‘The more you understand about the story you are wanting to tell, the more clarity you will gain about the possibilities you have to play with, and the more likely you are to find the best story design.’

‘Creativity is its own life force, with its own ebbs and flows, and needs to be treated with that respect. We cannot expect the mind to just churn things out continuously. We need to develop a more reciprocal relationship with this force.’

Check out some of the wonderful literary events happening in Sydney and around NSW (and online) this March!

‘Sometimes the most important and impactful of things are said in a quiet, controlled and thoughtful voice.’

‘We need to be open to feedback and willing to make changes while also staying true to the story we want to tell. It can be a fine line but one worth walking to create a novel or non-fiction work readers will not be able to put down.’

‘The short story is a literary fragment that insists on immediacy, brevity, intensity. My stories—irrespective of setting—are character-based: a character’s relationship with themselves, with others, and with the world around them.’

“I often went for a walk straight after my writing and editing time, to blow cobwebs away and to reconnect to the here and now, to smell roses and rosemary and lilac and jasmine in the beautiful gardens of East Orange.”

‘A novel is an opportunity to do multiple pieces of business. A short story is the perfect opportunity to do one piece of business in a fresh way really well.’

‘An expert can break all of this down and help a writer work through suggested areas of improvement, one layer at a time.’