Who can I trust with my words and stories? Whatever we do in our lives, whatever our profession, whatever we create, we are in danger of...

Feeling confused and unsettled, staring out the window for long periods? Three weeks ago, the Australian Federal election was called for...

Robert de Niro in 'Taxi Driver' https://www.youtube.com/shorts/q5zUpxW3wIQ?feature=share Well-written dialogue rarely attracts much...

Bruce Lee: 'Don't think, feel.' Bruce Lee was a mindfulness guru long before it became a big 'new' thing in the 1990s. "We need...

A bronze head of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of the arts, crafts and poetry All creatives, and writers in particular, have to be vigilant...

Taking risks is essential for fiction writers to develop their skills and imagination. Don't follow others', be self-challenging and brave.

A still from the 1974 movie 'The Great Gatsby' with Robert Redford as the enigmatic Gatsby What do the critics know about picking the...

'O'Reilly's Golden Sunset' - Lamington National Park, S.E. Qld 'If' is a powerful word for fiction writers. We might even claim it is a...

Do you agonise over where to place the commas in your writing? Recently, an author client asked me for clarification on using commas in...

Amy played by Rosamund Pike in 'Gone Girl' movie, 2014 You’ve researched enough; you’ve come up with your theme and some of the plot; and...

Ben White - upsplash As a book editor, I see manuscripts on a continuum from near perfect (rare) to “needs work” to “needs a heck of a...

I am thinking of endings. When I am deep reading a novel and moving closer to the final pages, I start thinking about the ending. I find...

It's a funny thing how many contemporary fiction writers love to include a prologue in their novels. Because the majority of readers hate...

You and I have been sucked into the virtual world of the Internet and digital applications by promises to make our lives easy,...

During an editorial discussion with a client, I suggested a group of ‘good’ characters in her novel manuscript would be a lot more...

Lynne and grandson Tailyn Pieters, 3 days old Some things in life never leave us. Our mother’s love for one. It is sealed within the...

Hey, I’m excited! As a writer, what can ChatGPT do for me? At our Helensvale Writers Group meeting in April, we participated in an...

Paradise Point, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia ‘Hope springs eternal!’ So said Alexander Pope i n his 1734 poem ‘An Essay on Man.’...

'Dancers Tying Shoes,' Edgar Degas, 1883 It's not unusual to come across writers who paint and painters who write. I have close friends...

I took it for granted my father loved me. In my family we didn’t run around every day saying, “I love you.” He showed his love in the...