By Emily Davis In general I’m a bit of a communic-a-tard. This is kind of like being a lactard (allergic to milk), but perhaps with slightly more serious connotations and consequences. I can assure you I can write, and read and speak, and I’m not too bad at a boozy dinner party when I’m tasked […]

By Dr Ros Prosser Who we are and how we came to be who we are is not easily accounted for. Who we are in a heat wave is not simply the dripping, sweating and distracted Adelaidean, now living in perhaps the hottest place on Earth. We could see ourselves in this place as the […]

By Paul Greenway I always open my Travel Writing Workshop with this first rule of travel writing (although I ignored it myself).  While it is possible to make money writing travel articles for magazines and websites, it is unlikely – but certainly not impossible – that you’ll earn a decent living. But you can at […]

By Barbara Santich  It might come as a surprise, but food writing is not really about food. Food is not usually the main focus. More often, food writing is about people and their experiences of growing, sourcing, cooking, offering and eating food; it’s about their relationships with food, their memories associated with food, the place […]

By Walter Mason I recently did an event with author, psychotherapist and healer Sharon Snir and I was struck by how she described her writing as a way of making peace in the world. I am used to the idea of writing as a form of therapy, or of social and political expression, or even […]

By Walter Mason  I’ve never really been much of a one for big things. Even though I come from Queensland, the lure of big things, grand vistas and sublime moments has never really been felt. I have always focused firmly on the small, the domestic. It is this perspective which grounds me, and which I […]

By Lia Weston Continued on from a previous post Nothing makes my heart sink like an ‘HILARIOUS LoL LoL OMG SO TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ email forward. Guaranteed to fulfil none of the subject line promises, it tends to fall into one of two camps: ‘women are smart and funny, while men are crap at taking directions’ (if […]

By Threasa Meads In his memoir, Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov says: Neither in environment nor heredity can I find the exact instrument that fashioned me, the anonymous roller that pressed upon my life a certain intricate watermark whose unique design becomes visible when the lamp of art is made to shine through life’s foolscap. By […]

By Ben Brooker I don’t believe in giving advice to aspiring writers. I know this is a problematic way to begin a blog post in which I’ve been asked to dispense tips, but what else is one to say? Read. Lots. And write. Lots. There really is nothing else to be said. I do, however, […]

By Vikki Wakefield One of the questions most commonly asked of a writer is: where do you get your ideas from? Short answer: ideas are everywhere. An idea is  the brilliant start to everything, a comet of the imagination, a blazing possibility that will fizzle and die if you don’t pay it some attention. The  […]

By Donna Ward A poem is an epiphany in words, a journal note in the soul’s high adventure, a gem cut brillante so all life’s glory gleams through. In days filled with lists, and jobs, and deadlines we forget we are part of something intriguing and mysterious. Epiphanies remind us. Epiphanies occur when we are […]

By Libby Parker I’m a huge fan of Astrid’s work and her workshops so it was an easy decision to make to book her Write with Spice workshop on Sunday 18 August at SA Writers’ Centre. Astrid has an aura about her. She is warm, disarming, engaging and a wealth of knowledge! She gives practical advice to writers of all […]

By Astrid Cooper Anyone can write erotica—it’s just sex scenes strung together. Right? W-R-O-N-G!  To be successful in the competitive erotic fiction market you need more than hot sex on every page. Sometimes you don’t even have to have that much sex in the story to sell like wildfire. What are some of the ingredients […]

By Dorothy Shorne ‘How long had you known him?’  A common question I am asked after I have delivered a eulogy. In most cases I have not had the pleasure of meeting the deceased. What I have done is listened carefully to his nearest and dearest as they relate to me their memories and experiences. […]

By Danae Sinclair Great content never asks readers to work for what they want to know.  Great content meets reader expectations, helps them toward their information-gathering goals and it gets your message across clearly.  To break it down further, here are three things to be mindful of when creating web content: 1. Provide pathways to […]