creative writing | creative life
Last month in a Scribbles live call, we were discussing structure in storytelling. People often trip when it comes to structure (ahem). We tend to overthink it. We make it way more complex, more intimidating, than it needs to be. Sure, looking at story pyramids and narrative arcs and structural triangles and, erm, Jen Storer …
Cottage Diaries September 2, dear reader, and here in Australia it is day two of spring! Sprrrrrrriiiiiing! Peachy peach. A baby last year. Now look at her! Tangelos in a pot on the front verandah. Not only that, it's also warm, sunny and windy in Rrrregional Victoria and what's more it's a good drying day. …
Continue reading "Fairies, Flowers, Cottage Diaries and Character Creation"
Slow living, how it worked for me. Planning my days, running my biz, writing books.
Years ago when I had my much loved, rather topsy turvy blog, Baxter Street, I would occasionally write about what I'd bought while out and about. The segment was called Shopping With Mother and was inspired by my Ladybird reader of the same name.Meantime, in a recent g&d Live Call we were chatting about the Artist Date. This is a …
How you dress your characters makes a huge difference to your story-world.
Early in the 1980s when I was working as a nurse, I decided to write a children’s book.The first story I wrote was about a rat. A rat that lived inside a muddy riverbank, wore a suit and —worked in the stock market (go figure). I think it was some kind of Wind in the Willows rip-off.I …
Continue reading "How I Became a Kidlit Author, and How I Can Support Your Kidlit Dreams, too"
We had an amazing thread going in the Duck Pond, last week. We were talking about ‘quiet’ books. You know the type. Gentle, nuanced, often deep. The kind of books that leave a mark, make you think. Perhaps even make you clever… Manuscripts (whether adult fiction or kidlit) often get rejected on the grounds …
Super quick post because ALL THE PLATFORMS, right?? I'll be LIVE in the Duck Pond, our private Facebook group, tomorrow. That's: Friday, July 3, 11.15am AEST. The Scribbles Academy opens later this month (July) for its ONLY intake for 2020 and I want to talk about that! I'll also be chatting about my own creative …
A few years back, I wrote a book about creative writing. It's still selling on Amazon. But I never promote it. I want to tweak it. And it needs a new cover... Because. Shit.I know more now! I've got more to say. More to share. Maybe I'll just write a whole new book.Want to …
Hey sugar! Missed Q and Q Friday last week? Doh! We talked about loads of stuff from hand-lettering in picture books (divine and tricky!), to the submission quirks of some publishers, to how long is a middle grade novel? No. Really. How long??? Plus, I had me a little rant. I want as many kidlit …