In this issue:
- TIP: Meaningless words
- Unleash your creativity!
- More student success – congratulations Mitch Lewis
- Perfect your pitch and get published
- QLD Poetry Festival and Val Vallis Award
- Writing books for children and young adults
- WORDWISE: Caucus
- WEBPICK: Not drowning, mothering
What an incredible day it was yesterday, as Julia Gillard becomes Australia’s first female Prime Minister. I am thrilled at the change in leadership and I’m really looking forward to this new approach to Government. On that point, you might wonder whether it’s “Government” with a capital G or “government” with a lower case g.While you should be ruled by a house style – if you are following one – the typical treatment for this is that you use a capital G when referring to the incumbent Government. But you use a lower case g when referring to governments more generally. For example:
- The Federal Government recently introduce a paid parental leave scheme.
- Payroll tax is something that’s usually administered by state governments.
Now you can sleep tonight knowing that vital piece of information!
On a lighter note, I finally watched Avatar on Bluray DVD this week. Totally blockbuster Hollywood entertainment – and I loved it. Making films is something that has always captured my imagination and I know that film-makers typically cut their teeth on short films. So I’m very excited about our upcoming course Scriptwriting for Short Films.This course will cover:
- how to select and develop suitable ideas for a short film
- what narrative elements you need in a short film screenplay (characters, plot, dialogue etc)
- what technical elements you must consider in a short film screenplay (locations, props, budget etc)
- the roles of the writer/director/producer and how they interact
- getting your film seen and sold
Course: Script Writing for Short Films with Geoff Bartlett
When: Wednesday 14 July and 21 July 2010 (two evening seminars)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $165
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
TIP: Meaningless words
In the book My Grammar and I (or should that be ‘Me’?) Caroline Taggart and JA Wines point out that English speakers use a meaningless word every nine seconds, and that 10% of English speech consists of filler words. Here’s one tip from them to help keep your speech, and your writing, clear:
Try not to punctuate your speech (and certainly don’t litter your writing) with verbal apologies such as and that sort of thing, as it were, do you know what I mean?, needless to say. Nine times out of ten, they will add nothing. Mark Twain had it right when he said, ‘Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.’ The same applies to these empty phrases.
Unleash your creativity!
Every one has a book in them, right? If that’s true, then the key to writing that book is building your confidence and motivation. Our creative writing course will do just that. You’ll learn about the ingredients of a good story and how to use them in your own writing.
This is such a popular course and you can now choose the best time for you to attend – you can choose between a daytime class, and evening class or the intensive Monday to Friday class.
The course will show you how to:
Here’s what some recent participants had to say about the course:
‘Jeni is such an inspiring teacher. She is honest, knowledgeable, and positive in both writing professionally and her own writing career. I also loved the location, and the time the course was offered.’
- Savannah Birkhead
‘Even though I am only new to writing, during the course I found so many new techniques and ways of approaching my work that I couldn’t have discovered without help. Writing is a passion I have only just recently discovered, and to have a course that offers so much in these early stages of my learning was the best experience I could have hoped for. I loved the course and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to take creative writing to the next level.’
- Gustavo Panucci
Jeni Mawter is the children’s author of the hilarious ‘So’ series: So Gross!, So Feral!, So Sick!, So Festy!, So Grotty! and So Stinky! (HarperCollins) as well as the Freewheelers series: Unleashed!, Launched! and Extreme! (HarperCollins). Unleashed! was shortlisted for the WAYRBA Older Readers Award 2009.
Jeni has also published fiction, non-fiction, poetry and verse narrative for the education market. With a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature and a Diploma in Book Editing and Publishing Jeni has taught creative writing for many years at Macquarie University and at writers' centres. Her enthusiasm for words and books is infectious.
Creative Writing Stage 1 INTENSIVE with Jeni Mawter
When: Monday 5 July to Friday 9 July 2010 (five consecutive days)
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $395
Creative Writing Stage 1 EVENING with Jeni Mawter
When: Tuesdays starting Tuesday 13 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Creative Writing Stage 1 DAYTIME with Jeni Mawter
When: Fridays starting Friday 16 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $395
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
More student success
We were so pleased to receive a copy of Mitch Lewis’ first book, The Little Red Ute and the Dump Truck, which he hand delivered to the office this week. In fact, he gave us the very first copy, so this really is hot off the press! Mitch is a former student of ours and we’ve been following his journey since he attended the Creative Writing Stage 1 course in 2007.
You may remember we announced his publishing deal back in 2009. Well, the first book in his Little Red Ute series, Little Red Ute and the Dump Trucks, has been published, and will be followed in July with book 2 – Little Red Ute Visits the Farm. The books have been illustrated by Nahum Ziersch and books 3 and 4 will be released in September 2010.
Congratulations Mitch! The book looks great and we’re sure it will be a big hit!
Perfect your pitch and get published
If you’ve completed our feature writing course then you know how important the pitch is. After all, you may have a great story, but if you can’t convince an editor to run it, who’s going to see it?
Now that you’ve learnt the essentials of writing great articles, you need to learn how to perfect your pitch. Our 2-week course will show you how to do that and get more of your writing published.
In this course you’ll learn how to:
Here’s what recent participants had to say about the course:
‘I thought Sue conducted a really accessible and relevant course, made all the more so by including examples from her own inspiring journey. The class exercises brought us out of our comfort zones and encouraged us to just go ahead and take the next step and learn from it.’
- Suzi van Middlekoop
‘Getting insight from a working freelance writer was extremely helpful. It was also fantastic to structure the coure with one lecture and Q&A session followed by a workshop session.’
- Grace Foss
This course is presented by Sue White, a freelance writer whose work has featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue Australia, Travel + Leisure (Australia), Sun Herald Travel, Women’s Health, Vogue Entertaining + Travel, CNN Traveller, various ABC outlets, Green Living, G magazine and numerous other publications in both Australia and overseas.
As a busy freelancer, Sue quickly learned to overcome her initial fear of pitching. She has since developed a full-time freelance career, which allows her to explore her interest in the environment, and career and well-being issues through her writing. Sue’s also particularly chuffed that she now gets paid to appease her continually itchy feet through travel writing: an indulgence that sees her regularly journeying to inspiring places across the globe in the name of a good story.
Sue is a member of the Foreign Correspondents Association. When she’s not on the road, she works from her home office near the beach in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
Perfecting Your Pitch with Sue White
When: Mondays starting Monday 12 July 2010 for two weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $175
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
Queensland Poetry Festival and Val Vallis Award
Queensland’s annual poetry festival is on again and the program is now available. Held over three days, 27-29 August 2010, the festival will feature Australian and international poets and musicians.
As part of the festival, entries are now being accepted for the Val Vallis Award. The award is for an unpublished poem or suite of poems, and the winner will receive $1,000 cash and a week at Varuna, the writers house in the Blue Mountains. The winner will be announced at the opening night of the Poetry Festival on 27 August. Entries close at 5pm on Tuesday 13 July 2010.
You can find more details on the festival and download an entry form here.
Writing for children and young adults
Do you have stories you’ve written for your children or grandchildren? Do you think you have what it takes to write for a younger audience? Kids are discerning readers, so if you’re interested in writing children’s books you need to be sure you can engage and entertain them.
Our Writing Books for Children and Young Adults course is perfect if you want to start your career as a children’s author. The course will cover:
Here’s what recent participants had to say about the course:
‘The sharing of work with the group was a real highlight, hearing what other people had written and receiving constructive criticism and encouragement. This course was also very well structured, and the homework activities were scaled well, as you progress from writing a memory to commencing a story. I feel that I have grown confident in my writing, and the course has allowed me to look at new ways of approaching my writing, so much so that I am going to rewrite the story I wrote just prior to this course from a completely different perspective.’
- James Beauchamp
‘It was amazing to be surrounded by so many creative and talented writers. It was truly inspiring. I have re-awoken my passion for writing.’
- Carolyn Francis
This course is presented by Judith Ridge. Judith Ridge is well-known in Australia and internationally for her involvement with writing for children. Judith has worked with the Children's Book Council, as an editor at ABC Children's Books and the NSW School Magazine and freelances as an editor for Random House. Judith edited Handle with Care: Making Friends with Animals by Paul McGreevy - one of Halstead Press' all-time top sellers. She has also edited Piccolo and Annabelle 4: The Steamer Demons by Stephen Axelsen (Random House) and numerous books for ABC Books.
Writing Books for Children and Young Adults with Judith Ridge
When: Wednesdays starting Wednesday 7 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
WORDWISE: Caucus
Wow, yesterday was a big day for Australia with our first female PM! We’ve heard lots about the labour caucus in the last couple of days, and no doubt we’ll hear more from them in the lead up to the election. So, what is a caucus?
It means ‘a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement’ but there are subtle differences in the meaning depending on the culture it’s being used in. In Australia, only the Labor Party uses the term, but more to describe the party rather than a meeting.
There’s some debate about where the word came from, but it’s generally agreed that it first came into use in the English colonies of America. That’s where the agreement ends.
One theory is that the word comes from the Algonquin tribe’s (from Virginia) word, caucausu, which means ‘counselor’. Another theory is that the word actually comes from the Caucus Club of Boston, apparently notorious for their drinking, which borrowed the Greek word kaukos, or drinking cup.
WEBPICK: Not drowning, mothering
Struggling to get through your day of work, childcare, cleaning and cooking? Well, you’re not alone – Not drowning, mothering is an amusing and sympathetic blog chronicling the life of ‘one woman, three children, a husband and an unreasonably angry cat’. Actually, even if you’re not a mother, this is a great blog to read.
Her latest rant involves facebook, Hugh Jackman and a morbid fear of Jennifer Aniston running over her cat. It’s well-written, funny, and a lovely way to pass possibly the only half hour you’ll have free today.
Check it out here.
Other upcoming courses
Seminar: Introduction to Travel Writing with Geoff Bartlett
When: Friday 25 June 2010 (2-hour morning seminar)
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $75
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 1 with Cathie Tasker/Pamela Freeman
When: Week beginning Monday 28 June 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Seminar: Professional Business Writing with Mel Wilkinson - FULL
When: Tuesday 29 June 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am - 4.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Introduction to Travel Writing with Geoff Bartlett
When: Tuesday 29 June 2010 (2-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Seminar: Writing for the web with Grant Doyle - FULL
When: Wednesday 30 June 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Online Feature Writing Stage 1 with Valerie Khoo/Pamela Wilson
When: Week beginning Monday 5 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Creative Writing Stage 1 5-day Intensive course with Jeni Mawter
When: Monday 5 July - Friday 9 July 2010 (5 consecutive days)
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $395
Course: Grammar and Punctuation Essentials with Deb Doyle
When: Tuesday 6 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm
Cost: $395
Course: Writing Books for Children with Judith Ridge
When: Every Wednesday starting Wednesday 7 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman - FULL
When: Week beginning Monday 12 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Online Writing Books for Children and Young Adults with Nicola Robinson - NEW DATE
When: Week beginning Monday 12 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Perfecting your pitch with Sue White
When: Monday 12 July and 19 July 2010 (two evening seminars)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $175
Course: Creative Writing Stage 1 with Jeni Mawter
When: Every Tuesday starting Tuesday 13 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Course: Script Writing for Short Films with Geoff Bartlett
When: Wednesday 14 July and 21 July 2010 (two evening seminars)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $165
Course: DAYTIME Creative Writing Stage 1 with Jeni Mawter
When: Every Friday starting Friday 16 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $395
Course: Life Writing with Patti Miller
When: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 July 2010 (two-day workshop)
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Cost: $450
Course: Build Your Online Profile with Tristan Bancks
When: Mondays beginning Monday 19 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Writing Letters and Emails with Deb Doyle
When: Tuesday 20 July 2010
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers with Holly Nott – NEW DATE
When: Thursdays starting Thursday 22 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Professional Business Writing with Mel Wilkinson – NEW DATE
When: Friday 23 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Writing for the Web with Grant Doyle – NEW DATE
When: Monday 26 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.30am – 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman – NEW DATE
When: Week beginning Monday 26 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman
When: Every Tuesday starting Tuesday 27 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: How to get your book published with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Friday 30 July 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $75
Seminar: How to get your book published with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Monday 2 August 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Course: Life Writing with Patti Miller
When: Every Thursday starting Thursday 12 August 2010 for six weeks
Time: 10am - 12noon
Cost: $450
Course: Travel Writing: Get paid for your adventures with Sue White
When: Every Thursday starting Thursday 2 September 2010 for four weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $345
Seminar: Self-publishing with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Thursday 2 September 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Course: Novel writing workshop with Pamela Freeman
When: Every Tuesday beginning Tuesday 12 October 2010 for six weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $495
Writing Tour: Writing in Bali with Patti Miller – FULL
When: 30 September to 5 October 2010
Writing Tour: Writing in Paris with Patti Miller – FULL
Dates for 2010:
Arrival: Thursday 21 October 2010
Departure: Saturday 6 November 2010
Every one has a book in them, right? If that’s true, then the key to writing that book is building your confidence and motivation. Our creative writing course will do just that. You’ll learn about the ingredients of a good story and how to use them in your own writing. This is such a popular course and you can now choose the best time for you to attend – you can choose between a daytime class, and evening class or the intensive Monday to Friday class.
The course will show you how to:
- kick-start the creative writing process
- tap into your imagination
- draw from everyday experiences and memories
- examine different types of creative writing
- give structure to your writing
- use characters and dialogue
Here’s what some recent participants had to say about the course:
‘Jeni is such an inspiring teacher. She is honest, knowledgeable, and positive in both writing professionally and her own writing career. I also loved the location, and the time the course was offered.’
- Savannah Birkhead
‘Even though I am only new to writing, during the course I found so many new techniques and ways of approaching my work that I couldn’t have discovered without help. Writing is a passion I have only just recently discovered, and to have a course that offers so much in these early stages of my learning was the best experience I could have hoped for. I loved the course and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to take creative writing to the next level.’
- Gustavo Panucci
Jeni Mawter is the children’s author of the hilarious ‘So’ series: So Gross!, So Feral!, So Sick!, So Festy!, So Grotty! and So Stinky! (HarperCollins) as well as the Freewheelers series: Unleashed!, Launched! and Extreme! (HarperCollins). Unleashed! was shortlisted for the WAYRBA Older Readers Award 2009.
Jeni has also published fiction, non-fiction, poetry and verse narrative for the education market. With a Master of Arts in Children’s Literature and a Diploma in Book Editing and Publishing Jeni has taught creative writing for many years at Macquarie University and at writers' centres. Her enthusiasm for words and books is infectious.
Creative Writing Stage 1 INTENSIVE with Jeni Mawter
When: Monday 5 July to Friday 9 July 2010 (five consecutive days)
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $395
Creative Writing Stage 1 EVENING with Jeni Mawter
When: Tuesdays starting Tuesday 13 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Creative Writing Stage 1 DAYTIME with Jeni Mawter
When: Fridays starting Friday 16 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $395
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
More student success
We were so pleased to receive a copy of Mitch Lewis’ first book, The Little Red Ute and the Dump Truck, which he hand delivered to the office this week. In fact, he gave us the very first copy, so this really is hot off the press! Mitch is a former student of ours and we’ve been following his journey since he attended the Creative Writing Stage 1 course in 2007. You may remember we announced his publishing deal back in 2009. Well, the first book in his Little Red Ute series, Little Red Ute and the Dump Trucks, has been published, and will be followed in July with book 2 – Little Red Ute Visits the Farm. The books have been illustrated by Nahum Ziersch and books 3 and 4 will be released in September 2010.
Congratulations Mitch! The book looks great and we’re sure it will be a big hit!
Perfect your pitch and get published
If you’ve completed our feature writing course then you know how important the pitch is. After all, you may have a great story, but if you can’t convince an editor to run it, who’s going to see it? Now that you’ve learnt the essentials of writing great articles, you need to learn how to perfect your pitch. Our 2-week course will show you how to do that and get more of your writing published.
In this course you’ll learn how to:
- overcome common hurdles that occur in the pitching stage
- refine and tailor a pitch to a specific audience or publication
- keep your confidence levels high during the pitching process
- sell your expertise on a given topic as part of your pitch
- better understand the needs of editors when they are selecting stories
- develop a "how to" process that works when selling your stories
- develop a step-by-step approach to transform your pitching "hit rate"
Here’s what recent participants had to say about the course:
‘I thought Sue conducted a really accessible and relevant course, made all the more so by including examples from her own inspiring journey. The class exercises brought us out of our comfort zones and encouraged us to just go ahead and take the next step and learn from it.’
- Suzi van Middlekoop
‘Getting insight from a working freelance writer was extremely helpful. It was also fantastic to structure the coure with one lecture and Q&A session followed by a workshop session.’
- Grace Foss
This course is presented by Sue White, a freelance writer whose work has featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue Australia, Travel + Leisure (Australia), Sun Herald Travel, Women’s Health, Vogue Entertaining + Travel, CNN Traveller, various ABC outlets, Green Living, G magazine and numerous other publications in both Australia and overseas.
As a busy freelancer, Sue quickly learned to overcome her initial fear of pitching. She has since developed a full-time freelance career, which allows her to explore her interest in the environment, and career and well-being issues through her writing. Sue’s also particularly chuffed that she now gets paid to appease her continually itchy feet through travel writing: an indulgence that sees her regularly journeying to inspiring places across the globe in the name of a good story.
Sue is a member of the Foreign Correspondents Association. When she’s not on the road, she works from her home office near the beach in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
Perfecting Your Pitch with Sue White
When: Mondays starting Monday 12 July 2010 for two weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $175
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
Queensland Poetry Festival and Val Vallis Award
Queensland’s annual poetry festival is on again and the program is now available. Held over three days, 27-29 August 2010, the festival will feature Australian and international poets and musicians. As part of the festival, entries are now being accepted for the Val Vallis Award. The award is for an unpublished poem or suite of poems, and the winner will receive $1,000 cash and a week at Varuna, the writers house in the Blue Mountains. The winner will be announced at the opening night of the Poetry Festival on 27 August. Entries close at 5pm on Tuesday 13 July 2010.
You can find more details on the festival and download an entry form here.
Writing for children and young adults
Do you have stories you’ve written for your children or grandchildren? Do you think you have what it takes to write for a younger audience? Kids are discerning readers, so if you’re interested in writing children’s books you need to be sure you can engage and entertain them. Our Writing Books for Children and Young Adults course is perfect if you want to start your career as a children’s author. The course will cover:
- how to get started
- finding the right voice
- creating characters and stories young readers will enjoy
- how to write believable dialogue
- common assumptions about writing for children and about young readers
- how to structure a story that works
- the secrets to plotting for different age groups
- what you need to know about getting into the children’s publishing market
Here’s what recent participants had to say about the course:
‘The sharing of work with the group was a real highlight, hearing what other people had written and receiving constructive criticism and encouragement. This course was also very well structured, and the homework activities were scaled well, as you progress from writing a memory to commencing a story. I feel that I have grown confident in my writing, and the course has allowed me to look at new ways of approaching my writing, so much so that I am going to rewrite the story I wrote just prior to this course from a completely different perspective.’
- James Beauchamp
‘It was amazing to be surrounded by so many creative and talented writers. It was truly inspiring. I have re-awoken my passion for writing.’
- Carolyn Francis
This course is presented by Judith Ridge. Judith Ridge is well-known in Australia and internationally for her involvement with writing for children. Judith has worked with the Children's Book Council, as an editor at ABC Children's Books and the NSW School Magazine and freelances as an editor for Random House. Judith edited Handle with Care: Making Friends with Animals by Paul McGreevy - one of Halstead Press' all-time top sellers. She has also edited Piccolo and Annabelle 4: The Steamer Demons by Stephen Axelsen (Random House) and numerous books for ABC Books.
Writing Books for Children and Young Adults with Judith Ridge
When: Wednesdays starting Wednesday 7 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Click here for more information or to enrol online.
WORDWISE: Caucus
Wow, yesterday was a big day for Australia with our first female PM! We’ve heard lots about the labour caucus in the last couple of days, and no doubt we’ll hear more from them in the lead up to the election. So, what is a caucus? It means ‘a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement’ but there are subtle differences in the meaning depending on the culture it’s being used in. In Australia, only the Labor Party uses the term, but more to describe the party rather than a meeting.
There’s some debate about where the word came from, but it’s generally agreed that it first came into use in the English colonies of America. That’s where the agreement ends.
One theory is that the word comes from the Algonquin tribe’s (from Virginia) word, caucausu, which means ‘counselor’. Another theory is that the word actually comes from the Caucus Club of Boston, apparently notorious for their drinking, which borrowed the Greek word kaukos, or drinking cup.
WEBPICK: Not drowning, motheringStruggling to get through your day of work, childcare, cleaning and cooking? Well, you’re not alone – Not drowning, mothering is an amusing and sympathetic blog chronicling the life of ‘one woman, three children, a husband and an unreasonably angry cat’. Actually, even if you’re not a mother, this is a great blog to read.
Her latest rant involves facebook, Hugh Jackman and a morbid fear of Jennifer Aniston running over her cat. It’s well-written, funny, and a lovely way to pass possibly the only half hour you’ll have free today.
Check it out here.
Other upcoming courses
Seminar: Introduction to Travel Writing with Geoff Bartlett
When: Friday 25 June 2010 (2-hour morning seminar)
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $75
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 1 with Cathie Tasker/Pamela Freeman
When: Week beginning Monday 28 June 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Seminar: Professional Business Writing with Mel Wilkinson - FULL
When: Tuesday 29 June 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am - 4.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Introduction to Travel Writing with Geoff Bartlett
When: Tuesday 29 June 2010 (2-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Seminar: Writing for the web with Grant Doyle - FULL
When: Wednesday 30 June 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Online Feature Writing Stage 1 with Valerie Khoo/Pamela Wilson
When: Week beginning Monday 5 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Creative Writing Stage 1 5-day Intensive course with Jeni Mawter
When: Monday 5 July - Friday 9 July 2010 (5 consecutive days)
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $395
Course: Grammar and Punctuation Essentials with Deb Doyle
When: Tuesday 6 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm
Cost: $395
Course: Writing Books for Children with Judith Ridge
When: Every Wednesday starting Wednesday 7 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman - FULL
When: Week beginning Monday 12 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Online Writing Books for Children and Young Adults with Nicola Robinson - NEW DATE
When: Week beginning Monday 12 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Perfecting your pitch with Sue White
When: Monday 12 July and 19 July 2010 (two evening seminars)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $175
Course: Creative Writing Stage 1 with Jeni Mawter
When: Every Tuesday starting Tuesday 13 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Course: Script Writing for Short Films with Geoff Bartlett
When: Wednesday 14 July and 21 July 2010 (two evening seminars)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $165
Course: DAYTIME Creative Writing Stage 1 with Jeni Mawter
When: Every Friday starting Friday 16 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 10.00am - 12noon
Cost: $395
Course: Life Writing with Patti Miller
When: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 July 2010 (two-day workshop)
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Cost: $450
Course: Build Your Online Profile with Tristan Bancks
When: Mondays beginning Monday 19 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Writing Letters and Emails with Deb Doyle
When: Tuesday 20 July 2010
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers with Holly Nott – NEW DATE
When: Thursdays starting Thursday 22 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Professional Business Writing with Mel Wilkinson – NEW DATE
When: Friday 23 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: Writing for the Web with Grant Doyle – NEW DATE
When: Monday 26 July 2010 (one-day seminar)
Time: 9.30am – 4.00pm
Cost: $365
Course: Online Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman – NEW DATE
When: Week beginning Monday 26 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: Whenever suits you
Cost: $395
Course: Creative Writing Stage 2 with Pamela Freeman
When: Every Tuesday starting Tuesday 27 July 2010 for five weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $395
Seminar: How to get your book published with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Friday 30 July 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 10.00am – 12noon
Cost: $75
Seminar: How to get your book published with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Monday 2 August 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Course: Life Writing with Patti Miller
When: Every Thursday starting Thursday 12 August 2010 for six weeks
Time: 10am - 12noon
Cost: $450
Course: Travel Writing: Get paid for your adventures with Sue White
When: Every Thursday starting Thursday 2 September 2010 for four weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $345
Seminar: Self-publishing with Geoff Bartlett – NEW DATE
When: Thursday 2 September 2010 (two-hour evening seminar)
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $75
Course: Novel writing workshop with Pamela Freeman
When: Every Tuesday beginning Tuesday 12 October 2010 for six weeks
Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Cost: $495
Writing Tour: Writing in Bali with Patti Miller – FULL
When: 30 September to 5 October 2010
Writing Tour: Writing in Paris with Patti Miller – FULL
Dates for 2010:
Arrival: Thursday 21 October 2010
Departure: Saturday 6 November 2010
Another busy week at the Centre! Earlier this week, I facilitated an event run by the City of Sydney on digital marketing strategies. That’s a fancy way of saying “online marketing” and it’s a topic that I’m very passionate about. 
We often receive queries about how to write numbers so we thought we'd set the record straight here. The first thing to note is that there is no hard and fast rule, but there are certain conventions that people choose to adopt. Here is the usual guideline adopted by most newspapers and corporations:
WORDWISE: Poll
WEBPICK: your first page
This week I have some very exciting news to share with you ... we're expanding! No, that's not from the Haigh's chocolates that somehow make their way into our office. Nor is it from the Maggie Beer Burnt Fig and Honeycomb Ice-cream that finds its way into my freezer. We're expanding in a very different way.
I’m always surprised when I see writers confuse ‘insure’ and ‘ensure’. And it seems the error is so common, even 
WEBPICK: Book Oven
It's been another busy week at the Centre! I went to a breakfast seminar this morning and the CEO of a Very Big World-Famous Company used a slide presentation that featured these words emblazoned across the screen:
If you're in Sydney, you're probably waterlogged, thanks to all the rain we've been getting. If you're one of our online students, learning from afar, we hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods. I love the feedback and interaction I get from our online students so I'm looking forward to the online course which I'm personally tutoring next week – I'll see you in our virtual classroom!
WEBPICK: Inside a Dog
Comments
Post has no comments.