As an author and a teacher of creative writing for kids, teens and adults, I get to talk to a lot of young people about writing. In this special video, I share my TOP 5 WRITING TIPS FOR KIDS – some of the advice and insights I give over and over, but which many...
As part of my plan for be An Organised Writer this year, I'm working through all of the content I have across various platforms and making sure that I bring it back here, to my home on the internet. As I've written before, one of the major benefits of having an author...
I get very excited every time I receive a new post for the Writing For Kids series because I learn something new from every post. They might be writing tips aimed at kids, but they're actually brilliant for writers of any age. After all, these are writing tips from...
When you're starting out as a writer, the best thing you can do is to learn from other writers. The same is true when you're starting out as a published author – you look to the best in the business and try to learn as much as you can. Fortunately, Australian...
One of the best things that children can do to help develop their creative writing skills is to read – and read widely. By 'read widely', I mean reading beyond their usual favourite kinds of stories and into other areas on the bookshelf, including non-fiction. For...
"My child hates writing – what can I do?" "How do I get my kid to love writing?" Getting kids to write – and to love writing – can be a battle for parents. We know this because these questions (and many more just like them) are posed to authors over and over again. So...
One of the surprising side-effects of becoming a published author is that you find yourself being interviewed. In fact, sometimes you find yourself being interviewed a lot. And yes, it's a surprise, even for someone who is used to being on the other side of questions...
As this blog approaches its 11th birthday, I can see a certain pattern in my posts. Each year at around this time, in response to reader enquiries, I write a 'how to achieve your writing goals this year'. I particularly liked this one, which is now five years old but...
With publications closing and book review sections of newspapers and magazines getting smaller and smaller, authors need to work very hard to find publicity opportunities for their books these days. Whether traditionally- or indie-published, authors must seek out new...
