The Writers' College
Issue 48 NewsletterSeptember 2014
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The Plain Language Issue
FOUND ON THE WEB
STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES
SPOTLIGHT ON...
ON OUR WEBZINE
MY WRITING JOURNEY
NZWC 2014 SHORT STORY COMPETITION
COMPETITION TIME!
FREE GRAMMAR ZAP!

 

 

Writers College student feedback

my writing journey competition 

 
Michelle   
Writers' College Links...

 

 

 

Find us on Facebook 

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Michelle
 

 

George Eliot, author of the novels Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss, stated, 'The finest language is made up of simple, unimposing words.'

 

And American newspaper columnist and grammarian James J Kilpatrick advised, 'Use familiar words - words that your readers will understand, and not words they'll have to look up. When we feel an impulse to use a marvellously exotic word, let us lie down until the impulse goes away.'

  

Famous writers through the ages put great value on Plain Language, and so should you. Remember that when you write something - no matter how thoughtful or poetic - if your reader doesn't understand it, you may as well not have written it at all.

  

Yours in writing it as you'd say it,

Tracey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracey Hawthorne

Editor

The Writers' College Newsletter  

   
  
FOUND ON THE WEB 

  

- Do you write pretentious poppycock? The first rule of good writing is that it should be easily understood and enjoyed by other people. For six common writing mistakes, click here.

  

- Although these 20 tips for writing in plain language apply mainly to business writing, many of them can also be applied to creative writing. Read them here.

  

- "Adorbs", "clickbait", "yolo" and "binge-watch": are they English words? Yes, according to the latest version of the online Oxford English Dictionary. Read here about the cray-cray evolution of our language.

  

- Do you find that silly mistakes slip through even when you proofread your work very, very carefully? Here's why.  

 

- 30 of the best online dictionaries and other writers' reference books, accessible through one site, here.

  

Watch and listen...

  

- Nadine Gordimer, the 1991 Nobel Laureate in Literature, died in July. In this video, recorded in 2005, she reads her short story "Loot" from Loot and Other Stories, a volume of 10 short stories published in 2003.

  

- Weird Al Yankovic has been creating parodies of pop songs for years. His latest, "Word Crimes" , a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", is a real treat for lovers of language.

  

- "I'd always written but I didn't know you could be a writer," says Dani Shapiro, a novelist, magazine journalist and author of books on writing and creativity. To hear her talk about her latest book, Still Writing (2013), click here.

  

- Do you have about eight hours of free time? Then click here to hear Neil Gaiman reading his award-winning children's novel The Graveyard Book.

 

  

Free stuff...

 

- Brilliant pieces of writing you can read in a lunchbreak, by Margaret Atwood, John Updike, Ernest Hemingway and other literary stars. Download them for free here.

  

- The New Yorker magazine has opened its online archives to all for free for the northern summer (the southern winter). They haven't given an exact date for when this treat will end, so go and browse while you can. Read about it here.  

 

- Who knew that there were crime-fighting ladies in the Edwardian age? Download six great holiday reads from 100 years ago for free here.

  

- Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet, The Chronicles of Narnia, Around the World in 80 Days and other classics - download the audiobooks for free here.

  

- A.Word.A.Day is just what it sounds like: it emails you one word and its meaning every day for free. It's a great way to enlarge your vocabulary and learn interesting new things about English. Subscribe here.

 
STUDENT SUCCESS STORIES 

 

Our graduate writers have been notching up the writing successes worldwide. We are delighted by the latest news from them.

 

 

Ishara Maharaj completed the Write a Novel Course with Alex Smith at SA Writers' College. Her novel has been accepted for publication by Modjaji Press. Congratulations Ishara.

 

Martin Steyn completed the Write a Novel Course (Skryf 'n roman kursus) with Wilna Adriaanse. His novel donker spoor is out now, published by Lapa.  

 

Martin wrote in his letter to us:

 

"Without Wilna's continued support and belief in my story and my characters, I probably would've given up on it. I would've missed finally making that real connection with my characters. And I wouldn't have a debut novel, donker spoor, on shelves in bookstores as I type this... Thank you for helping me realise my life-long dream."

 

Find out more here: www.martinsteyn.com

 

Bronwyn King completed the Short Story Course in 2008 with Ginny Swart, and also signed up for the Novel Course with Henrietta Rose-Innes. She now works as a freelance editor and journalist at Gazelle Editing and has clients such as the National Arts Council of South Africa and Anglo American.  

 

Bronwyn says: "It takes time; you have to be patient and really persevere. I am really proud of what I have done even though it took so long. I am actually making a living from my writing now."

 

Megan Frith studied Literary Short Story Writing with Sonny Whitelaw at NZ Writers' College. Her short story 'Scars' came first in the 2014 Page & Blackmore Short Story Competition.

 

Hayley Barrett graduated from the Advanced Novel Writing Course at NZ Writers' College, tutored by the award-winning author Sonny Whitelaw. She has just signed a contract with Double Dragon Publishing for her YA novel, Into Darkness.

   

Fady Zaki completed the Magazine Journalism Course at NZ Writers' College. His article was accepted for publication by Spasifik magazine.


 

Congratulations to all of you.

 
SPOTLIGHT ON ALEX SMITH 
Alex Smith, tutor at The Writers College
Alex Smith

Her writing has been shortlisted for the SA PEN Literary Award, Short Sharp Stories Award and the Caine Prize for African writing. She has won a Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature and a Nielsens Booksellers' Choice Award.

Author ALEX SMITH - tutor for the Write a Novel and Literary Short Fiction Courses - talks to us about the writing life.

Read more here.

  
ON OUR WEBZINE

 

 

 

Our webzine is a fantastic place to find guidance, writing tips and information. Immerse yourself in the world of writing. 

  

Writing for the web: stay balanced because your readers might not be - by John Speak 

On the web, it's easy for writers to present a personal viewpoint as fact. Here are some pointers to remaining neutral. 

 

 

Catching up with Casey B Dolan, actress turned author - by Michelle Baruffol

Presenter, actor and "sexiest woman", Casey B Dolan has filled many roles in her career, and she writes about them in her memoir, An Appetite for Peas. Find out more about this versatile woman here.

 

 

The making of a book trailer - by Alex Smith

Book trailers help spread the word about a new novel and work particularly well in the Young Adult genre, probably because that's the generation that's permanently online. Bestselling author Alex Smith shares her experience here. 
 

Top 10 time-management tips for journalists - by Deirdre Russell

Do you love the whooshing noise deadlines make as they go by? If not, read these tips on time management.

 

 

Why do writers procrastinate? - by Michelle J Rensburg

What's holding you back from getting that article written? Finding out could be the first step to curing yourself of the procrastination bug. Read it here.

 

 
MY WRITING JOURNEY COMPETITION - JUNE WINNER

Writer and artist Marianne Saddington is our June My Writing Journey competition winner.

It started with a bang - by Marianne Saddington

 

"My writing journey leapt ahead when a truck smashed into my car at a traffic light, crumpling the back like a tin can. I was stuck at home for three months with a new border collie puppy and whiplash," recalls Marianne, who, during that time, discovered a book that changed her life.

 

Read her inspirational story here.

 

 

NZ WRITERS' COLLEGE SHORT STORY COMPETITION

The fifth annual New Zealand Writers' College Short Story Competition aims to acknowledge excellence in creative writing in the Short Story genre. 

Short Story Writing 

The contest is open to any emerging writer residing in New Zealand or Australia who is unpublished, or who has had fewer than four stories/articles published in any format or any genre (print or digital).

 

PRIZES:

  • First Prize: $1 000 and publication in an anthology of winning stories
  • Second Prize: $500 and publication in an anthology of winning stories
  • People's Choice Award: $500

The top three entries will receive editorial comments on their submitted works.

 

THEME:  'It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.' - Charles Dickens

 

CLOSING DATE: 30 September 2014

 

Find the full details here.

 

 
WRITING COMPETITIONS

Bloomsbury New Children's Book Author - UK residents only
Closing date: 30 September 2014
More details here.

Aura Estrada Short Story Contest
Closing date: 1 October
More details here.

The Rubery Short Story Competition
Closing date: 31 October
More details here.

Bare Fiction Prize 2014
Closing date: 31 October
More details here.

Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize
Closing date: 15 November
More details here.

Museum of Words International Flash Fiction Competition
Closing date: 23 November
More details here.

Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest
Closing date: 30 November
More details here.

Short Sharp Stories

Closing date: 30 November 2014

More  details here. 

 
Monthly entries
 
For regular competitions, or if your writing is aimed at a more local readership, country-specific competitions can be found on the bottom right-hand corner of our individual home pages. Keep checking in for updates!
F
FREE GRAMMAR ZAP! e-COURSE

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Click here to sign up. Your first lesson arrives the next day.

 

My Writing Journey Competition  

 

My writing journey competition at the Writers College

Write us a 1 000-word story about your  

journey as a writer. We'll publish the best story in our quarterly newsletter and on our blog - plus the winner receives $200 (R1 000 or £100).

 

Send your story to nichola@nzwriterscollege.co.nz.

 

Open to our newsletter subscribers from around the world.

 

The next My Writing Journey competition deadline:
noon on 30 September 2014.

More details here.