On The Same Page

To foster a supportive and constructive environment where writers of all levels can come together to discuss writing ideas, share their work, receive feedback, and develop their writing skills.

Hello {name}

If you attended our last meeting, thank you for coming along. Besides a riveting AGM, we caught up on some of the writing our members have done since our last workshop. In October, we workshopped Short Story writing, and for homework, we all crafted our own stories using the techniques we explored.

Well, the response was absolutely amazing! We were delighted—and a bit overwhelmed—with the number of high-caliber short stories you shared. In fact, we had so many fantastic pieces that we ran out of time to enjoy them all during our last meeting. But no worries—we'll be featuring a few more at our next gathering on December 14th!

Happy writing

December 14 2024

Advances in the Cognitive Sciences with Dr. Fritz Heckler

We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Fritz Heckler, an Austrian psychologist whose passion lies in understanding personal motivations—what makes us tick and how we can enhance our lives. Currently on sabbatical from Graz University, Dr. Heckler brings a wealth of knowledge to share with us. His talk on “Advances in the Cognitive Sciences” promises to be an absolute eye-opener!

And that's not all!

After our meeting, we'd love for you to join us at Sharks for a festive Christmas lunch. It'll be a wonderful opportunity to relax, enjoy great company, and celebrate the holiday season together.

We can't wait to see you all there!

10am Saturday 14th December 2024 at The Labrador Community Centre 57 Billington Street Labrador

Would you like to have your work reviewed by an expert?

We're thrilled to offer, as part of your membership, a fantastic new service! You can now submit any piece of your writing (up to 2,500 words) for review.

You'll receive a personalized report that highlights the strengths of your writing and suggests areas where you can make improvements.

It's easy to get started—just email your work as a digital attachment (word doc or the like) to ian@ianharvey.com.au and request a review. We'll have your feedback ready and sent back to you within 7 days!

We can't wait to read your work and help you on your writing journey!

Next Years Program

We'll be continuing the workshop format over the next 12 months! We'll be hosting 7 workshops and featuring 4 guest speakers throughout the year.

Upcoming Workshops

February 2025 - Unlock Your Creativity: Conquer Writer’s Block Workshop

Join us for a hands-on workshop where we'll explore strategies to overcome writer's block. We'll work through exercises to collect snippets of text, which you'll use to craft a short story before our next meeting.

At this workshop, you'll receive helpful handouts and the opportunity to read your short story at our follow-up meeting in March.

March 2025 - ProWritingAid and Review of Last Month’s Workshop

Discover how ProWritingAid, a comprehensive writing and editing tool, can enhance your writing style, grammar, and readability. It offers grammar and spell checking, style suggestions, and detailed reports analyzing overused words, sentence structure, and readability scores.

We'll also review the short stories from February's workshop!

Workshops for the Rest of the Year

Mastering Point of View, Voice, and Dialogue

Build a solid understanding of how to use point of view, voice, and dialogue to elevate your writing. Engage in practical exercises and leave with tools to continue developing your craft.

Mastering “Show, Don’t Tell” in Writing

Learn how to create vivid, immersive experiences that engage readers emotionally and intellectually by mastering the "show, don't tell" technique.

Crafting Compelling Characters: A Deep Dive into Character Development

Explore techniques to create multi-dimensional, engaging characters. Dive into developing their personalities, backstories, motivations, and arcs to enrich your storytelling.

We Value Your Input!

If you have specific ideas for workshops you'd like to see, please let us know. We're always eager to tailor our programs to your interests and needs.

We can't wait to embark on this creative journey with you next year!

Stephen King 'On Writing'

Tip #3. Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open

“Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it.” -Stephen King

I’m frequently tempted to show my half-baked stories to friends. Especially when I’m excited about something, it’s hard to resist sharing it with the world. But then I remember King’s wise advice: “Write with the door closed.”

To me, that quote means I need to put in the hard work to produce something before I go around raving about it. Talking is too easy.

“Talk depletes us. Talking and doing fight for the same resources.” -Ryan Holiday

Only after I’ve finished my first draft do I allow myself to show it to others to gather their feedback.

Would you like to see your work in print?

Exciting news!

Next year, as we all make great strides in our writing, we plan to celebrate by creating our very own short story anthology featuring your work!

While we haven't yet determined how we'll select the stories to include, we're confident that by the end of the year's workshops, we'll have plenty of high-quality pieces to choose from.

We can't wait to see what amazing stories you'll create!

Judy Nunn writing competition

Deadline 5th December 2024

To celebrate the release of Stories from the Otto Bin Empire by Judy Nunn, Penguin Random House (PRH) and Woman’s Day are searching for another great story teller by running a short story competition.

The winner will receive $1,000 cash, a collection of Judy Nunn’s books and the opportunity to be published by Penguin as an eBook.

Manuscripts must be between 3,500-5,000 words and be based on the theme ‘Families come in all shapes and sizes’.

To find out more follow this link

Newcastle Short Story Competition

Since 2012, the Newcastle Short Story Award has attracted Australia’s brightest storytelling talent, offering both emerging and established writers the chance to showcase their work. Each year, esteemed judges, skilled in the short story form, shortlist the most compelling entries to craft an anthology that celebrates and showcases the diversity of Australian storytelling. Winning the Newcastle Short Story Award marks a writer’s achievement in the art of short fiction.

Generously sponsored by the University of Newcastle, the award offers the following prize pool:

First Prize: $3,000
Second Prize: $1,500
Third Prize: $500
Hunter Writers’ Centre Member Prize: $500
Highly Commended: $200, sponsored by FogHorn Brewery

When and Where?

We meet at 10:00 every second Saturday of the month at The Labrador Community Centre 57 Billington Street Labrador. Our meeting lasts for about two and a half hours.

We would love to see you there.

Please call Leah on 0424 832 95 to make a booking

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