Writing Life: September 2017 Update – Travel Writing, Melbourne Writer’s Festival And Pitching
I’ve attended a few writing events in the last few weeks, to get myself motivated after my break in Europe (and also because I just find them fun!)
'The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map' by Gabi Logan
The first was a travel writing workshop with Gabi Logan, founder of dreamoftravelwriting.com and author of The Six‑Figure Travel Writing Road Map. The 3-hour ‘Get Published in Travel Magazines Now!’ workshop focused on pitching to travel magazines; she covered topics such as analysing magazines, breaking your travel holiday down into multiple story ideas, as well as the art of the pitch itself. It was an intimate workshop, with about eight or so attendees, and I found Gabi incredibly practical and down-to-earth in her approach. I felt I could walk out of the workshop and immediately use her advice and start pitching (which I’ve recently started to do – no luck yet, but fingers crossed!). The Dream of Travel Writing blog is an excellent resource for those looking to get into travel writing, and I recommend it.
Just prior to this workshop I did have a post published on Topdeck’s travel blog The Collective, which you can check out here. (They also used my travel snaps! Yay!)
Last weekend I attended two talks at the Melbourne Writers Festival (one of my favourite times of year in Melbourne!). The first was The History of Neuroscience, a talk with author and neuroscientist Charles Gross (this was purely for personal interest, rather than related to any writing I’m doing at the moment). It really is amazing how much we don’t know about the brain after all these years of studying it. If this is a subject that interests you, you can find Gross’ books here.
The Reality and Fantasy panel at the 2017 Melbourne Writers Festival.
Signed by Garth Nix!
The second talk was a panel on Reality and Fantasy, with authors Claire G Coleman, Garth Nix, Sami Shah and Samantha Shannon. Their discussion ranged from favourite books growing up, to writing diversity into their books, to how fantasy can reflect reality. This was a pure joy to watch authors talk about my favourite genre, and I even had my book Sabriel signed by Garth Nix afterwards (*jumps up and down in excitement*).
The most recent talk I went to was a local one, last Wednesday night at the Mill Park Library. Part of the Whittlesea Writers Festival, ‘Steps To Getting Published’ was presented by Vanessa Carnevale, author of The Florentine Bridge. In the hour talk she covered, step by step, the process to getting a manuscript published – from knowing when it’s ready, to searching for the right agent/publisher, and then on to the query letter itself. It’s nice to get an on the ground perspective from someone who has been through this process (and still is, with a second and third novel in the works). As well as talks, Vanessa also runs writing retreats, and there are some great resources on her blog. You can check out her website here.
I really encourage all beginning/emerging writers to try and attend some talks or workshops throughout the year – it really helps to get a perspective of the industry, and to connect with other writers. If you don't have anything planned, I challenge you to find one talk/workshop to attend before the end of the year… go!
