Writer Wonderland

Hobart, Tasmania was a Writers' Wonderland this August! Hundreds of writers gathered from across Australia to learn, connect, pitch and celebrate achievements.

Increasingly, writers in other genres are attending the annual Romance Writers of Australia conference because the workshops are excellent and we romance writers know how to have fun!

Staying true to my word for this year, 'slow' and knowing how intense the conference can be (I always want to do 'all the things'), I took every opportunity to 'break' between sessions and events. I also took a few days after the conference to decompress, plan and catch up on writing up session notes, before heading back to Sydney.

Conference highlights

There were so many!

1. Catching up with writers I’ve met at previous conferences and meeting new ones - there's a palpable buzz of writing energy in the air throughout the whole conference. It's exciting to meet authors you read, see on writing sprint zooms and/or follow on Instagram. I always leave conference with a TBR list the length of my arm.

   
   

2. Cocktail Party - This is always held the night before the core conference begins. It's the best kind of ice breaker! The theme was, 'Writer Wonderland' and costumes ranged from writer to winter related, from a human snowflake to lumberjacks to a corset made out of the pages of Pride and Prejudice. Nothing was off limits.

   
   

   I'm not a huge 'dresser upper' but thought I came up with a pretty cool idea. With a sign in bright orange and white writing saying: 'Save the Cat', I walked around with it held high all evening. IYKYK and pretty much everyone at the cocktail party did!

3. The HQ Gala Awards dinner - This was such a fun night, and I always love cheering on writing friends who have been nominated and / or receive awards.

   
   

   I received a certificate for my short story Aura which came second place in the Diversions Short Story competition. Diversions - Circles showcases diverse stories with the central theme, 'circles' - all uplifting and hopeful with varying heat levels.

   
   

   In Aura, my protagonist Chloe, navigates life weighed down by chronic migraine. It's a friends-to-lovers story.

4. The Keynotes and workshops by guest authors - Sarah MacLean, Stacey McEwan, Brenda Novak & Sarra Cannon - all inspiring, motivating and heartfelt.

   
   

   If, like me, you like goals, motivation and planning - check out Sarra Cannon's Youtube channel @HeartBreathing. More about Sarah MacLean's workshop below.

   
   

5. The workshops - They were all 'outstanding' and it was hard to choose which ones to attend. My mind was whirring with ideas throughout. So many 'aha' moments and I was making side notes on many aspects of my current MS drafts. These are the workshops I attended.

   
   
   
   

   • Write like the wind - Clare Connolly

   • Why I Kept Reading your Manuscript - and Why I stopped. [10 things a publisher wants you to know] - Jo Mackay, HQ

   • Eight Essential Elements to Save the Cat - Amy T Matthews

   • From Idea to Page - Ally Blake

   • Troubleshooting the Saggy Middle - Rachel Bailey

   • Writing the Heart of Trauma - Alicia Leigh

   • The Courage to Create - Sarra Cannon

6. ‘Mastering the Art of Great Conflict’ - This was an all day, Friday workshop presented by Sarah MacLean. Sarah is an incredibly talented writer and speaker; very funny and delivered an excellent interactive workshop.

   
   

   I'm way too nice to my characters and know I need to be braver with creating conflict, so this workshop was perfect for me. I raised my hand at one point, worried about throwing in a challenging conflict without knowing how to resolve it. Sarah's reply: 'That's a problem for future you.' 

   
   

   Scary but true. I felt instant relief! The overall takeaway - we need to take risks with our writing and trust we'll get there in the end.