Newsletters

When writing a novel, short story, memoir, or screenplay, it pays to see the process as an act of discovery. The best stories often emerge not from rigid planning but from remaining open to unexpected possibilities.

As we step into the new year, we hope you’ll join us in sharing the joy of writing—and all the possibilities tapping into your creativity brings. Here’s to crafting stories that move, entertain and inspire readers in 2025 and beyond.

As we approach the end of the year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible creative journeys all our writers have embarked on over the last twelve months.

We wish everyone a peaceful and joyful festive season leading into a productive and creative new year.

Creating a compelling novel, memoir, short story or screenplay that resonates with readers doesn't happen by chance. As renowned author Robert McKee says, "You might have the insights of Buddha, but if you can't tell a story, your ideas will be as dry as dust."

In a speech to the Australian Film and Television School, Academy Award-winning director and writer, Peter Weir, revealed a profound insight into the art of writing: the secret to writing is to care and not care.

Never give up on a dream because you are worried about how long it might take to realise it. As Elizabeth Gilbert said when she held up her National Book Award, "This is for all the late-bloomers in the world." Writing is not like dancing or modeling; it's not something where, if you missed it by age 19, you're finished. It's never too late.

Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions. We are always deeply gratified by the feedback we receive from our participants, whether at the end of a course or through spontaneous posts on Google. These testimonials beautifully encapsulate the experiences we strive to provide through our creative writing courses. We are so pleased to be part of their creative journey.

We are thrilled that we were able to link up with two literary agents with decades of experience in the publishing industry, Lou Johnson and Jeanne Ryckmans from Key People Literary Management. Together, we launched our inaugural Pitching Your Novel Day Workshop at the Writers' Studio on Saturday the 22nd of June.

Stories help us make sense of the world we live in and enable us to explore and discover what is important to us. To write your story, whether it be a novel, short story or a screenplay, you have to listen to that still, quiet voice within and take a leap of faith in yourself and the story inside you, waiting to get out.

A burning question many aspiring writers often torture themselves with is "Do I have the talent required to be a writer?"

We recently had the pleasure of celebrating the launch of Writers’ Studio alumna Julia Levitina’s debut novel, The Girl from Moscow, at Gertrude and Alice’s bookshop in Bondi. It is always inspiring and rewarding to see one of our hardworking writers achieve their goal of having their novel published and to reflect on their journey.

One of the great pleasures of writing fiction is that it takes the writer on a transformative inner journey where they go deeper into themselves and their understanding of the human condition. Whether you are writing a novel, a screenplay, memoir or a short story, the further you delve into your psyche, the more compelling your writing and stories will become.

Writing a novel or screenplay can feel like an overwhelming task. This is why we encourage our writers to just work through their story one step at a time and surrender to the process.

As we look forward to six new releases by Writers' Studio alumni to be published in 2024, please see our selection of summer reads from Studio alumni published in 2023.