$50 Discount – Unlocking Creativity Live
We are offering our newsletter subscribers a $50 off discount off the early bird course fee to join our final for 2021, 4-Week Unlocking Creativity Live course commencing on 25 November.
To receive an extra $50 Discount enter this ID Code: NOVEMBER
Enter ID Code into the field under mobile phone field. It is case sensitive.
Click here for more information and to register
Quick Course Round-up
Our final Unlocking Creativity Online course for 2021, will commence 10 November with places still open more >
Our final Unlocking Creativity Live for 2021 will commence on 25 November more >
The next 6-Week course is the Writers’ Gym – Advanced Writing Techniques course is starting on 28 February (Unlocking Creativity is a prerequisite) more >
The next 10-Month First Draft Online course is open for bookings and will commence on 14 March more >
The next 10-Month First Draft Live with Roland, Kathleen & Richard will start on 12 March. Limited places more >
Second Draft Live will start on 5 February with only 2 places now open more >
Second Draft Online will start on 4 April. Register now for your pre-course work more >
Third Draft Live is starting 30 October, register now for pre-course work more >
Third Draft Online starts on 7 February, register now for your pre-course work. Limited places more >
Third Draft Part 2 Online will commence again on 8 November, register now to start your pre-course work and first session work more >
Third Draft Part 2 Live will commence again on 9 July, register now to join a Bonus Workshop in February more >
Please contact the office on (02) 9386 4994 between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday, if you have any questions at all about which course is right for you.
Success Stories
Kelly Adam
Kelly Adam, Novel & Script course alumna, has been long-listed in the prestigious US Page Turner Awards for her manscript. She is also currently working with US based agents and editors.
Congratulations, Kelly!
Click here to read more
Loraine Peck
Writers’ Studio alumna Loraine Peck’s debut novel, Second Son has just won the 2021 Best Debut Crime Fiction Prize in the Ned Kelly Awards.
Congratulations, Loraine!
Click here to read more
Zahid Gamieldien
Zahid, one of our senior tutors, has had one his short stories selected to be published in the University of Technology, Sydney’s 40 Year Anthology collection. The Editorial Committee curated the final selection from over 1000 works.
Congratulations, Zahid!
Click here to read more
Harry P. Russell
One of our alumni contacted us to let us know that he has published his novel, ‘The Clenched Hand’.
On New Year’s Day in 1963, a CSIRO scientist and a young woman are found dead on a Sydney riverbank. Is it suicide, murder or foreign interference? ASIO operative Oscar Riddell follows a trail of Satanism, superstition and revenge – a high stakes game of betrayal and obfuscation, as he races to prevent a Chinese death squad assassinating two world leaders.
Congratulations, Harry!
Click to purchase a copy of The Clenched Hand
Susan Steggall
Susan let us know that her new book Glasgow, The Heritage You Left Behind is now available as an e-book.
Glasgow 1948. Twenty-three-year-old sculptor Ellie Gilmartin grew up in the shadow of her father’s torment following his service in World War I. Believing her mother died when she was a child, the revelation that Finella had left her husband and daughter, leads Ellie to travel to Australia. After bureaucratic obstacles, psychological and physical threats Ellie discovers the truth about her parents’ difficult lives, in the process learning that she cannot change the past, nor assume responsibility for the deeds of her parents.
Click to purchase a copy of The Heritage You Left Behind
Finley Harper
One of our tutors, has had a short story, titled Glamoured, published under a pen name, in the online speculative fiction magazine, Abyss & Apex.
Congratulations, Finley!
Click here to read Glamoured
DVD Giveaway!
Britannia
Thanks to Acorn Media, we have DVD sets to giveaway, of the third season of Britannia, being released on November 3.
Series 3 sees a radical transformation in Cait’s (Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Maleficent) journey as the Chosen One with a decision that will tie her to the future of her war-torn people and their ravaged land. Aulus (David Morrissey, The Walking Dead) comes under pressure from a new and dark force – otherwise known as his wife, whilst Amena finds herself in lethal Ménage à trois with both of them.
“It achieves what many historical series fail at – it’s rollicking good fun.”
To win Series 3 DVD of Britannia email: rsvp@writerstudio.com.au and include your name, address and mobile no.
Belzebuth and The Power
Thanks to Acorn Media, we have DVD copies of 2 horror films to giveaway for Halloween!
Belzebuth – Special Agent Emanuel Ritter leads a police investigation into a series of shocking deaths. But after a priest from the Vatican finds a link between the murders and an ancient demon, a descent into horror ensues.
“One of the most imaginative possession films in recent memory, if not of all time.”
The Power – London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams, Sanditon) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another hospital, Val is forced to work the night shift in the empty building. Within these walls lies a deadly secret, forcing Val to face her own traumatic past in order to confront the malevolent force that’s intent on destroying everything around her.
“A profoundly unsettling thriller with a performance that would make Linda Blair proud” – IndieWire
To win copies of Belzebuth & The Power email: rsvp@writerstudio.com.au and include your name, address and mobile no.
Recent Course Feedback
Some snippets of the wonderful feedback that we receive back from recently completed courses. We update these each newsletter. They show what a large variety of writers get out of our writing courses.
“I think everyone should do this course, regardless of skill, because honestly it has helped me so much…. I’ve created so many characters and situations, which I never would have on my own. I’ve seen people push themselves in different directions each week and it’s inspired me so much. I want to keep writing every day” Alana, Unlocking Creativity
“I’ve learnt that writing is for everyone – that we all have our own stories inside of us to share that are just as valid as a famous author. I’ve also learnt that the only failure to do with writing is to not write at all! I also found that I love being seen – as in recognised as a writer. I’ve been so ashamed of wanting to write for so long that it’s been incredibly healing for others to read my work, to comment on it and to share this space with me. It’s been a very sacred experience.” Lily, Unlocking Creativity
“I think the main thing I have learned is just to write. Write every day and don’t wait to feel like writing and don’t wait for the inspiration of the story. The act of writing produces the story. In my professional work I write a lot and it is a more analytical kind of writing. I have from time to time replyed to other people what the historian AJP Taylor once said: “I write in order to discover what I think”. I believe this to be true but I had not until now appreciated how it could be true of fictional writing.” Mike, Unlocking Creativity
“I cannot begin to tell you how free I feel. It’s as though a weight has been lifted. The best part is I am not afraid anymore of writing. I have been writing all sorts of stories and some memories tweaked into stories.” Emily, Unlocking Creativity
“Unlocking Creativity with The Writers’ Studio has guided me and supported me in being comfortable with being a novice. I would recommend it to anyone who has a dream to write.” Donna, Unlocking Creativity
“In choosing this course for my fiftieth birthday gift it was as though my darling friends had heard my desperate plea “I just need someone to tell me what to do next!’. Unlocking Creativity went way beyond my expectations and delivered on a long sought after goal of mine: to prove to myself I can create characters – and write a story to completion. No other course has brought it all together in quite the same way for me ! As someone who wanted to write creative non-fiction and be faithful to reality it was so surprising to see fully formed characters pop out of my imagination and onto the page. I find myself thinking about them throughout my day and how to convey their truth. Unlocking Creativity packs a punch in teaching so much about the craft of good writing in a short space of time. I’ve seen that happen in both my writing and my fellow students. I am actually excited to get to my desk and see what pours out of me! I couldn’t be happier.” Joan, Unlocking Creativity
‘I learned two main things from the the second draft course. The first is that people care about people. At one point I got caught up in the events of the story and it was obvious that I had lost my readers. Bringing the story back to people, and in particular to my MC’s thoughts, feelings and interactions with the antagonist suddenly re-engaged the group. The second thing I learned was the importance of the interplay of the theme with the characters. I find theme difficult but it’s central to the story. Finding a way to express something that I believed, even finding something that I believed strongly enough to want to express, was difficult. But once I did, it became obvious that opportunities to show the theme — both its positive and its negation – occurred everywhere in the story.” Dave, Second Draft
“Focus on the process, not on the outcome. Just keep doing the work. Talent is something you become. I wouldn’t have this screenplay if it weren’t for following the process set out by the Writer’s Studio. The Third Draft Course has been invaluable. Every time I felt stuck, I’d just come back to the structure or the exercises and find what I was looking for there. Not just my work, but everyone’s work has become so much better by following this process. Behind every dramatic question is really just one dramatic question we want the audience to ask themselves: what happens next? And that’s the question I’m excited to explore for myself on this writing journey. I can’t thank everyone at the Writer’s Studio enough.” Benjamin, Third Draft
We are thrilled to be going back into the Studio for live face- to-face workshops in December.
David Fugate, the founder of Launch Books Literary Agency, represents renowned authors such as Andy Weir. Andy self-published his novel, The Martian, which went on to became a best seller and then a major movie starring Matt Damon. David said, ‘I think it’s amazing that it’s no longer a question of if your work will be published, but how.
Charles Finch, a USA Today best-selling author and essayist, said, ‘To me, the single biggest mark of the amateur writer is a sense of hurry. Amateur writers are usually desperate to be published, as soon as possible. And I understand that feeling – you just want to start, your career, your next book, whatever. But I wonder how many novels might have had a chance at getting bought, and finding more readers, if their authors had a bit more patience with them?’
