WORKSHOPS + COURSES

Choosing a workshop

There are also workshops of various kinds advertised by all sorts of people...some of whom (believe it or not) have not actually been published or even written much. This seems incredible, but I've come across it more than once. Usually they have done quite a lot of workshops as participants (one even used a writer's workshop exercises to put together a photocopied booklet which she then sold!). Sometimes they might have edited material in the past (which can be fine if they're running workshops on how to edit your work).

You have to assess whether you prefer a practitioner or someone who has it second hand. The rule of thumb: look at the person's experience/qualifications carefully. If you're writing as a hobby, it might not matter much if the person has just borrowed a lot of workshop exercises from someone else, but if you're very serious about your work, you might want to look for someone with more experience.

PressPress Workshops

Residential workshops and tours can be arranged within Australia and at selected overseas locations (eg Italy, Egypt, Morocco) to work on your projects and to get inspiration with targeted exercises and one on one consultations.

Join a workshop at beautiful Bamarang Bush Retreat in the Shoalhaven with expert tutors and visiting writers.

Script

Free script templates

Free templates on the Coherent Visual site. This is what the site says:

   The BBC offers for free some excellent script templates called Script Smart for screenwriters. Templates are included for a screenplay, a TV studio sketch, and a radio sketch (in both United States and U.K. formatting standards). The package with all the templates runs about 400K. Available in both Windows and Macintosh format.

QuickMuse + Poetry generator

QuickMuse is a great idea. Totally fascinating to the practising poet. See Pinsky, Muldoon and others write a poem to a set topic in a limited time in real time...that is with hesitations, corrections, backtracks, additions, as it happens, unfolding before your eyes. I love this.

If QuickMuse doesn't do it for you, this one literally does: Poem Generator.

Other courses or resources

Remember: you must make up your own mind about what is good value and what isn't. Ask questions.

A

About Poetry - a vast repository of information, links and articles about poetry (obviously)

Australian Poetry Centre Based in Melbourne.

B

Bookdoctor Commercial site offering courses, advice, manuscript assessments etc

Buzz Words Di Bates' newsletter about children's books and writing available through Enterprising Words.

CD

Culture & Recreation Portal - an Australian Government site which is a portal, as it says, to all manner of cultural material- grants, government organisations, cross media arts etc etc.

E

Enterprising Words Australian children's book authors and freelance writers Di Bates and Bill Condon offer a range of writing, editing and manuscript assessment services as well as book products for the general public, including writers of all ages, teachers and librarians.

FGHIJKLM

Famous Poets and Poems - self-explanatory really. A good site though what is considered 'famous' might be open to debate.

N

NIDA Playwright's Studio. Playwriting workshop course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

O

Oz Poetic Society - poets' resource site. Not a site about poetics as the name suggests. Does have some useful links.

P

Poetry About - a vast repository of information, links and articles about poetry (obviously)

Poetry Daily news Interesting news, links.

Poetry Magic - Don't be put off by this title. Actually a good, basic introduction to prosody at beginner and more advanced levels, arranged under categories.

Poetry Resource - an good site for links to poetry-related topics. It is intended for students but not limited by this. I liked this site.

Poewar - writers' resource centre

QRS

QuickMuse live poems unfold

TUVWXYZ

Teenwriting: Advice for young writers - addressed to teenage writers, but very clear and useful for all ages.

And look at:

These are things that I've found that might be interesting to you:

Chris Hamilton-Emery, 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell: The Salt Guide to Getting and Staying Published (Salt Publishing)

or Gary Mex Glazner's How To Make a Living as a Poet (Soft Skull, 2005). (For more on this, go to the poetry.about.com site. While you're there, have a browse around at all the good work that Margery Snyder and Bob Holman are doing.)

Writing on writing: some books to search out

Searching for the Secret River by Kate Grenville.

The Art of the novel Milan Kundera.

Making Stories Kate Grenville & Sue Woolfe.