OnDusk

Recap of Friday’s sessions of the Emerging Writers Festival , and the take home message from hours spent hanging off the every word of a panel of editors… What is important, if you want to write... Commercial – as an example, think 'big tv profile + cook book' Fiction – of 100% importance is the writer's voice AND being able to tell a really good story. Nonfiction – you need to have authority, and be able to write in an engaging way. You have to be worth the investment…and what helps publishers make that decision includes: Have you already published? Can an editor see a potential relationship, based on 1-2 books over the next 5 years? Have you proved you are reliable, have drive and really, really, really want it. The audience breathed, ‘Yes, yes, YES!’ Then we heard about slush piles….and we heard the apology ‘if your work is currently in a slush pile’. 'Most writers are trying hard - they're just not very good.'  #submis...

Now follows a quick blog on yesterday’s awesomeness that was Day Two of the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. Digital Writers’ Masterclass took up most of my day – and I heard about a heap of stuff I had never …well, to be honest, I’d never been interested in what to me were the bits of tinsel hanging off the sides of my social media juggernaut – ie Twitter and blogging. By tinsel, I mean auto bots and other ‘stuff’. Because I generate my own content – slave over it, obsess over the layout, cringe and moan over the typos, when I find them a day later….all that, that takes up more than enough of my time. But I am glad that others are interested in the infrastructure. For example, I look forward to the day someone comes up with a better way of collating tweets and linking multiple platforms that don’t force me to pledge life long allegiance to someone who is building their own social media empire. Grateful for Nathan Farrugia’s tips on how to make my blog l...

Ugh – Twitter!...What is IT good for?..Absolutely Nothing!! But then again, maybe it has some real benefits. This blog post is an addendum to an earlier post - Back Yourself - from my recap of the Day One sessions at this year's Emerging Writers Festival.   Everyone at the Emerging Writers Festival wants to get published..right? That was my hope this time last year…and then this happened… and I’ll just slide in real fast and say publishing, or self promotion to get published is a great return on spending the time to learn how to make Twitter work for YOU.. but it’s a bare minimum for me, and I’ll elaborate further down. I’ve been blogging for over a year – and some time last year the world clocked over 100 million blogs. That was okay by me because when you first start, you are not really sure what you are doing and you hope no one finds out. But via social media, tiny sparks of electricity bounce around the universe, and sometimes they find each ...

Day One of the Emerging Writers Festival. ** APOLOGIES THAT THE LINKS CITED BELOW ARE NO LONGER ACTIVE - THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION IN 'ON DUSK, THE BOOK' First important lesson of today’s literary pursuits – study a map of the city because a taxi driver will happily take you on a merry tour around the Melbourne CBD before reaching your destination, mere blocks from where you started. If you are able to commit a map of the dozen or so streets of the CBD to memory, you will be a most useful passenger, because I can now confirm Little Lonsdale Street, Little Collins Street and a rather large Melbourne Town Hall were a complete mystery to three out of three taxi drivers. The next time they ask me where I am from, I will respond ‘maximum security’ and see if that makes a difference to 'country mouse'.  Session notes : The type of session where an Indigenous writer could think confidently about extending their horizons ...

I flew into turbulence but when the pilot crackled 'bumpy', he actually meant ‘the air will shake the plane violently up, down, and side to side and those with a window seat may care to watch the wings bounce’ but even then the message would have been lost on the man with ear plugs, who still attempted to stagger and flail his way to the bathroom. The air hostess was trying to indicate, as she clung to the back of a chair with one arm and hooked a knee around an arm rest that it was unsafe for him to roam.   He bobbed his head at her - lord only knows what he thought she was mouthing at him. She did the only thing she could and yanked on the cord and his brown eyes appeared from above his glasses as he registered the musical intermission. 'Sit down will you!'   He saw she meant business and turned as if to make his way, an elbow in the head for every person he passed, back to his seat halfway back up the plane. 'Noooo, sit there' she said...