Welcome to our March Newsletter!
Today, we welcome writers into our 4-Week Unlocking Creativity Online Course for March.
Over the next four weeks, these writers will embark on an inspiring creative journey where they will tap into the power of their imagination, the true source of creativity, and learn practical tools and techniques that will dramatically improve the quality of their writing.
They will develop an understanding of how classic story structure works and end the process by writing a guided short story.
We look forward to seeing them flourish in the coming month.
The Dance Between Structure and Imagination
In our last newsletter, we spoke about the power of classic story structure and how it is a reflection of how human beings experience growth and transformation when their sense of self is challenged.
At the same time, structure is only one part of the equation. Writing a novel, a screenplay or a short story is a dance between structure and your imagination.
This is one of the fundamental principles of our 4-Week Unlocking Creativity Course, our 6-Week Short Story programs, and especially our 10-Month Novel & Script First Draft Course.
Great stories don’t emerge from chaos. Nor do they come from rigid formulas. They arise when structure gives direction to imagination and imagination breathes life into structure.
Ronald B. Tobias said, “The pattern is your guide. Don’t make the mistake of relying entirely on intuition and hoping things work out for the best. Shooting from the hip is an invitation to disaster. Writing is a combination of both method and madness, and no one can say in what proportion.”
In the first two months of the 10-Month course, we guide writers through developing a story idea and shape it into a very broad, big picture 10-Step Outline which changes and evolves as they move through the process of writing their first draft over the next eight months.
We encourage them to treat the process as an adventure and an act of discovery where they make bold choices.
This is where the true magic happens. The course’s step-by-step process allows them to follow the headlights of their imagination, knowing their story has shape, while remaining open to making discoveries that surprise them.
With guidance from their tutor, the story deepens, characters evolve, themes emerge, and writers are often amazed at how their stories grow stronger and more emotionally compelling as they work their way through the process.
As Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park and twenty eight novels, described the process beautifully:
In my experience of writing, you generally start out with some overall idea that you can see fairly clearly, as if you were standing on a dock and looking at a ship on the ocean.
At first you can see the entire ship, but then as you begin work, you’re in the boiler room and you can’t see the ship anymore. All you can see are the pipes and the grease and the fittings of the boiler room, and you have to assume the ship’s exterior.
What you really want in an editor is someone who’s still on the dock, who can say, ’Hi, I’m looking at your ship, and it’s missing a bow, the front mast is crooked, and it looks to me as if your propellers are going to have to be fixed.’
That is the role of structure. And that is the role of feedback.
Structure gives your story shape, direction and meaning. Imagination fuels the journey. Guidance helps the writer stay on course and explore the possibilities of character and plot.
When you set up this dance between structure and imagination, you give yourself the best possible chance to write the most compelling, meaningful and engaging story you are capable of writing.
Intensive 6-Week Short Story Course
The 6-Week Short Story Genre Course will keep your writing process alive and inspired as you learn some key story dynamics within the framework of four key genres. By learning the basics of the various genres you can add drama, depth and resonance to your characters and stories.
It also gives writers considering the 10-Month Novel & Script First Draft Course an excellent opportunity to explore ideas before embarking on the longer journey of writing your novel or screenplay.
This comprehensive short story course starts on the 22nd of April, designed for writers who have completed Unlocking Creativity and are looking to continue their writing journey.
Success Stories
Two Hearts in Pieces by Christine Neumann
Congratulations to Christine Neumann, an alumna of the Writers’ Studio, whose ficto-memoir short story, Two Hearts in Pieces has been shortlisted and is published in a limited anthology called, If Found, Please Return, with Hawkeye Publishing!
It’s the mid 1970’s and a young woman makes the heart-breaking decision to adopt her newborn baby out. Separation from her baby is brutal, leaving them both traumatised. Two shattered lives reunite in a story of loss, love and redemption.
If Found, Please Return is a collection of the longlisted entries from the 2025 Sydney Hammond Memorial Short Story Competition, based on the theme ‘Lost and Found’.
In Christine’s words, “My thanks go to The Writers’ Studio, the place I found my creativity, with the 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course, followed by the First and Second Draft courses. With support from the tutors, I found the courage to keep on writing through the highs and lows of being a writer.”
Click here to buy the If Found, Please Return Anthology
Speak Up by Theresa Miller
Congratulations to Theresa Miller, an alumna of the Writers’ Studio, whose newest release, Speak Up, was published by NewSouth Publishing and is out now!
Speak Up is for everyone who has a story to tell, including authors who want to step up to the podium and promote their work so readers can discover them.
Whatever your role, this easy-to-use guide will empower you to step up to the microphone, tell your story and make an impact.
In Speak Up, Theresa Miller shows you how to successfully share your expertise and experience with an audience whether it’s creating an inspiring work presentation or media release, blitzing a job interview or nailing your message on a podcast, panel, TV or radio interview.
In Theresa’s words, “The Writers’ Studio has been integral in my journey as an author, giving me both the skills and confidence to write and publish three books. The Unlocking Creativity course opened the door and reignited my delight in writing which had laid dormant since my school days.
“Later, I enrolled in the novel writing courses and found the feedback and step by step process invaluable. It helped me uncover the inner journey of my fictional characters. The editing techniques I learned at the Writers Studio were also helpful in both my fiction and non-fiction books.”
Click here to buy Speak Up
White Woman by the Waterhole by Marian McCarter
Congratulations to Marian McCarter, an alumna of the Writers’ Studio, whose novel, White Woman by the Waterhole, is out now!
Set in 1840s Australia, White Woman by the Waterhole explores the web of connection between East Gippsland and Van Diemen’s Land, First Nations people, intrepid sailors, boat builders, convicts and land-hungry settlers in this tale of adventure, courage, heartbreak and love.
In Marian’s words, “My first novel has just been published by 40 South. Without your Unlocking Creativity Course and the superb content within, this never would have happened. I’m onto my second book now!”
Click here to buy White Woman by the Waterhole
Share the Good News!
If you have completed courses with the Writers’ Studio and you’ve earned recognition for your writing in competitions or received awards, we’d love to showcase and celebrate your accomplishments.
Please share a brief note along with relevant details or links to wstudio@writerstudio.com.au with the subject line “Success Stories.”
Giveaways!
Wallaby Lane and Cockatoo Cove by Maya Linnell
Thanks to Allen & Unwin, we have 2 bundles of Writers’ Studio alumna, Maya Linnell’s rural Australian romance novels, Wallaby Lane and Cockatoo Cove, to give away!
If you love Australian rural romance or need an escape to the country, then grab yourself a cup of tea – you’re in the right place.
From country show baking to raising orphaned lambs, bestselling rural fiction author, Maya Linnell gathers inspiration from her rural upbringing and the small communities she has lived in and loved.
Cockatoo Cove is her seventh novel, following Wallaby Lane, Kookaburra Cottage, Paperbark Hill, Magpie’s Bend, Bottlebrush Creek and Wildflower Ridge.
For your chance to win a bundle of Maya’s novels, email with ‘Maya Linnell Giveaway’ as the subject line and provide your name, address and mobile number to: rsvp@writerstudio.com.au
I SWEAR
Thanks to Transmission Films, we have 5 double passes to give away to I SWEAR, a film written and directed by Kirk Jones, opening nationally in cinemas on 26th March.
Based on the true story, I SWEAR is a moving, uplifting account of the life of John Davidson, a Tourette Syndrome campaigner who grew up with the condition in 1980s Scotland, at a time when it was little known and misunderstood.
Featuring outstanding performances from Robert Aramayo, Peter Mullan, Shirley Henderson and Maxine Peake, I SWEAR is a frank, funny and touching story about the transformative power of friendship and community.
You can watch the trailer here
For your chance to win, email with your name, address, the movie title and your mobile to: rsvp@writerstudio.com.au
Recent Course Feedback
Some snippets of the wonderful feedback that we receive back from recently completed courses.
“I didn’t have any training or knowledge about how to write a novel. I’ve always just been a ‘pantser’ who loves to write, but never really got much beyond the first few chapters or pages. The structure gives you the guideposts to aim for, knowing they will get you to your final destination. In between, it’s up to us, and our imagination, to speed the journey on. I’ve enrolled in Second Draft Online, so I can get help to bring this baby home!” Cassie, First Draft Course
“This 6-week Genre short course has really been everything I had hoped it would be – challenging, informative, instructive and fun. I have taken a lot away from this course and hopefully grown as a writer in the process. So many great tools to use, structures to guide, and stories to develop. It has been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.” Joanne, Short Story – Genre
“I came into this course nearly brain dead from work and rotting on the floor each week. And despite all the busyness and mess of life lately, I left each class feeling like I just jumped in the ocean. There is no better, safer place to turn to and find your imagination, your love for writing, and turn it into something that makes writing anything in life feel less scary.” Manuel, Unlocking Creativity Live
“I’ve come to the end of the 4-Week Unlocking Creativity course with the Writer’s Studio. The progress I’ve made with my writing in just four short weeks is unbelievable. I used to struggle greatly with paralysis when it came to sitting down to write, and writing was starting to feel like a chore, a struggle. But thanks to this course I’ve completely loosened up. I’m having fun with storytelling again. Connecting back to the reason I loved it as a kid, and also returning to the simplicity of writing with pen and paper rather than typing (It’s way more conducive, I’ve found). What the Writer’s Studio offers to those who want to write, is unconditional permission to do so. I do in fact feel like I have ‘unlocked’ myself. And I am not so afraid anymore.” Meadhbh, Unlocking Creativity Online
“This course has provided what I was looking for, a guide to ‘story’ and how to tell one with a reader in mind. The external structure of set dates and the exercises helped keep me on track and the collective experience of a goal shared by the class is invaluable in the truest sense. It’s worth it that’s for sure. Highly recommended to anyone with a story to tell!” Alison, Second Draft Course
“This has been an amazing creative journey with the Writers’ Studio over the last four years! With the tools and the guidance and feedback from the Writers’ Studio crew and all of the writers from Unlocking Creativity, to First, Second, and two Third Draft courses, one small idea is now a manuscript – rough as it may be – with a beginning, middle and end.” Tim, Third Draft Part Two Course
