-
Registration for the IPEd National Editors Conference in Perth 2013 now open!
Hi everyone, One of the projects taking up my time these days is organising the 6th IPEd National Editors Conference which will be in Perth in April 2013. We have international and national writers, publishers and editors attending and it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. We opened registrations yesterday so if you are in Perth in April and are keen to attend, go book now for an early bird discount on fees AND to make sure you have a place at one of the workshops we will be running and the extra events like dinners and cocktail parties.
-
Copyright issues
The lovely Janine Ripper requested the low down on copyright issues for writers. Here it is as succinctly as I can put it: 1) Anything you write whether it is recorded on paper or on disk or on the internet in a blog, as soon as you write it, is copyrighted to you. As soon as your work takes on a tangible form, it is copyrighted to you. Automatically. If you write under a pseudonym, the copyright is extended for 70 years after the moment it was first created especially if they cannot figure out the identity of the author. Â Otherwise, it is 70 years after the date of…
-
Why you shouldn't let your muse get drunk on champagne/how to braintrain your muse
Muses and alcohol… when you need control, that’s not a healthy mix. So this came about because someone I know who requests writing advice on a regular basis, said she had a muse problem. The person she had based her muse on was going through a change of circumstances and that meant that she felt uninspired to continue writing – the change didn’t fit the story. So I thought I’d clear up some things about muses.
-
The writing process, step by step
We discussed the process of writing in the last post. This post is about the steps in writing a book and getting published. So the first one was about how to get started with writing as a hobby or getting used to writing in general process wise and this is about the process of writing, editing and publishing a particular book.
-
How do I get started?
There’s a simple answer to this question. I get asked it a lot. The answer is this:Â You write. Then there is the question: What do I write about? The answer:Â Whatever you want to write about. Basically what people want to know is what is the next step?
-
How to write a book: Part 5: Structure (or Chapter and verse)
Structure. It is kind of strange to be discussing this prior to plot or idea but hey, I am flexible. You can read the discussions in any order you like. Structure refers to the way you organise a book such as chapters and the order of information. An editor who performs “structural editing” service on your work will read it to tell you how well your story or information is structured. In other words, where your chapters go, how many there should be and if you have put material that’s in Chapter 1 in Chapter 42 by mistake.
-
Inspiration (or is there a muse?)
Yes. And no. What there is, is this wonderful awesome thing in your head called a brain. There was a reason in Greek mythology as to why Mnemosyne (nem-o-seen) was the mother of the muses. She was the goddess of memory and she named everything. Cognitive science now tells us that memory and emotion are important in the process of creativity. So let me use Sedition (the novel I am writing) as an example so you can understand what I am trying to tell you here.
-
7 myths about writing
I thought I’d talk about myths about writing, just so we get all those nagging doubts out of the way. One thing that really depresses me is when I meet someone and they find out I am writing a novel and then they go: “Oh, wow, that’s so great – I could never do that!” Now, I guarantee you that one person out of ten has actually looked at themselves long enough and become sufficiently self aware to know that they cannot write a book for whatever reason. I can also guarantee that I have never actually met this one person. I tend to run into the other nine. I…
-
Things You Need To Know About Being A Writer, Part 3:
Marisa Wikramanayake is a Sri Lankan born, Australian based freelance writer and editor. She discusses rates, societies, unions, job boards, job sites, trade journals and having your website in the third part of her list of necessary information for writers. This and other information, published work, and her rates and services are available on her website.
