National Young Writers Month – Are you up for the challenge?
Are you 25 or younger and thinking about writing, but not sure where to start?
Do you want to make your mark as an upcoming writer but not sure if you’ve got the right stuff ?
Are you quivering in anticipation for where my obvious, closed questions are going?!
This, my friends, is a post of a tonne of links and every one of them valuable for anyone hoping to become a writer. So, get out your quills and dust off the ol’ thinking caps, young writers of the online world, because June is the month of writing creation and productivity.
National Young Writers Month (NYWM) by Express Media will run throughout Australia from 1st – 30th June for the very first time. Open to as many young (25 and under) writers as possible, NYWM wants to get you involved, writing, setting and most importantly, achieving your goals.
Writing is a tough business to get in and stay in, and in recognition of that, NYWM is all about giving you every opportunity you need to build the skills and contacts to make it in the business.
To help support you all in your very individual ways, each state/territory of Australia has their very own dedicated NYWM ambassador that will be in charge of events and information in your areas, as well as encouraging you to make the steps to be the best writer you can be. They will all be running workshops and events throughout the month of June in your state. Each ambassador will have information on groups, sessions and information in each state and what’s new for you to get involved with. These, of course, are designed to inspire and motivate YOU to get your writing cap on and your pen (or finger tips) to paper (or keyboard),
Ambassadors can be contacted through the National Young Writers’ website through forums and blogs at any time. Take a look and make contact with your ambassador!
ACT : Duncan Felton
To contact: [email protected]
Queensland: Andrew McMillen
http://andrewmcmillen.com/
New South Wales: Rosanna Steven, email [email protected] and Alexandra Neill at [email protected]
South Australia: Ben Adams
Contact: [email protected]
Western Australia: Kaitlyn Plyley
Contact: [email protected]
Victoria: Thomas Bank
Contact: [email protected]
Northern Territory:
Finn O’Branagain at: [email protected]
and;
Katharine Stubbs at: [email protected]
Tasmania: Robbie Arnott
Contact: [email protected]
Or for general contact to NYWM Central, email: [email protected]
There’s heaps of information and events going on already, so join on the website (its free!), set your goals and gain access to all the resources, information and support there is to find. The website will also have interviews, blogs, writing exercises and articles designed to enhance your creativity.
We all know the networking opportunities that all our online social media has to offer, so find NYWM on facebook, Myspace, or on Twitter!
And to register, visit: http://www.expressmedia.org.au/nywm/
If you’re particularly interested in freelance writing, here is a blog post summary of tips and tricks from freelance journalist and well known Frankie writer, Benjamin Law and author of He Died With a Felafel in His Hand, John Birmingham. http://siobhanchapman.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/talkin-about-freelancin-with-andrew-mcmillen-benjamin-law-and-john-birmingham.html
This is just one of the many events to take place in Queensland in celebration of NYWM, so be sure to check out your state’s events!
Keep an eye out for more tips and tricks about different sub-fields of the writing industry that can help you get to where you want to be.
In the mean time, happy writing!
