Indochine Journey, Vietnam. Aug 16-31, 2014. Following the footsteps of Marguerite Duras.
Backstage Bali, Sept 25 – Oct 6. Join a writing retreat on the edge of a volcano before attending the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.
Moroccan Caravan, Nov 6 – 19. Ride a desert caravan into the heart of your writing.
WORKSHOPS & COURSES CLOSER TO HOME
Birth Your Book in 9 months! an intensive one-on-one mentoring program.
First Page to First Draft – Semester One now in session, join you can join anytime online!
Draft Busters – monthly meetings supporting your writing in Petersham, Sydney.
Draft Swap, April 27, 10am-4pm – annual swap meet in Petersham, Sydney with fellow writers. Bring a finished draft to swap.
Memory Into Memoir, June, NSW Writers Centre. Turning your life stories into powerful writing.
Writers Journey Blog
Those of us who love to write know that having the aspiration is simply not enough.If we are to succeed in writing the book of our dreams, we must get practical; we must make sure we have time to write. This may seem obvious but if you have a day job (that’s most of us) you know that prioritising writing time is not so easy. Writing is an inward looking activity. It requires dreaming and ruminating periods, like time to stand staring out the kitchen window for ten minutes without someone asking you if you are ok. And it’s quite difficult to switch from the hat we need to wear in the big world (that entrepreneurial, go-getter energy) to the hat we need to wear to write.
This is where your skill in timetabling is needed. At the beginning of each month, take out your appointment diary or planner and block in some appointments with yourself to write. A morning, three times a week, a sunday afternoon, early am sessions before work, one whole day every three days, or a weekend retreat. Try to plan it so that whatever your writing activity on the day, you can really give your full attention to it. Block it all in, in a bright colour that is not easy to erase. Of course if you have to reschedule you must, but never cancel, always find another time in your diary to replace it with.
Not every writing date will make you feel good, sometimes it will be plain hard slog, but you will progress and if you stick to your timetable you might just have a book to show, like Jennifer Smart who launches her first novel Wardrobe Girl this month with Random House. Huge congrats Jennifer, not just on your book, but for sticking to your writing timetable!
