Category: Fiction writing

The best moment of every author talk I ever give in a school is when I share the dirty secrets of being a professional author. “Writers are horrible people,” I say, to a response that varies from gasps (grade three) to blank faces (grade eight). “Writers are mean and they

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s been a sudden rise in the number of authors who’ve begun blogging again. Around ten, and even five, years ago, blogging was a big part of building a platform or profile for many authors, and I count myself among them. It was

In 2000, I was contacted by a nun from the order of the Sisters of St Joseph – the order established by Mary MacKillop (who is now Australia’s first saint). They wanted to commission me to write a children’s book about MacKillop, and I’d been recommended because I’d been brought

Have you ever been asked to beta read a manuscript for a fellow writer? Maybe you’re in a writers’ group or perhaps you’re looking to set up an exchange with someone willing to read your manuscript too? A beta reader is simply one of the ‘first’ readers – not the

In order to convince your reader that the world of your story is ‘real’ or ‘true’ – no matter whether it’s high fantasy, a crime novel, a rom-com, and so on – you need to create a sense of ‘verisimilitude’. Now, that’s a word that comes from a bunch of

Do you need to write every day? I was scrolling through Facebook this week when a post stopped me in my tracks. It was by Pamela Freeman, bestselling author and Director of Creative Writing at the Australian Writers’ Centre. Pamela wrote: “I was thinking today about the ‘you must write

How often do you wish you could corner a publisher and ask them exactly what they want? What are they looking for? How do they know when they’ve found it? Well, never fear, for I’ve done it for you. I asked Laura Sieveking, Publisher, Children’s Books at Scholastic Australia, for

I’ve been working as a writer since I was 19 years old, which is … well, a lot of years. One thing I’ve never had any trouble with is ideas. As a magazine journalist, then a freelance writer, my whole job was predicated on new ideas. And I learnt very

Learning to edit your own writing is an essential part of every author’s life. Even if you plot every sentence out in advance, you will still need to edit your first complete draft to ensure it’s as good as it can be. If you’re more at the ‘pantser’ end of

Hannibal Lecter. Voldemort. Nurse Ratched. Kylo Ren. Cruella De Vil. All memorable villains who not only stand the test of time but who also play a huge part in turning a good story into a great one. Creating a memorable villain is one of the keys to a successful novel.

When we think about writing and then promoting a novel, sometimes it’s easy to overlook one of the greatest marketing strategies at your fingertips: a great title. Writing a title for your novel can be the first thing you do – or the very last. Some authors will come up

I recently had the opportunity to interview bestselling author (and AWC presenter) Dr Kate Forsyth about her novel The Crimson Thread. We took a deep-dive into Deep Point Of View – and the conversation was so good, I simply had to share. How would you define deep point of view?

Kate McCaffrey is author of Double Lives, her first novel for adults. She is already experienced at writing young adult novels, which include Destroying Avalon, In Ecstasy, Beautiful Monster, and more. Kate is also working in several different genres from contemporary women’s fiction to historical and middle grade books. She

“Character drives story.” It’s one of those writerly maxims you hear over and over, and something I teach regularly to writers of all ages. But to make it work, you need to create a character your readers will care about enough to go along for the ride. For me, compelling

It takes a lot of work and know-how to write a book that appeals to a wide audience – so much so, that we decided 5 top tips were simply not enough! So here are six more top tips for writing commercial fiction, direct from authors we spoke to on

What does it take to write a book that sells to a wide audience? Is there a secret to creating popular, accessible stories? We’ve curated this selection of writing tips direct from authors who have been featured on the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast – click the