Gratitude for Millie and Stella (kids lit, middle grade)
The Sunshine Coast Hinterland Writers Festival (my workshop for kids)
Write Your Novel (hybrid course – 2 for 1 deal! Bring a friend free!
The Artist’s Way (creative recovery for all, 12 week course, live)
Tick Tock! You can join the Summer of Short Stories now at EARLY BIRD pricing!
A. They jump straight to writing a novel without first mastering the art of the short story. That’s like me at 16, dreaming of competing in the equestrian events at Olympic Games. Alas, my beloved horse, Hercules, refused to jump a ground pole, despite being a whopping 17 hands high.
A novel is a marathon, and few of us are genetically blessed to simply get up and run marathons. Most of us, though, can manage a short jog through the park with our dog or kids. That’s the beauty of short stories. They are fast! They are fun! And then… they are DONE!
Seven Reasons to Write Short Stories:
We’ll read stories, write stories, and practice offering and receiving feedback in a structured, helpful way. By the end of the four weeks, you’ll have three short stories ready to submit… or as I like to call it, throw spaghetti at the wall! You never know what will stick.
The other day Rachel Bailey looked at me and said, ‘Jo, take off your pants.’
And to be honest, I was having the kind of week where I barely batted an eyelid at that.
This post is AN ALMIGHTY CELEBRATION OF My WRITING COMMUNITY (the importance of which is the very FIRST THING I teach all my writing students in all my classes.) You see, Rachel is not only a wildly clever, witty and talented writer, but the woman I refer to as “the godmother of writers on the Sunshine Coast”, and one of the best human beings you will find on the planet… which brings me to the marshmallows.
You see, I had just rocked up to Rachel’s house (with very little notice) in a bit of a ‘state’. And as I emerged from the car—thirsty, hungry, incoherently exhausted, and carrying a bag of cat litter half my size, I discovered that I also had a marshmallow smeared and stuck to my bum. How? Why?!?! No idea. But stuck it was, clinging to my jeans (and the car seat) like a cranky old barnacle.
Rachel calmly ushered me inside and said, ‘Jo, take off your pants and give them to me.’ She then fetched me some lovely soft corduroy pants to cover my blindly white legs while I greeted my feline fur babies (Rachel’s their ‘bonus mum’) and plied me with tea, fed me biscuits and let me pick her PhD-laden brains about writing techniques, all while she took to my marshmallow-ed pants with the enthusiasm and tenacity of an 18th-century washer woman who would not be defeated.
The majority of the people in my life today are here via books/writing and it’s a precious, beautiful, expansive gift. And, you, Rachel Bailey, mean so much to SO many humans and animals, and I am so glad (and LUCKY) that you found me floating around on the Sunshine Coast as a fledgling author so many years ago and brought me into your nest, and continue to, even when I arrive dragging in my sticky, marshmallow-ed arse (and then repay you by accidentally stealing your phone and taking 3 hours to work out that the photo of Bobby dog is not on my screen due to photo rotations but because it’s not MY phone at all!) Here’s to you, you enormous, shiny ball of light!
Writing retreats are, hands down, one of the most important things you can do as a writer. Having just come back from my twice-yearly writing retreat week, I am bubbling with enthusiasm to share the joy. Why not join me for a weekend of writing at Bribie Island (Qld) this October to find the time and space to go deeper.
Are you writing a novel, memoir, short story or lived experience self-help book?
You’re invited to join a small group of fellow word lovers to spend quality time diving deeper into your project.
Writing retreats take us physically out of our everyday, which translates nicely to transporting our minds to different places too. Writers can and will write under any circumstances, if they are so determined. Yet, in my considerable experience of writing retreats, absolutely nothing comes close to the value of dedicated writing time and (possibly more importantly) mental space for our creative brains to expand and grow.
I’ve balanced this retreat with enough structure to give you guidance but also enough free time for you to follow your heart.
Retreat Structure
The maximum number of spaces for this weekend is 7.
Your Investment: $225pp.
(Accommodation is not included. See below for suggestions.)
The Area
This lovely library is situated on the foreshore of Pumicestone passage (Bongaree) and is an easy, flat, few minutes walk to cafes, coffee, ice cream, and various shops. I recently ate at Annie Lane cafe every day while on retreat and enjoyed coffee and incredible cakes from Scoopy’s, just over the road. I also enjoyed the foreshore walk, which has a wealth of historical photos, information and quotes to inspire a dozen new stories or characters that you might even weave into your own project.
Accommodation
Bribie Island has a wide range of accomodation options available so you are sure to find something to suit your needs.
Bongaree Caravan and Cabins has simple but affordable options that can suit up to 4 people art once, in some cases. They are also just a stone’s throw from the library!
Big4 also has luxury cabins available.
And of course there are the usual online accommodation searches to find plenty of other options (e.g. AirBnB, Wotif, Booking)
I look forward to sharing a weekend of writing with you soon!
Jo
I’ve had the pleasure of working with some developing writers of late and have subsequently updated my services menu to get writers the help they need.
Important updates:
The first 50 pages of your manuscript is a commonly requested amount to submit to a publisher, agent or literary competition. The set-up of a story is so important.
Your first chapter is important. Is it enough to keep people reading?
The first three chapters are maybe even more crucial. By the end of the first three chapters, you’ll either have hooked your reader or not. If it’s a literary VIP reading it, those first three chapters are the most you’ll get out of their attention before they give up.
And the first fifty pages? If the VIP has read all the way to that point, they’re interested. If the first fifty pages just keep on getting better, that’s gold. If the first fifty pages has them dying to know what will happen next, even better.
If you have been lucky enough to be invited to send the first 50 pages in, you don’t want to waste that shot.
Your Investment: $550
So, fun fact: when I was a journalism student at Griffith University, Frances Whiting was my writing idol. Her warmth, her humour and her focus on people’s stories was exactly the thing that attracted me to writing the most. I didn’t get to have a job or career that allowed me to write like that for newspapers, but it was those same qualities that I honed and carried over into my fiction works.
Years ago, Frances and I were once billeted into a home in north Queensland, where we’d gone to be part of a writers festival, and she gave me some awesome clothing advice. (Because, I most definitely AM the person who needs styling clarity.) And because she is Frances, it didn’t feel like a criticism, it felt like, oh, wow, I wish I’d known that before — thank you!
This week, I get to sit down and have a chat with her about my new book, about road trip stories and animals and neurodivergence, and it kind of makes me feel like, ten books down, I might finally be An Author…
I’m so looking forward to this. If you’re in Brisbane, you can come along too. It’s a free event but you must book online here.
Hope to see you there.
Calling all writers or aspiring writers!
Lovely ones, I am for the first time ever opening my doors to mentor, coach and assist developing writers. Why now? Maybe because The Wonderful Thing About Phoenix Rose is my 10th book, which has a nice feel to it. Maybe because I’ve been in this game for a long time now (with a string of bestsellers, international publications and never out of contract) and, ridiculously, it’s only just occurred to me that i could share my skills and knowledge and others might even appreciate it 🙂 (Yep, I’ve been the queen of imposter syndrome and have just realised how wrong I’ve been.)
(It’s also highly possible that the introduction of ADHD medication has finally given me the energy, focus and capacity to do a heap of things I am passionate about but never had the energy to do. But, I digress…)
It’s certainly because I remember how difficult it was when I was a writer who was past ‘the beginner’ stage but not yet at the ‘accomplished’ stage (a truly awkward and at times isolating experience). Maybe it’s because I am a homeschooler now and there’s something about homeschooling that makes you think differently about, well, everything. And it’s certainly because my ‘teacher genes’ have been re-activated over the past year. And as much as I remember that awkward ‘in between’ stage of writer development, I have huge passion for beginning writers too and in homeschooling I’ve become exceptionally sympathetic to the plight of writers who simply don’t believe they start, better their work, or finish a work. (Newsflash, you can.
If you’re a writer and would like some help, please do check out the four programs I have put together (just to get us started…. because spending weeks of website maintenance is really not my favourite thing to do and four was all I could manage right now!). And because I am committed to helping you long term, you’ll find I’ve built in long term support past your initial package. (See this example.)
If this is the year you want to write or you want to move to the next level of writing, I am here for it. I’d love nothing more.
Raw beginners through to published authors are welcome, as are all ages and abilities.
(Also, if you are an NDIS client, you may be able to claim your investment. Email me for more details on NDIS.)
I hope to see you soon!
Jo
Subscribers to my LOVE LETTERS are getting a free thing I made (with doodling illustrations, too… it’s my new thing… I’m crediting my new ADHD medication).
Anyway…. I’ve made a guide of 23 things you can do after closing the book to keep the love going. Perfect if you have a book hangover and you just aren’t ready to let the story go.
Sign up now to make sure you get yours! Hurry! I’ll be sending it out soon!
A writer’s “voice” is a difficult thing to explain but you know it when you hear it / read it. Compare the voices of Jane Austen, Anh Do, Liane Moriarty and James Herriot: all of them are very distinctive. They’re the kind of voices you might guess easily if you started a new book with no author name on the jacket.
So what is it?
The voice is the way the words are constructed (syntax). It’s the words that are chosen or left out. It’s the tone, it’s the style, it’s the dialogue, it’s the humour (or not), it’s the spareness or the abundance of words, it’s the details that are fixated on or overlooked. It’s the content, too. It’s the themes, pace, punctuation, familiarity or formality, local/regional dialect and so much more.
It’s very much about authenticity. It’s also a big part of your ‘band’; it’s that thing that will shape your reading audience (draw people to you or not). A consistent voice allows a reader to trust you and relax into a story with a feeling of trust in you. Your subject matter can change, of course, but your voice will carry through across the body of your work.
The voice is the thing that makes you the writer YOU are and it takes time to develop. You find it by writing a lot of words. Short stories are a perfect place to practise your voice. Your voice might change over time, even after you’re published, and that is normal too, though it would be unusual, I think, to have vast variation in voice. But if that was the case, you would probably choose to write under a different pen name so as not to alienate your dedicated audience.
These days, I have a pretty good instinct about when I have slipped out of my voice, when the words just aren’t hitting the page in a very ‘Jo Moon’ way. The voice is the thing I’ve come to trust, even if it’s taking me to places in the story that scare me. I’ve come to know that if I follow my voice, I’ll be okay.
I have news!
I have teamed up with best-selling author Rachel Bailey to create The Writers Emporium, a collaboration focused on bringing high-quality professional writing development workshops, retreats and training here to the beautiful Sunshine Coast.
We will be kicking off 2020 with a two-day event from 8-9th February called the Sunshine Writing Lab. We’ve called it a ‘lab’ because we want you to get your fingers into your work! Our point of difference is that we are so committed to bringing you value in our programs that we are running two streams of training alongside each other across both days. This gives us the flexibility to provide quality opportunities to writers of all stages, from beginners through to those more advanced. You can choose from formal workshops, one-on-on session with either Rachel or myself, or small group sessions (three people maximum). The power is in your hands.
If you’re interstate, no worries! Our location at The Sebel hotel in Maroochydore is just minutes from the Sunshine Coast airport so you can fly in and fly out again and stay at the hotel with the discounted room rate.
Rachel and I both love teaching and we’re so excited to join forces to help you reach your writing dreams.
Check out our website for full details of course content and more and while you’re there be sure to sign up to The Writers Emporium mailing list to keep up to date with upcoming events in the future.
