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    Writing courses, free resources and webinars, and developmental editing Writing courses, free resources and webinars, and developmental editing
    • Home
    • About
      • About
      • Facilitators
      • Testimonials
      • Contact
      • How to enrol
    • Courses
      • Events calendar
      • Venice Writing Retreat
      • Creative Writing Course
      • Stow-on-the-Wold Writing Weekend
      • A memoir weekend and a writing retreat in the Karoo
    • Shop
    • Free resources
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    Archives

    Tag Archives for: "Pan Macmillan"
     The hidden secrets of writing with Jo-Anne Richards
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    By Richard Beynon
    In The secrets behind the practice of good writing, Tips for Writers
    Posted August 17, 2023

    The hidden secrets of writing with Jo-Anne Richards

    This is an extract from Jo-Anne’s first book, The Innocence of Roast Chicken.  Much of the coming-of-age novel is devoted to the narrator’s life on her grandparents’ chicken farm in […]

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     The hidden secrets of writing with Jo-Anne Richards
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    By Richard Beynon
    In The secrets behind the practice of good writing, Tips for Writers
    Posted July 5, 2023

    The hidden secrets of writing with Jo-Anne Richards

    Today we’re celebrating the reprinting of  My Brother’s Book (Picador Africa) which has just gone into a new print run, fifteen years after it first appeared in 2008. My Brother’s […]

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     Free webinar: How to use a sense of place in your writing
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    By Emma Hutton
    In How to write a book, Invitations, Newsletters, Tips for Writers, Webinars
    Posted June 3, 2022

    Free webinar: How to use a sense of place in your writing

    All About Writing, in association with Pan Macmillan, invites you to join Tony Park and Jo-Anne Richards, two novelists from opposite sides of the world, as they meet on the common ground of [...]

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     “There are no shortcuts in this business”: All About Writing’s Jo-Anne Richards interviews bestselling Australian author Tony Park (Part 1)
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    By Jo-Anne Richards
    In Jo-Anne Richard's blog
    Posted October 28, 2020

    “There are no shortcuts in this business”: All About Writing’s Jo-Anne Richards interviews bestselling Australian author Tony Park (Part 1)

    I recently spent a delightful hour chatting about all things writing with Tony Park, best-selling author of 18 novels set in Africa, and six non-fiction works. Our virtual Masterclass was […]

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     A once-off free writing Masterclass with Tony Park and Pan Macmillan
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    By All About Writing
    In All About Writing, How to write a book, Webinars
    Posted September 22, 2020

    A once-off free writing Masterclass with Tony Park and Pan Macmillan

    We’re delighted to be hosting a masterclass with Tony Park , bestselling author of 18 adventure thrillers set in southern Africa. Join us to learn more about the craft of […]

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     May writing challenge
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    By All About Writing
    In Writing Challenge
    Posted May 11, 2017

    May writing challenge

    This month’s challenge carries an exceptional prize: three books by members of our Allaboutwriting family, generously contributed by Pan Macmillan, Jacana, and Cactus Rain in the US. The winner [...]

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    By Jo-Anne Richards
    In News, Newsletters
    Posted May 9, 2017

    Upcoming courses, community news, writing competition and tips help you lose yourself in your tale of getting lost

    I struggled to get the hang of friendship, as a child.  Something would always shift: I would express a liking for the wrong band, or even the wrong hairband. And […]

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    📝 The Writer's Dual Consciousness Ever caught 📝 The Writer's Dual Consciousness Ever caught yourself living a moment while simultaneously crafting it into a story? You're not alone. This week we're exploring how writers navigate being both inside and outside their stories. Writing Tips * When you’re experiencing a moment that feels “story-worthy,” resist the immediate urge to mentally frame it as a scene. Instead, stay present in the experience first, then later set aside dedicated time to reflect on it as a writer. This helps maintain the authenticity of both the experience and your eventual writing. * Keep a “dual perspective” journal where you record events twice: first as you experienced them in the moment, and then from your more analytical writer’s perspective. This practice helps you understand how your observing mind transforms raw experience into narrative. * When writing about personal experiences, explicitly acknowledge both your participating and observing selves. Try writing the same scene twice – once from deep within the experience, and once from a more distant, observational viewpoint. This can add richness and depth to your narrative. Writing Exercise Choose a significant memory from your past. Write about it twice in 15-minute sessions: First, write it as if you’re reliving it in the present moment, focusing purely on immediate sensations and emotions. Then, write it again as if you’re watching it happen to someone else, noting patterns and meanings that weren’t apparent in the moment. Compare the two versions – what different truths emerge from each perspective? . . . #MondayWritingMotivation #memoirwriting #writingprocess #writingtips #writingcommunity #amwriting
    Book launch invitation: Please join the ONE LIFE a Book launch invitation: Please join the ONE LIFE authors at two launch events on 5 and 12 December. Register here: ow.ly/HkLy50UgyGj At this celebration of ONE LIFE, the writers will share their insights and experience, and will talk about the POWER of the short story. The editors will also be present. Joanne Hichens on the 5th and 12th and Karina Szczurek on the 12th. You will have the opportunity to ask the authors questions about their stories, their writing process and short stories in general. Get inspired to write your own short story. https://ow.ly/Lt2m50UhvPw
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 14/14 Sensory immersion Detailed descriptions of place engage readers' senses, making the story more vivid and immersive. Authors like Proust excel at this. Here’s a passage from his magnus opus: In Search of Lost Time: "The Swanns’ drawing-room was a room such as one no longer sees today, lofty and spacious, of the kind which expressed a certain social status, and which must have been kept in repair at a considerable cost. An odour of old furniture, of curtains saturated with dust and perfumes, of tapestry permeated with the emanations of winter fires, brought to mind the tranquil dignity of aristocratic households where life is led in seclusion, amid family relics. Against the walls the large, empty armchairs, covered in silk, upholstered with light green damask and embroidered with multi-coloured flowers, were stationed in front of the fireplace, forming a kind of solemn tribunal. The flames crackled and sent reflections flickering up to the ceiling, where the ceiling-rose cast shadows like the petals of some enormous flower opening slowly to reveal itself." Detail, remember, is what the living blood of narrative fiction. Engage as many of the reader’s sense and plunge them into your setting, and your story. . . . #SensoryImmersion #Detail #StorytellingTips #StorySettings
    Writing Wisdom from Venice 16/16 Writing with rest Writing Wisdom from Venice 16/16 Writing with restraint is about holding back, not telling your reader too much. But restraint also means we should try to write more obliquely. It’s a form of showing, rather than telling. Give us the evidence – the details which we need to interpret – but don’t actually do the interpreting. Let your reader do that. Show the smoke, let us infer the fire. #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #Creativity #AmWriting
    ✨ Light the Dark: Free Short Story Writing Works ✨ Light the Dark: Free Short Story Writing Workshops ✨ Spark your creativity with Short.Sharp.Stories! Explore what POWER means to you - from speech to speed, electricity to creation. 🎯 Develop your anthology submission 📝 Hands-on writing experience 💡 Fresh content each session Join us: Nov 23 & 30 14:00-16:00 SAST Register via the link in bio . . . #writingcompetition #writingcontest #writingworkshop #shortstory
    Writing Wisdom from Venice 15/16 Restraint is an Writing Wisdom from Venice 15/16 Restraint is an essential ingredient for suspense in your writing. Give your readers a nibble at the facts, rather than the whole leg of lamb, and they’ll be hungry for more. #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #WritingTips #AmWriting
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 14/14 Sensory immersion Detailed descriptions of place engage readers' senses, making the story more vivid and immersive. Authors like Proust excel at this. Here’s a passage from his magnus opus: 'In Search of Lost Time': "The Swanns’ drawing-room was a room such as one no longer sees today, lofty and spacious, of the kind which expressed a certain social status, and which must have been kept in repair at a considerable cost. An odour of old furniture, of curtains saturated with dust and perfumes, of tapestry permeated with the emanations of winter fires, brought to mind the tranquil dignity of aristocratic households where life is led in seclusion, amid family relics. Against the walls the large, empty armchairs, covered in silk, upholstered with light green damask and embroidered with multi-coloured flowers, were stationed in front of the fireplace, forming a kind of solemn tribunal. The flames crackled and sent reflections flickering up to the ceiling, where the ceiling-rose cast shadows like the petals of some enormous flower opening slowly to reveal itself." Detail, remember, is what the living blood of narrative fiction. Engage as many of the reader’s sense and plunge them into your setting, and your story. #StorytellingTips #StorySettings #AmWriting
    Writing Wisdom from Venice 14/16 Readers enjoy fi Writing Wisdom from Venice 14/16 Readers enjoy figuring things out. They’re flattered by the realisation that the writer believes them intelligent enough to work things out for themselves. This is why it’s almost always better to give your readers too little than too much. . . . #WritingRetreat #VeniceWritersRetreat #Creativity #AmWriting
    The many jobs that the setting of your story can d The many jobs that the setting of your story can do Tip 13/14 Narrative structure The movement between places can structure the narrative. Joseph Conrad used this technique in Heart of Darkness. The novel is structured around the journey up the Congo River: "Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances. On silvery sand-banks hippos and alligators sunned themselves side by side. The broadening waters flowed through a mob of wooded islands; you lost your way on that river as you would in a desert, and butted all day long against shoals, trying to find the channel, till you thought yourself bewitched and cut off for ever from everything you had known once—somewhere—far away—in another existence perhaps." Think of a journey, then structure a story round it. The journey becomes a metaphor, and a convenient structure to support the unfolding story. . . . . #StorytellingTips #NarrativeStructure #JosephConrad #StorySettings
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    NEWS & TIPS
    • The Writer’s Dual Consciousness: Being Both Inside and Outside Your Story
      The Writer’s Dual Consciousness: Being Both Inside and Outside Your Story
    • Short Story Workshop
      Short Story Workshop
    • Short Story Webinar replay and info about two free workshops
      Short Story Webinar replay and info about two free workshops
    • How Many Jobs Can Your Story’s Setting Do?
      How Many Jobs Can Your Story’s Setting Do?
    • Mining Your Inner World to Create Characters
      Mining Your Inner World to Create Characters
    • Crafting Powerful Short Stories
      Crafting Powerful Short Stories
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