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The Naked Novelist

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Updated: 42 weeks 6 days ago

The Naked Novelist

    Show #41 Get published. Do it now.

    A. Skills


    1. Do a course and/or find a writing coach.


    2. Write more than ever before - the bar is higher than you think.


    3. Learn to rewrite - not just edit.


    4. Read and analyse your five favourite books constantly.


    B. Discipline/work habits/attitude


    1. Risk failure to risk success.


    2. Believe in yourself as a writer. See yourself seriously as a writer.


    3. Articulate to yourself what you want out of writing.


    4. Work out your priorities in life - where does writing fit? No 1 or No 10?


    5. Perservere. If your first novel isn't published, write another one.


    6. Employ focus and concentration. Apply 100% to the task. Most of the time we're kidding ourselves about our degree of commitment to the task.


    7. The best way to improve your writing is to get published. Look at self-publishing or collective publishing if you can't get published by a commercial publisher.


    C. Network/industry


    1. Support the publishing industry - subscribe to magazines, go to writers' festivals and events (like Sleepers and Readings). You will want support when/if you're published.


    2. Learn about the industry. A writing course will help.


    3. Go to events when publishers are speaking. Find out what publishing is really like. It's usually different from what people think.


    D. Your gang/workshop/group


    1. Get a workshop together. Have a gang.


    2. Choose a magazine to support like HEAT, Overland or ABR. Subscribed, go to functions, be part of that gang. See if that magazine will publish you.


    3. Show your writing to people.

    Show #40 The stifling air of an Australian country town
    A short, sharp shock of a novel that takes you into the heart of a family that's as normal, and broken, as any other. From the author of The Submerged Cathedral, shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award.
    Show #39 Please...just go for it! The book...and
    Show #38 Rohypnol The cover of Andrew Hutchinson's novel, Rohypnol. Click here for website link.

    The intrepid grandma war correspondent, Jane Stillwater. You can read her dispatches from Iraq by clicking here. Check out Jane's book: Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Hints For Touring Today's Middle East. Buy it by clicking here.





    TNN New York listener, Dean Karayanis. Check out his book on regional Greek cooking by clicking here.