Irene Bell explores how you can find inspiration from Agatha Christie, the world's bestselling author.

Music journalist Sharona Lin on how to conduct an interview like it's your thousandth.

Kate Reynolds on exploitation and neglected pay in the creative workplace.

Click.

Stacey Farley on creating goals to write more each day and achieving dream word counts.

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Emma Michelle on staying in your writer friend's good books when writing support is hard to come by.

Last year I self-published a book. I’d worked in bookstores for years so understood the process, but what I didn’t know were all the ways my friends and family (and strangers!) would lend a hand.

Jack Cameron Stanton on quick writing lessons after attending Claire Keegan's fiction clinic.

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Aesop and The Saturday Paper have been cultural partners since 2014, promoting the w

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

I am excited, grateful, giddy even. I wrote a novel and some charitable people have agreed to publish it. Since then we have conducted a structural edit to the text and all is well. Some fictional events changed place in their fictional timeline. Some relationships came into sharper focus, others pushed back.

A word from our outgoing editor

At the end of this week I will be wrapping up my role as editor-in-chief of Writers Bloc which, as happy as I always am for the opportunity to reference The Sound of Music, is still somewhat bittersweet.

Catherine Cole on writing, motivation and finding discipline in a busy world. 

What's in a name? Irene Bell explores a history of authors obscuring their identities with pseudonyms. 

“Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life”—so proclaimed poet laureate, Robert Southey, after Charlotte Brontë gave him her work to read. After this encounter, she published her literary masterpiece Jane Eyre under the pen name ‘Currer Bell’.

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Fiona Murphy on how the benefits of a book club stretch beyond sharing a wine and a wheel of cheese. 

This is a review of Ali Smith's Winter

Comedian Ethan Andrews talks curating a killer event from the ground up.

Britt Aylen on her history of failing National Novel Writing Month -- and why she keeps going back for more. 

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Writers Bloc is open for submissions which means we want your pitches.

What we’re looking for:

Marlee Jane Ward explains how to build a realistic world when writing speculative fiction.

I’ve got worlds living inside my head. I’ll tell you what, it sometimes gets real crowded in there. Sometimes something I see or hear or read slots a big chunk into an already existing world in my mind, and this spins off threads and fragments of what it could mean for that world.

We chat self-publishing, marketing and going all in with Sarah Gates.

Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen on how making it as a freelancer has impacted her health and reminds us there is no right way to be a writer.

I have been trying to write this piece for days. My head has been pounding. Every time I start, I stop, look at what I’ve written, hate it, hate myself. Close laptop, rinse, repeat.

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Everyone's got an opinion, so what comes next? We dig into the process of how to write a book review.

How to Write a Book Review

Review pages have been a staple of magazines and newspapers since the first time someone wondered, “is it any good?”

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Katerina Bryant recaps our short course on freelancing with Benjamin Law. 

Founding Editor of The Saturday Paper Erik Jensen on starting a print news publication from the ground up. 

Katerina and Geoff talk the application that won and share a grant proposal sample. 

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Sarah Gates on her 'dream run' year and everything you need to know to win a grant. 

'Pub Trivia' is where we get to know our favourite Australian publications a bit better.

For your perusal: freelance writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

Before our upcoming short course on grant writing, Katerina Bryant talks fellowship and grant writing tips as well as where to apply.

Demystify the world of digital marketing and social media for writers with Patrick Lenton.

Sophie Byrne shares her LinkedIn skills, explaining the 'how to's' of social media for writers.

Today on the Bloc, we talk ABNs and making the best of taxes for freelancers.

Online Writing Courses with Writers Bloc

Writers Bloc is proud to introduce, with support from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, an entirely free online series of workshops for emerging and established writers alike to hone their skills.

On finding the time to write and smashing creative goals, with Write and Shine's Gemma Seltzer.

Gemma Seltzer is made of fairy dust. She must be magical, I hypothesise, after reading her credentials. It’s a long list filled with collaborations, residencies, a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship and the publication of her heartwarming book, Speak to Strangers.

Claire Rosslyn Wilson on how travel doesn't have to mean abandoning your writing routine

Canberra's Writers' Festival Heads Into Its Third Year

With Noted Festival kicking off for its third year yesterday, we sat down with Digital Producer Marta Skrabacz and Artistic Director Lucy Nelson to hear a bit about what to expect from this year's program.

Building Blocs Feature Editor Katerina Bryant on greyhounds, great writing, and writing wrongs

Award-winning comedian Laura Davis talks comedy writing and how a show comes together.

A word from our outgoing editor. 

I have news. I am stepping down as the Editor of Writers Bloc. Tragedy for me, yes, but excellent news for letters.

Oliver Mol Writes to cult legend Eric Yoshiaki Dando for a little help figuring it all out. 

Michelle Kelly, on making the journey back to Sweet Valley as an adult. 

We searched the wildest corners of the Internet to bring you the most genteel literary treasures we could find. Enjoy!

Cameron Colwell reviews Peter Polite's debut novel Down The Hume.

To help us celebrate International Women's Day, these writers share their favourite and some of the best feminist books.

This is an ideas piece by 

For your perusal:  freelancing writing jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

This is a Building Blocs post from Allison K Williams, an experienced professional editor. 

Professional editing offers some choice lines of copy. In a recent manuscript I found this pearler. 

Is your writing original? Probably not. But that’s no reason to get stressed about it. Raphaelle Race dives into the sea of neurosis that is the creative process.

This is Ask Me Editing, our publishing advice column with Agony Un-Uncle Elizabeth Flux.

Introducing Creative Cupid, our writing mentor program.

This is a piece by Laura McIntosh about working on a popular Australian soap opera.

This is Craig Hildebrand-Burke, on what the golden age of TV and Film adaptations means for writers. 

It’s Oscars season, which inevitably means a whole lot of arguments about merit in art occur, alongside futile attempts to compare one film to another.

This is Scarlett Harris, with her Obligatory Leaving New York Essay.

 This is a Writers' Other Jobs piece from author, journalist, short fiction writer and lecturer Meg Mundell. You can find her on twitter here and her website here. 

Worst Fairy in the World

by 

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

This is a Literary Cities post from Emilie Zoey Baker.

Alberta, Canada

by 

Emilie Zoey Baker

This is a collection of writing grants and funding opportunities for writers.

Our Content Director Liam Pieper, on the bright and shiny promise of the new year.

Dear friends, welcome back.

Join us as we big a fond farewell to the raging garbage fire that was 2016, and prepare to face the creative challenges of 2017 with clear-eyes, full hearts, and the steel-panted fortitude of Sting in David Lynch Film. 

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. 

As Deputy Editor here at Writers Bloc, I've had the absolute privilege of working with some of Australia's most amazing emerging and established writers. The Best of Bloc Features 2016 is here to take you out of 2016 with a look at some of my favourite pieces published this year - in no particular order.

We are thrilled to introduce Bloc Boost – our new writing job and opportunity subscription service.

This is a review of the inaugural Quantum Words Festival, by Sebastian Gonzalez.

We are thrilled to feature a new short story by a talents from the next brilliant generation of Australian writers

The Room with the Great Blue Roof

by 

This is a Literary Cities postcard from Karratha, by Megan Hippler.  

This is an interview with Lorelei Vashti.

This week's Bloc is Featuring newly launched Hook Up, a zine about honestly expressing sexuality and sexual experiences, cutting through unrealistic contemporary expectations of queer culture.

This is a word from our Editor on something of vital importance to the literary community. 

At the risk of hyperbole, this diary from Pilot Press is the greatest thing in the whole world. And we're giving one away.  

We are thrilled to feature a new short story by a talents from the next brilliant generation of Australian writers

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. Find something in this list to help bring you inspiration, fame and fortune. Also, remember to bookmark our new Opportunities page for the most recent jobs and comps around. 

This is a few words on a thing that we love, that we are quietly confident you will too.

Here at Writers Bloc, we spend a lot of time in bookshops. Call it an an occupational hazard. 

This is a piece by Elizabeth Flux, on how sometimes a book works it out much faster than the author does.

This is a Literary Cities piece on Paris, by Donna Lu. 

This is a public service announcement from the Content Director of Writers Bloc about the divine gift to writers that is Scrivener. 

I recently attended TINA, the National Young Writers Festival. I’m 32. Here’s footage of every panel I did.

This is a review of the 2016 This is Not Art Festival, by Cameron Colwell.

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. Find something in this list to help bring you inspiration, fame and fortune. Also, remember to bookmark our new Opportunities page for the most recent jobs and comps around. 

This week's Bloc Feature comes to us from the ever-fascinating and exciting Going Down Swinging. Going Down Swinging is one of Australia's longest-running and most respected journals. The journal works across platforms to produce high quality publications and events that support writers and artists telling stories worth sharing!

This is a piece by Scarlett Harris, on the changing landscape for online writing. 

It seems that everywhere I look on the internet these days there’s a nostalgia for blogging.

We are thrilled to be able to offer a couple of our lucky readers a free copy of JEWEL SEA.

This is the first chapter of Jewel Sea, a novel by Kim Kelly, out now through The Author People. 

Jewel Sea is the story of the Koombana, Australia's forgotten Titanic tale, a story of ambition and greed at the end of the empire, and one perfect, cursed pearl.

The Invisible War is a graphic novel due to be launched this month by the Scale Free Network art-science collaborative, a Melbourne based micro-publisher, inspired by the wonders of the micro-world. 

This is a Literary Cities piece by Elizabeth Flux about Hong Kong. 

This is the first chapter of The Cleanskin, by Laura Bloom.

For your perusal: jobs, competitions, and places to publish. Find something in this list to help bring you inspiration, fame and fortune. Also, remember to bookmark our new Opportunities page for the most recent jobs and comps around. 

Since 2014, Writers Bloc has published hundreds of emerging writers and provided feedback to a community of over 10,000 creative minds. We also hold events across Australia and provide a place for writers across the world to connect with others online.

Welcome to Ask Me Editing, the publishing and writing advice column that puts the ‘IMPish sense of humour’ back in IMPoster syndrome. Let’s go solve some high stakes issues.

This is an interview with Julie Koh, author of the the new collection

Today's Bloc Feature has been shared with us by Funny Ha Ha, a magnificent zine that features humour and emotion

This is an excerpt from The Island Will Sink, by Briohny Doyle.

You may have noticed we've had a little haircut.

We've got a brand new, cleaner look, but that's just the start. 

For the past few months, we've been working behind the scenes to revamp the site, and better cater to the needs of our growing community. That means you.

This week's excellent Bloc Feature has been shared with us by The Lifted Brow. 

This is a Writers Bloc workshop feature.

Caravan of Courage

by

Angie Holst

This is a piece by Rebecca Dempsey reflecting on the Criticism Masterclass at the recent Emerging Writers Festival.

This is an interview with Todd Alexander, by Cameron Colwell

A Literary Cities piece on Dunedin, by Phoebe Paterson de Heer.

This is a giveaway, where we do what it says on the tin – give something away. 

Our friends at the The Emerging Writers' Festival  have given us two of their hottest tickets to share with our dear readers. That means you, dear reader.

Cameron Colwell on: the Sydney Writers' Festival, art, labour and Hanya Yanagihara.

This is an ideas piece about how writing and existential crises go together like Scrabble and Zen.

This is the Writers Bloc Guide to the Emerging Writers' Festival.

Today's Bloc Feature has been shared with us by Moss Journal. 

A Literary Cities piece on Lisbon, by Carlotta Eden.

This is an interview with poet and novelist Josephine Rowe.

Our monthly wrap of writing and publishing opportunities.

This is a Bloc Features workshop piece by Raphaelle Race

Death by Water

Raphaelle Race

This is a review, of Josephine Rowe's A Loving, Faithful Animal. 

This is an extract from A Loving, Faithful Animal, by Josephine Rowe – our Bloc Club book this month.

A Literary Cities piece on Fremantle by Chloe Papas.

This week Hachette Australia publishing house have shared an extract one of their latest publications: Inga Simpson's Where the Trees Were. 

This is Ask Me Editing, a new writing and publishing-advice column where we have industry experts answer your questions.

Hi folks! Thanks for joining me at Ask Me Editing, the publishing and writing agony aunt column that in no way infringes on Reddit’s AMA. No way at all. Let’s talk about publishing – what else are you gonna do, actually write your book?

This is Bloc News, a word from the team about what the month ahead holds.

OK. So we don’t want to take up too much of your time, but you should know that Blocwise, April will be explosive.

A Literary Cities piece on New Orleans, by Carlotta Eden.

This is an ideas piece – in which we collect the best writing tips we've ever heard.

This week's Bloc Feature has been shared with us by Tincture Journal. You can buy their fantastic eJournal here and subscribe here.

This is a 

A Literary Cities piece on Brisbane, by Khalid Warsame. 

This is a review of Aurealis #87, edited by Dirk Strasser

Raphaelle Race

This is a Writers' Other Jobs piece by Nicholas J. Johnnson about being a magician. 

I was standing awkwardly at a rooftop BBQ in North Fitzroy being introduced to a group of artistic types by my friend Neil. 

This week's Bloc Feature has been shared with us by the explosively sensate Synaesthesia Magazine. Synaesthesia wants you to think differently about things and the way we interact with them. Go check out their current issue!

We've read the Internet cover to cover to bring you these opportunities.

A Writers Bloc workshop feature

The Dry

by

Hannah Donnelly

A Literary Cities piece by Bri Lee.

This is an interview with Jane Harrison, the Director of the Blak & Bright Festival.

This is episode Six of 'What is She Doing?' our new video series featuring 

This is a Build

This is a review of Not Just Black and White by Lesley and Tammy Williams, our Bloc Club book of the month.

This is a word from our Content Director about what the month holds for us.

This is episode Five of 'What is She Doing?' our new video series featuring 

This is a Bloc Club post, where we invite a writer to discuss this month's Bloc Club book, Middlesex.

A Writers Bloc workshop feature

My Brother, The Horsehead

By Rafael Ward

This is a Writers' Other Jobs piece by Raphaelle Race. 

Something special from the Big Issue Fiction Edition to start the new year with a jolt of class.

In which we do what it says on the tin—we give something away.

Our friends at Hot Chicks with Big Brains have given us some t-shirts and tote-bags to share with you. 

This is an anthology of our most popular, most exciting writing from 2015. Enjoy! 

We've read the Internet cover to cover to bring you these opportunities.

This is a special holiday treat! This is an rare early fiction piece by author, screenwriter and all-round superstar Ben Law.

This is a review, written by Charles Cave of The Best Australian Stories 2015

A Writers Bloc workshop feature

August 27

I never thought

With a thousand winds against my back and the waves of solace breaking through a foamy white-washed sunset

That I would emerge as the victorious lover

On a side full of bright light and ever-glowing pandemonium

This is a giveaway, in which we do what it says on the tin. We give something away. 

There's a new collection of the best comedy writing from Australia in the past year, called, appropriately enough, Best Australian Comedy Writing. 

This is a reflection on the 2015 Express Media Awards by Raphaelle Race

This is episode one of 'What is She Doing?' our new video series featuring Bri Lee.

This is an Interview with Bri Lee, discussing 'What is She Doing?' her new video series with Writers Bloc. 

This is a review, written by Ali Schnabel of 

This featured piece was originally published by Hot Chicks with Big Brains.

This is a Writers' Other Jobs piece by Bri Lee. 

This featured piece was originally published by Hot Chicks with Big Brains.

A Bright Young Things Exclusive.

Each month we speak to an emerging writer about their first book. Last week Geoff spoke with Dan Marshall, author of Home is Burning for our Bright Young Things book club.

This is a Building Blocs piece, in which we discuss the getting of book deals. 

This is an Ideas piece by poet and proud recovering novelist Adam Ford.

Quitting my novel was the best thing I've ever done as a writer. I totally recommend it.

This is a reflection on the 2015 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival by Liam Pieper.

This is an interview with Brisbane author Krissy Kneen.

This is a The Book That piece, by Anna-Spargo Ryan.

A Literary Cities piece by Sofija Stefanovic. 

I was going on a six-week holiday to Europe. A few weeks before leaving Australia, I’d had my wisdom teeth out. Infection is rare but I guess I’m just special, because boy, did I get infected.

This is a Building Blocs piece about the Writers Bloc Workshop.

This is a review of Patti Smith's new book M Train. By Charles Cave. 

This is a reflection on National Young Writers Festival by Chloe Escott 

An Interview with Marcus Westbury: author activist and accidental urbanist. 

Some of the best opportunities for emerging writers and editors this month.

This is a reflection on the Eye of The Storm Literary Festival in Alice Springs by Sophie Allan. 

...and how every story is basically Harry Potter. 

Why Hello!  I’m the new Content Director ofWriters Bloc.

Originally published in Fourteen Hills 

Our latest Bloc Feature has been shared with us by San Francisco journal Fourteen Hills. Bloc Features is a project designed to support the future of Australian writing by placing (and paying!) the best emerging writers from our workshop alongside published authors from Australia and overseas. 

Winner of the 2015 Seizure Viva La Novella Prize

This is a Building Blocs post from Lachlan Mackenzie.

So you’ve finished your manuscript, and you’re pretending to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed -  you’re doing a great job of convincing everyone you still have a grip on reality. Now you have to face the mysterious, mythical beast that is the publishing industry.

The ins and outs of the publishing process are often unknown to aspiring writers. Publishers are the fairy godmothers who sprinkle the magic dust that turns your Word documents into pages in a book that people want to buy. Or at least that’s what I thought they were until I went along to the Hachette Australia office for Inside the Publishing House, part of the Emerging Writers’ Festival Roadshow.

This is a What’s My Scene? post from Rosanna Stevens.

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This is a post by Jodi Cleghorn.

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Welcome to the first in a new series of posts, titled Someone Who Knows. This series is a skill-share, where we hear from people who are experts, or who have had a unique experience in the writing world. We hope these posts help inspire, direct and spark new interests.

This is a Literary Cities post by Pepi Ronalds ---

is do not reference Chuck Palahniuk?

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Perhaps the best advice I’ve been given on writing is to read more. Read the classics, read popular paperbacks, grab the first time novelist or one of the cast of characters you’ll often see at your local bookshop. Because, it will teach you something about writing.

This is a What's My Scene? post featuring Freya Wright-Brough.

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I think I’m inwardly sadistic. Last year I travelled to a city I’d never been to, in order to lock myself in a room whilst people challenged me to various writing tasks for 24 hours straight without sleep. I finished that challenge a tired confused mess, dancing to keep myself awake...

In just a few weeks the Digital Writers Festival will be happening, and we can’t wait. Run by the very approachable and fantastic foot-in-the-door enablers at the Emerging Writers Festival, this eleven-day festival is a brand new event, open and accessible to anyone, anywhere.

This is a Writers’ Other Jobs piece from Oliver Mol.

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This is a lit mag review by Bridget Lutherborrow

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The Canary Press, issue 3 Edited by Robert Skinner and Andy Josselyn

46 pages.

$12

Until recently, I wasn’t someone who had long term plans. Resolutions? Forget about it. However, some time in early 2011 I stumbled upon a MiGoals diary on the sales rack at Metropolis Books.

Once Upon A Time in Oz
Griffith Review issue 42

$27.95

This is a Writers’ Other Jobs post by Craig Schuftan.

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This is the last in a 3-part series from Bridget Lutherborrow. See part one and part two.

This is a post by Lou Heinrich.

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This is a Writers’ Other Jobs post from Karen Andrews.

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This post is one of a short series by Bridget Lutherborrow

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The stories below were created, on sticks, as part of an unfolding narrative for the Writers Bloc Party Picnic. Each writer could only see the previous panel, without any knowledge of where the story started or where it would go. Each story was then stuck into the ground and led down three separate paths.

This is a “Writers’ Other Jobs” post by Ryan O’Neill

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This is a review by Rafael S.W.

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Do you do it in bed? Do you do it in a cafe? Or perhaps you like to do it with more than one person?

No, we’re not talking about sex — although we like your sullied mind, dear reader. We’re talking about writing (naturally). At Writers Bloc, we’re asking writers: where do you write?

This post was prompted by the EWF Hobart road show, and was written by Connor Tomas O’Brien.

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We love writing here at Writers Bloc (der). But sometimes, we like getting up from the desk and hanging out with rad people. In keeping with the idea that writers benefit from meeting other writers, we’ve got a bunch of things happening in the next month or so, that we reckon are a bit of alright.

Looking forward to seeing all your smiling faces.

Geoff

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This is an extract from Tincture issue 3, which was reviewed yesterday by Veronica Sullivan

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Exposed

by Ira McGuire

1.

How’s it going NaNoWriMo people?

Are you basking in early creative freedom? Or crippled by writers block with a k? Maybe it’s bouts of both.

Earlier today we opened our People of NaNoWriMo series with the planners. Now, strolling in at the end of the day…the Pantsers.

Kaitlyn Plyley

Mary, No. 3

Edited by Christopher Fieldus
38 pages
$5

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I know, it’s been a while since we got a bunch of writers together for food, trivia and bookswaps at 107 Projects, but we were partied out, ok? Too much Beef Loc Lac and Pale Ale. Perhaps the best way to show the fun of the night is with a photo journal with a loosely weaved narrative. Loose narrative!

Click on picks to make ‘em bigger. Cause it’s the Internet.

Review of The Lifted Brow, Issue 18

Edited by Sam Cooney
64 pages
$9

“Let me introduce you to a concept. Two concepts, actually. Important tools for surviving the human condition. One is called irony. Say it with me. Eye-ron-eee.” – Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers

We’re having a party and you’re all invited!

Bring some books, bring some stories. We hope to see you there.

Ticket info here: https://writersblocparty.eventbrite.com/

Writers Bloc Party

Wednesday 25th of September

107 Projects, Redfern (6pm – 9.30pm)

Got a story to share?

Published by The Canary Press

Edited by Robert Skinner and Andy Josselyn

ISSN: 2201-8670

Price: $12 AUD

Subscriptions: 1 year (4 issues) is $40 within Australia, $60 international

59 pages, magazine

http://thecanarypress.com/

A Writers’ Other Jobs piece from Adam Ford

A Writers’ Other Job story from Tristan Foster

Each Tuesday, as part of the Book Nooks series, we will ask emerging writers and their collectives to share with us, what it is they do. From critique circles to small-presses, writing sessions to literary booze-ups, we profile all of the wonderful opportunities for writers to find support networks and platforms for their work.

A Writers’ Other Jobs story from Dieter Barkhoff

A Writers’ Other Jobs story by Rhett Davis

A Write Here wrap-up by Geoff Orton

Sydney put on a beautiful autumn afternoon on Saturday and seventeen emerging writers, from a variety of different genres, spent it in a cozy, sun-dappled corner of 107 Projects in Redfern for our first Write Here event.

A Writers’ Other Jobs story by Lorelei Vashti

On Saturday May 4th, Writers Bloc and 107 Projects will begin something we are calling “Write Here”.

We’re setting up a place for you to write without distraction. No more excuses. Essentially, we provide you a desk, a chair and the opportunity to get more writing done surrounded by other committed writers. The space is yours to use to work on whatever you like.

A Writers Other Jobs story from J.Y.L. Koh

When I decided, almost two years ago, to pioneer the career move of corporate lawyer to lollipop lady, I became acutely aware that people around me had conflicting opinions as to whether or not I was wasting my potential.

by Michelle McLaren

Writing is my day job as well as my passion. However, I consider the writing I do at work and the writing I do in my own time two very different things.

by James Bos

When you are working as a copywriter, sometimes the gigs run dry and you need to apply for whatever jobs you come across. One of the strangest jobs I found was for a blog that showcased erotic literature – otherwise known as ‘literotica’, according to Urban Dictionary.