No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  John Donne Throw the confetti. Ring...

I have spent the last three months plotting and planning my first novel. If you have read my past posts, you will know that my original...

One of the greatest benefits of writing a truly awful, lousy, no good first draft is that it can only get better from there. (Martha...

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” Winston Churchill Are you a Plotter? A Pantser? Or Plantser? These are...

I love writing. Playing with words. Creating new characters. Telling stories. Some days it's easy. You sit down and you write. The words...

I have been telling stories all my life. My mum told me that before I could read, I would look at picture books and make up my own...

Hello, my name is Valerie and I am a book addict. I love to read. My reading is my professional development as an emerging writer. I know...

You must learn to be three people at once: writer, character, and reader. Nancy Kress Stories need captivating and complex characters...

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Writing is...

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Stephen King I am an avid reader who...

The first sentence can't be written until the final sentence is written. Joyce Carol Oates I have a dream. To be published. To hold my...

I always wrote as a kid. I used to create stories, with illustrations, in old exercise books. At the end of the school year, I would...

I am a lover of quotes. I collect them. I use them as a teacher, as a writer, as a mother. I am pretty certain that most people feel the...

I received the latest newsletter from the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC) this morning and there was an invitation for ‘a meeting with...

I love words and phrases. Words that make sounds; onomatopoeic words. Words that conjure up emotions. Words that inspire your...

I am at the stage of my writing where I want my work to be critiqued. Honestly. I am currently looking for readers who sit outside the...

I may have invented a new level of drafting a novel. The pre-draft. This is the draft before the first draft. I am currently writing my...