where we list current and upcoming competitions of varying lengths and genres.
Check out the Competitions Page
Success Stories!
Zahid Gamieldien
Congratulations to our senior tutor, Zahid Gamieldien. Zahid’s novel All The Missing Children has been picked 
by up by Ultimo Press, and is scheduled to be published in June 2024.
All the Missing Children is a literary horror novel about the effect that the enigmatic presence and mysterious disappearance of two children has on characters that are increasingly disconnected from the children’s lives.
We are beyond excited that Zahid’s novel will be out in the world next year – our warmest congratulations, Zahid – woo hoo 🎉
Susannah Glenn
Susannah got in touch to let us know Pantera Press has
acquired the world rights for Between Husbands and Wives, a gripping domestic thriller set in Far North Queensland, in a two-book deal.
Between Husbands and Wives is a taut and twisty thriller with deliciously sinister touches. Centred around a couple’s relationship in the aftermath of a car crash, Susannah’s clever and assured writing perfectly suits the domestic thriller genre, creating vivid characters and pitch-perfect suspense scenes that will have you gripped from beginning to end.
Between Husbands and Wives will be published in July 2024, and we cannot wait for this book, congratulations Susannah!
A Warm Welcome
We are excited to introduce our new tutor, Annette Higgs!
Annette studied literature and law at the Australian National University in Canberra. She has lived, worked and studied in Sydney, London and Italy, and holds a Doctor of Arts from the University of Sydney. A Pushcart nominee, her short work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies in Australia, the USA, the UK and India.
In even more exciting news, Annette’s novel On a Bright Hillside in Paradise won the 2022 Penguin Literary Prize.
A big congratulations to Annette, and welcome to the Writers’ Studio!
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise, tells the story of a family of convict descendants in the back-blocks of Tasmania, on a farm in a place called Paradise.
They lead hard-scrabble lives. The drama begins when strangers arrive, Christian Brethren evangelists who hold big revival meetings in local barns.
At its heart, the novel is about a close-knit community, and home-making in the bush. Despite injuries, losses, deaths and near-starvation, the family survives.
Click here to buy On A Bright Hillside In Paradise on Booktopia
Recent Course Feedback
Some snippets of the wonderful feedback that we receive back from recently completed courses. We update these in each newsletter. They show what a large variety of writers get out of our writing courses.
“I have just completed my 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course, and it was so much fun. I forgot the joy of writing, and this course has certainly opened me up to my lost dream I had once of writing a novel.” Alma, Unlocking Creativity Online
“I’ve just finished a 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course and the beauty of the course is that it gets you writing whether you think you have something to write about or not. And it encourages you to write often – for me it was nearly every day. I joined to find out how to tap into my creative side. I learnt how to access my imagination and to extend it but I learnt much more too.” Maryanne, Unlocking Creativity Online
“The Unlocking Creativity Online course has been the most worthwhile thing I have done for myself for a long time, and I am grateful for the experience.” Sandra, Unlocking Creativity Online
“I feel I gained some incredibly useful simple tools and that, the more I practice them, the more layers of complexity they reveal in story writing. I feel I can use them as a foundation for a writing practice that I can apply to any genre or form of fiction writing I want to further explore. I’m finishing this course, delighted with the prospect of keeping on writing.” Anna, Unlocking Creativity Online
“I will miss the shared journey of these few short weeks and have cherished the opportunity to build better writing habits: to keep my pen moving; plan, cluster and then write. I’ve learnt a number of things through this course that I’ll take with me. I’ve learnt that the image of banal perfection is a blank page. I’ve learnt that the writing shows you who you are and not the other way around. I’ve witnessed that the spirit of generosity is more important than accolades.” Sean, Unlocking Creativity Online
“I think the main through that comes to mind when thinking about this course is that big things happen little by little. The thought of writing a novel is such a big, often overwhelming concept. The real utility of this course is that it breaks everything down into small, achievable pieces. You sit back at the end of the fastest 10 months of your life, and if you’ve chipped away at it – behold! You have your first draft.” Rebecca, First Draft Live
“This course has been a source of comfort when I really needed it, a safe encouraging space to explore whether I have what it takes, including the time to write the story I’ve had in me my whole life.” Georgia, First Draft Live
“My biggest takeaway from the Third Draft is the impact of the iterative process, and the return to the more creative aspects vs the structural aspects of the Second Draft…. I see the amazing growth of my own story and the development of others. It’s amazing and then you still see how much further the journey goes!” Rich, Third Draft Live
Upcoming Courses
4-Week Unlocking Creativity
Whether you are a complete beginner, a professional writer or somewhere in-between, this is the first step towards achieving your writing goals, whatever they are. This introductory writing course will give you essential tools and techniques to unlock the power of your imagination and dramatically improve the quality of your writing.
September 20th: Unlocking Creativity – ONLINE
August 31st: Unlocking Creativity – LIVE
10-Month Novel & Script First Draft
If your dream is to write a novel or screenplay our first draft course will get you doing it. You don’t need to have a clear idea for a story to start. The course’s step-by-step process begins by helping you find and clarify the key characters and story in a broad outline before embarking on writing your actual first draft.
March 9th 2024: Novel & Script First Draft – LIVE
September 25th 2023: Novel & Script First Draft – ONLINE
6-Week Short Story Course Online
Our Short Story courses are ideal for writers who have completed Unlocking Creativity and want to continue with their creative journey.
If you do the work and implement the tools and techniques you will be amazed at how much your writing and story-telling ability develops.
These courses will also prepare you for the 10 Month First Draft course should you want to do that down the track. Receive targeted feedback on every piece you post.
October 30th: Genre – ONLINE
8-Month Second Draft
The First Draft is where you find the possibilities of your story. The Second Draft writing course is the pivot draft where you focus on making your story come alive and work for your reader.
February 4th 2024: Second Draft – LIVE
September 25th 2023: Second Draft – ONLINE
7-Month Third Draft
You have found the dramatic spine of your story in The Second Draft. The Third Draft is where all the hard work you have put into finding, developing, clarifying and structuring your story in the First and Second Drafts dramatically pays off.
October 28th: Third Draft – LIVE
August 21st: Third Draft – ONLINE
12-Month Live & 10-Month Online Third Draft Part Two
By following the course process, learning advanced tools and techniques and giving and receiving feedback enables everyone to take their writing and story to another level. ‘The voice of each writer is much clearer and confident; there is a sense of finding and settling down with the voice.
August 13th: Third Draft Part Two – LIVE
November 6th: Third Draft Part Two – ONLINE