Anne Skyvington
  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
  • Welcome
  • Contact

Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
  • Travel
    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
BooksWriting

An ebook on Australian women writers

written by Anne Skyvington November 28, 2012
women-writers-unsplash

I’ve recently reviewed Women Authors by Linda McMahon  and would like to share with you some of its content and my appraisal. Linda interviewed five Australian women writers (Wendy Harmer, Cate Kennedy, Jill Morris, Katherine Scholes and Rachael Treasure) about their craft, and how they managed to publish their books while married with kids.

Harmer and Treasure are both journalists, although they have branched out into other areas of interest, including fiction. Jill Morris has a wide-ranging career based in non-fiction, playwriting, fiction, publishing and films. Kennedy and Scholes have focused solely on adult fiction, both short story writing and novels. As they’ve all had to balance successful careers with child-rearing, support from partners has been a huge factor in their success. Nature appears to play an important motivating role for most of these women, as does the existence of childhood obstacles they’ve had to overcome. They all name the ability to tell a story well as the most important aspect of being a good writer.

Katherine Scholes was destined to be a writer, having always been interested in people, which she sees as basic to the craft of writing novels. She has had no rejections from publishers, and always garnered support networks around her easily. Garner, too, says that destiny and family support play a huge role in success as a writer: “Bloom where you are planted!” was advice from her father, who played an important role in the creative skills she developed. Cate Kennedy came to believe, after struggling against many early rejections that “there’s nothing stopping you except yourself.” Rachael Treasure lives on a farm and agrees with Kennedy that you overcome fears by “just doing it.” Jill Morris urges writers to find their true voice, which will come through the writing ultimately.

I found the women’s insights into their craft the most inspiring parts. I’d recommend it to both beginning writers and more experienced ones, because there are craft suggestions that are relevant to both. The really good craft tips that I found useful, for example, Cate Kennedy’s ideas about controlling readers’ reactions to scenes through the careful use of language, and listening to others’ voices are quite sophisticated. So too are Katherine Scholes’ ideas on point of view in novel writing. She uses filmic methods of writing and tells a story from one point of view (a woman’s), basing all other characters’ thinking on what she does or says. The reader becomes very engaged with the protagonist in her stories. She is also strongly focused on the re-writing phase.

The tips to do with “getting something down” (Wendy Harmer and Rachael Treasure), writing every day at set times, and “near the toy box” are useful for beginners. Jill Morris also has useful tips about reading out loud, and agrees with Rachael about the importance of finding a voice. I found empathy with Rachael’s underlying spiritually based focus, and her ideas on strong editing. They all seem to agree on the importance of being a good story-teller and a good listener and observer of other people. The idea of writing “truth” and finding a “niche” for yourself, as well as using your time wisely, seem to run, at least implicitly, across all of the interviews.

I found it interesting, and some of the comments inspiring for me as a writer (Katherine Scholes in particular). I read it on the computer, and I found it easy to read, almost deceptively simplistic on first reading. I think this is because of the hybrid nature of the work: the personal story part from each interviewee, including child-rearing issues mentors, and interests, which sort of flows, next to the more craft-based content which takes more time to digest. I found much more of value in terms of creative input on a second reading.

Linda McMahon has published other books about women in business.

I’ll write a post about six other Australian women writers who were short-listed for the Waverley Library ‘Nib’ Award for Literature next.

Related articles
  • Katherine Scholes unravels the life of The Perfect Wife
  • Rachael Treasure, author of The Girl and the Ghost-Grey Mare, Jillaroo, The Stockmen and more… answers Ten Terrifying Questions
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An ebook on Australian women writers was last modified: April 9th, 2019 by Anne Skyvington
how was Katherien Scholes destined to be a writer?Is Cate Kennedy a writer of short stories?What does Jill Morris encourage writers to do?What is Rachael Treasure's field?who is Wendy Harmer?
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Anne Skyvington

I have been a reader/writer all of my life as far back as I can remember. Blogging has opened me up to another world, where I can share my skills and continue to create through word and picture. Writing is about seeing the world and recreating it for others to see through different eyes.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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Recent Posts

  • The Night of the Barricades

    February 15, 2021
  • How I Created My Debut Novel

    July 4, 2020
  • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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