Welcome to the Writers College Newsletter  

February 2016
THE GETTING-GOING ISSUE




 In this Issue

The holidays are a distant memory, and we're well into 2016. Have you managed to keep the resolutions you made for your writing?

If not, don't beat yourself up -- it's never too late to make some new ones! Here are some excellent goal-setting strategies for writers.

To help you out, we've put together a newsletter full of links to interesting, informative and entertaining websites and articles, and inspiring stories from our students. There are also some great competitions to enter - remember, if you're not in it, you can't win it.

 

Best wishes

Tracey Hawthorne (Editor)  

FOUND ON THE WEBFoundontheWeb

Make your writing dance
Do your sentences sound bland? Does your writing seem to stutter? Here are 4 top tips to solve some of those problems. 

Advice from a pro
American writer Sherman Alexie shares his top 10 pieces of writing advice.

Waiting to work
Writers are the worst procrastinators. Here's why.

'They' is now singular too
The plural pronoun 'they' is being accepted as singular too - which means a welcome goodbye to those clumsy 'he/she' constructs. Read about it here.

Their own opposites
Welcome to the world of contronyms - words that are their own opposites. Here are 25 of them.


STUDENT NEWSsTUDENTNEWS


Hearty congratulations to...


 
Hayley Barrett. Hayley completed the Novel and Advanced Novel Courses with Sonny Whitelaw in 2014. Her second novel, A Silhouette in the Night, has been accepted by Double Dragon Publishing for publication in September.
 
Glenn McGoldrick completed the Short Story Writing for Magazines Course. He has had a short story accepted for publication by Short Story Me, an Internet  short story site.
 
 
New courses on the horizon...

We recently opened the course 'Coaching the Writer Within', designed by professional life coach and award-winning writer Russel Brownlee. We are still offering 25% off the course fee until the end of February.

Author Helen Brain describes working with Russel:

"Russel Brownlee's coaching is wise, perceptive and cuts through all your excuses in the gentlest way possible. He's been invaluable in getting me through a writer's block, and helping me to understand how to manage my creativity. Because he's an award winning writer as well as a life coach he's the perfect person to help you break through from one level to the next in terms of writing. I can't recommend his course highly enough."

We are also super excited to be opening a "How to Self-Publish Your Book" Course in 2016, written by an Amazon best-selling author. We'll keep you posted with further details.


'MY WRITING JOURNEY' COMPETITION WINNERWritingjourney

A potato farmer showed her the way: Gabriella Brand is the December 2015 winner of our quarterly 'My Writing Journey' competition.

Read her winning entry here.
ON OUR WEBZINE ONOURWEBZINE


Motivate yourself to write: Rozelle Sunkel
Getting started (or re-started) sometimes means taking action rather than waiting for inspiration. Here are 5 ways how.
 
Q&A: Tamara Rothbart
With a willingness to work hard, Tamara took a job as an office administrator. Once she'd risen to the ranks of editorial assistant of Marie Claire South Africa, 'everything else followed'. Read Gilbert Gwatidzo's interview with this award-winning journalist here.
 
My writing chops: Cathy Martens
What are writing chops and where do you get them? And what do you do if you lose them? Find out here.

How to multitask as a writer: Matthew Hooper
Want to accomplish more? Then don't speed up. Slow down. Find out why here.

Apps to kickstart your writing: Fatima Bheekoo-Shah
Use technology to give you a headstart in your writing career. Here are 5 apps to get you started.

The reality of self-publishing: Louise Wiid
Find out what self-publishing in South Africa really entails here


COMPETITION TIME COMPETITIONS

SA Writers College Short Story Competition
Deadline: 30 April
More details here.

Nelligan Prize for Short Fiction
Deadline: 14 March
More details here.
 
Colm Toibin International Short Story Award
Deadline: 1 April
More details here.  
 
Bath Short Story Award
Deadline: 25 April
More details here.

Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
Deadline: 25 April
More details here.

Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition
Deadline: 6 May
More details here.

Bridport Prize
Deadline: 31 May
More details here.

My Writing Journey Competition 
March 2016


Write us a 1 000-word story about your journey as a writer. Make it funny, quirky or inspirational. We'll publish the best story in our newsletter and on our blog - plus the winner will get $200 (R1 000 or �100). Read the rules.

Send your story to [email protected].

 

Open to our newsletter subscribers from around the world.

 

The next 'My Writing Journey' competition closes at noon on 31 March 2016.
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