Conflux Writer’s Day

Conflux have published the details of the Conflux Writer’s Day, to be held ahead of the Aurealis Awards on Saturday 5 April 2014. The day will be built around four themes: Writing Skills, Writing Processes, Submission and Publication and Building a Career.

I’ll be delivering the plenary session on Submission and Publication. Kaaron Warren and Jo Anderton are the plenary speakers for Writing Processes and Writing Skills, respectively. The final speaker is still TBA.

In between the plenary sessions, there’ll be a bunch of shorter presentations on the four themes, which will be chosen from submitted abstracts.

Abstract submissions will be open from 1 August to 31 October 2013. Registrations will also open in August.

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Write like no-one will ever read what you’re doing.

I just read a nice little article in the paper by Sam de Brito on the importance of writing for yourself.

I’m not sure that he puts enough weight on the compromises that need to be made between art and communication when you’re writing for publication – because what’s the point of expressing yourself to others if they don’t understand what you’re saying? But, to be fair, that’s not really the point of the article, and I’m totally onboard with his contention that, if you’re writing with aspirations of art, what you should be writing is what you need or want to write for yourself, and only that. Your writing should be its own reward.

First review of Next!

(Includes a positive mention of my story “Vandiemensland”.)

The Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild

A positive review of Next at Adventures of a Bookonaut: “Now despite what may appear to be a rather open theme this collection hangs together very well.  I doffs me hat to the editors for their selections and the collation of the work.  There’s some well known writers with absolutely cracking work and some new faces with a good tale to tell.”

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Everything We Know About Storytelling We Learned From Star Wars

The Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild

Guest post by the CSFG Hive Mind (written by Ian McHugh)

Star Wars being the endless font of storytelling wisdom and etceteras that it is, and after some lively discussion at our monthly CSFG members’ meeting, Everything I Know About Storytelling I Learned From Star Wars has spawned a not-very-long-awaited sequel.

Here’s our next ten everythings:

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Review of Clockwork Phoenix 4 at Strange Horizons

In which my “Canal Barge Magician’s Number Nine Daughter” has been compared positively compared to the work of Diana Wynne Jones. Chuffed, to say the least.