Author Journal · Wendy Orr
Wendy Orr's author diary: the journal following a writer's working life and the progress of new books, from idea to manuscript to publication.
18th Nov
Deadlines – When Breaking them is the Best Decision
I take my publisher’s deadlines very seriously. In thirty plus years of writing, I’ve sometimes pushed them out by a couple of weeks, but last month I did something I never thought…
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31st Aug
New life for an old book: Illustrate Your Own Great Yackandandah Billy Cart Race
After the latest heartfelt plea from a teacher who wanted to use it with her class again, I decided to reissue it myself as a downloadable Draw-Your-Own-Illustrations pdf.
26th Apr
If Your Story’s Stuck, Ask Your Protagonist!
The plot in my work-in-progress took an unexpected turn last week. I realised that what my protagonist had devised was much better than what I had been plotting for her, but there…
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18th Dec
Speaking on Turning History into Fiction at the Peninsula Writers Club on Wednesday, December 19th
For more information, visit the Peninsula Writers Club on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PeninsulaWritersClub/
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10th Dec
Writing – It’s not all in the mind
Write every day, the writing gurus say. Just like an athlete in training, you must practise, practise, practise, to improve your craft. Discipline is key. Discipline, yes. Practice, yes. Every day? Let’s…
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27th Jun
When Dreams Fly Free
How long does it take to write a book? For my new book, Swallow’s Dance, somewhere between two and 4000 years. In 1625 BCE, a volcano on the island of Santorini erupted.…
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20th Jun
June and July: Swallow’s Dance and Myths and Writing- June 30, July 2 and July 4
Saturday June 30, 3 pm Swallow’s Dance launch, Sun Theatre, Yarraville: free tickets here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/YoungerSunBookshop/events/?ref=page_internal Monday July 2, 10:30 am Swallow’s Dance launch, Farrells Bookshop Mornington, https://www.farrells.com.au/wendy-orr-monday-2-july/ Wednesday July 4,…
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3rd Nov
Dragonfly Song News: Awards, North American Release, and Blog Tour
Since the last update, Dragonfly Song was awarded the CBCA Honour Book for Younger Readers, 2017. It was also shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Award for Children’s Literature, and in the USA,…
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3rd Nov
NaNoWriMo is here
NaNoWriMo is nearly here! Are you ready for that big push to write 50,000 words of first draft in a month? Since I’ve got a second-draft deadline for the starting date here’s…
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11th Apr
How to survive Literary Awards
‘How do you feel about Dragonfly Song being on the CBCA 2017 Short List?’ an interviewer asked. ‘Are you just, ‘Oh, ho hum, shortlisted again?’ She was quite shocked when I said…
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7th Nov
Rhinoceros poems and strange things writers do
I always love hearing from readers, but some requests are more unusual than others. I received this letter from Germany on Friday. They also enclosed copies of verses they’ve received from Doris…
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7th Nov
Rhinoceros poems and strange things writers do
I always love hearing from readers, but some requests are more unusual than others. I received this letter from Germany on Friday. They also enclosed copies of verses they’ve received from Doris…
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