Writing satisfying endings. Free Workshop and Book Bonanza by Debut Authors

| NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER | Writing Prompts & Free Things

Nov 26, 2024

Dear reader,

We’re getting close to Christmas and everybody is suddenly very busy as we begin to wrap up another year. So I’ll make this a shorter newsletter, skipping the popular Reader Q&A this month (monthly writing prompts below).

You’ll have a chance to ask your questions directly of me and my writing buddy Edwina in our free one-hour workshop on Endings & Writing Satisfying Story Conclusions this coming Sunday (Dec 1st, 6pm QLD) and Monday (Dec 2nd, 9am QLD). Review your year, get tips on how to write satisfying story conclusions, meet other writers and share your writing in a supportive environment.

We’re offering two sessions to make sure our readers in both hemispheres get a chance to attend. Fingers crossed, I got all the timezones right (our timezone is Brisbane/Qld, or Australian Eastern Standard Time, no Daylight Saving). Hope to see you at the workshop! It’s FREE. And yes, we’ll send a recording in the next newsletter.

Click here to join the workshop

Check your TIME ZONE here

Since we’re approaching the festive season, which always calls for additional books on our to-be-read lists, I’ve also got an exciting book giveaway for you.

A bunch of Australian debut authors are giving away copies of their freshly minted books. There are 35 titles in total, including fiction and non-fiction, encompassing all genres. I’d love to read all of them myself.

The competition ends on December 1st. Since this is a self-funded campaign, this giveaway is only open to readers based in Australia & NZ.

Enter HERE

Readers outside of Australia & NZ, please stay tuned. Next month you’ll get a chance to win a FREE audiobook of my memoir Loving My Lying Dying, Cheating Husband (Affirm Press, 2024).

It’s Black Friday this week and we’ve got a special deal on the last two rooms in our upcoming Vietnam Writing Retreat (Feb 10-16, 2025). We’re offering $500 off for a private room in a beautiful river-facing deluxe villa, shared with one other. That’s AUD 2700 for a week of writing, inclusive of all meals, daily writing workshops with two experienced teachers, cultural excursions, morning yoga, divine food, and much more. If you sign up with a friend we’ll give you the entire two-bed deluxe villa for $5000 (AUD). That’s a great bargain. Isn’t it time you gave yourself a special Christmas present?! Any questions, hit reply on this email. The offer is valid until Wednesday December 4.

Heavenly Hoi An, February 10 - 16, 2025 | BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL - $500 (AUD) off last two rooms. Be quick!

Here are your monthly writing prompts in preparation for the free workshop this coming Sunday and Monday. It’s that time of year again, when we start thinking about the end of the year…and the new beginnings to be had.

“Every ending is a beginning. We just don’t know it at the time.”
― Mitch Albom

Write about a time when something ended in your life and the new beginning that followed.

Write about something that you need to wrap up so that something new can begin.

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”
― Hal Borland

It might be a tad early, seeing that it’s still November, but I like this time of the year when I finally get to do my tax (a month overdue of course), tidy up loose ends, make a list of the things I’ve learned, and reflect on the wisdom the year that’s been has yielded.

Write about the wisdom that can be harvested from the things you’ve experienced this year.

“It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”
― Paulo Coelho

Last year I moved out of the home I cherished for over 14 years. When I walked past the house last week, I nearly cried seeing my neglected garden. But my sadness only lasted for the few moments I stood staring at the burned lawn and the empty garden beds. As I walked away, I unexpectedly felt a wash of peace. In my head, and in my heart, I’ve closed the door on that home. I’ve accepted that my life in that magical spot by the beach has ended, so that something new can begin...yes,I’m moving into my new home next week! More on that soon.

What is something in your life that has reached its end?

Set a timer 7-10 minutes is good, and write without stopping or editing. Simply let it flow. Don’t allow the inner critic to slow you down. Write like the wind, curious about what you might discover.

If it helps, use this meditation to get into the flow.

Guided Meditation For Writers

Please share in the comments what comes up for you! I love creating dialogue with my readers and fostering conversation between readers and writers. So please leave a comment (or tick a ‘heart’ to acknowledge the work that goes into these free newsletters). And thanks if you did so last week, it means the world to me.

How many drafts does it take?

In keeping with the above writing prompts about knowing when something has reached its end, here’s a question every writer asks at some point: How do I know when my book is finished?

Or to put it another way, How many drafts does it take to get your story to publishable standard?

Since I’m skipping the Reader Q&A section this month, here’s a freshly pressed blog post from my writing buddy Edwina Shaw on how many drafts it takes before you’re ready to pitch. Just because you’ve finished a draft, that doesn’t mean you’ve written a book. I lost count of how many drafts it took before I dared to pitch my book, and I’m always surprised to see new authors keen to send off their work way too early.

How many drafts does it take?

I’ve always adhered to Stephen King’s golden rule of not showing my first draft to anyone. That shitty first draft should be for the writer’s eyes only. Knowing that nobody will ever look at it, helps to overcome doubt and it liberates the writer to just go for it.

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.”

Stephen King

I think it was Terry Pratchett who said that the first draft is you telling yourself the story. That makes a lot of sense to me.

To end, here’s some good news from one of our retreat participants, Arek Sinanian. who has fulfilled a lifelong desire and (self-)published his first thriller, The Art of Deception, now out on Amazon.

From the BLURB: When international art administrator James Webster is approached by UNESCO to lead an audacious project safeguarding global treasures, he recruits an experienced team to procure, inventory and store the art. As donations from around the world pour into the project’s state-of-the-art vault in Norway, James begins to suspect that a secretive organisation is using UNESCO as cover to steal the art and pin the heist on him.

It certainly promises to be a page turner.