Sometimes a memoir ends with a genuine insight

12th May Character and Conflict

First of all, I had the wrong date in our last Newsletter for our Character and Conflict 2-hour Craft Clinic Zoom class. It’s Tuesday May 12, 7pm in Sydney and 11am in Rome. Those who have registered will also receive their special PDF handout with Character and Conflict notes, as well as the Zoom link, 24 hours before the Tuesday May 12 Zoom class. So, I hope I haven’t mucked that up for you.

Forward ho!

I met with my literary agent for a chat this week. I ran the angle of my publishing pitch’s first paragraph by her. Fortunately, she liked my angle very much. We talked about how writers not only have to hook their reader in their first page but must hook their publisher in that first par!

I’m the kind of writer that comes from the world of journalism. If I can come up with a really good first line, then that quite quickly evolves into a good first paragraph. Then I am away, and my writing is off like a shot. But if I can’t figure out a good first line, I grasp at distracting ideas that are scattered and messy and off-point.

We’re living in a world of constant distraction. Publishers and readers make fast decisions about what holds their attention. You need a good first par! You need a good first line now more than ever.

Please note here that it’s not the plot that gives a good first line or paragraph. It’s the character. More specifically, it’s when a character is in conflict. This is what I see writers overlook the most.

They know their character. They know their story. But the conflict, the real conflict inside their character, is just out of reach. It’s there, buzzing at them, but it’s not on the page.

In the Character and Conflict Zoom class this week, we will discuss exactly this. You have about a page to make a publisher and reader care.

Why does conflict matter? What do we mean by conflict?

A catch up on Art of Writing Stuff:

Clearly, we’ll be dissecting Character and Conflict in our Zoom on Tuesday May 12. Register on this link.

In other news:

Organised by Woollahra Library, I am teaching a special in-person 2-hour ESSENTIALS OF STORY class on Friday night May 22nd at 6pm. Tickets are $10 Tickets available through the library here It would be so fab to see you there! It feels like a warm-up for our Sydney August 3-day event at Woollahra Library in Sydney’s east, Double Bay. 

In important storytelling news, this link is to our August 3-day Sydney Art of Writing program. I couldn’t work out how to share the Storytelling workshop program online so thank God for patient sons who act as tech support for their Baby Boomer Mums. 

August 21, 22, 23. An intense 3-day writing extravaganza in Double Bay, Sydney. 

Let me know if you need a payment system. This retreat includes your premise introduction and in-person chat with Zeitgeist Literary Agency. Check out the link and write to me if you need help with your storytelling.

Our Rome Art of Writing is booked out!Am now looking at dates for 2027. Let me know if April 2027 is on your mind because that’s what I’m thinking. 

More next week!