Writing Advice
5 easy steps to write your story! (Plus: WIN a creative writing intensive course)
If you have a story to tell, then tell it! Begin writing your memoir today with five easy steps from award-winning author and SA Writers College tutor Alex Smith.
On writing: Six top tips for getting started
The blank page can be intimidating for an aspiring fiction writer, but anyone can write creatively, says Andrew Salomon, award-winning author and creative writing tutor at SA Writers College.
Free webinar: Inside the publishing process with Pan Macmillan (1 Dec)
Join Pan Macmillan South Africa’s free webinar for a guide to navigating the publishing process and an overview of the publishing industry.
Non-advice to aspiring writers, from Damon Galgut
‘Let me start my advice to aspiring writers by saying that my advice won’t help you.’ Well, at least novelist Damon Galgut is honest.
Don’t miss Aoife Lennon-Ritchie’s webinar on how to get a literary agent (18 Aug)
How do you get a literary agent? What do literary agents even do, and why do you need one? How does agenting work in South Africa? What kind of titles are agents looking for?
Calling all aspiring writers! Watch a commercial fiction workshop, hosted by Pan Macmillan South Africa and All About Writing
Pan Macmillan South Africa held an online commercial fiction workshop in December 2020, in collaboration with All About Writing.
‘If I’m stuck, I kill a character or make them have sex’ – Watch an All About Writing Masterclass with bestselling thriller writer Tony Park
If you missed the Tony Park Masterclass, hosted recently by All About Writing, never fear – you can watch it now on YouTube.
Don’t miss Jacana Media’s classes in publishing, writing, and other forms of insanity!
From 2 to 15 December, Don’t Shut Up Jacana Masterclasses will offer a series of seven two-hour seminars for interested readers, practicing writers and publishers longing for a fresh take.
Find out how to get your book published with Writers Write and Pan Macmillan South Africa
After you’ve typed ‘the end’ on your book manuscript, what do you do next?
Looking to self-publish your book? Find out about Staging Post’s ‘assisted self-publishing’ model here
Find out more about self-publishing your book with Staging Post.
The Creative Writing Coursebook: 44 Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry
The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty-four Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry – a fully updated comprehensive guide for improving and practising your creative writing, including contributions from Ali Smith and Kit de Waal.
‘Writing is like removing your own appendix with a pair of rusty scissors’ – Mark Winkler chats about his new book Theo and Flora
Mark Winkler discusses his new novel, Theo & Flora, and why writing is like performing surgery on yourself.
How to get published in South Africa – Jacana Media explains
How to get published in South Africa.
Writers! Send Pan Macmillan SA the manuscript for your future bestseller during open submissions week
It’s time to polish up that manuscript! This week is Pan Macmillan South Africa’s open submissions week.
Guide to submitting your manuscript to Jonathan Ball Publishers
Have you finished your book? Wondering how to get published? Have a look at Jonathan Ball Publishers manuscript submission guidelines.
How to get published in South Africa
How do I approach a publisher? How do I choose a publisher? What royalties should I expect?
Good books begin as bad drafts
The next time you are struggling with your own writing, recall this selection of pages from the drafts of great novels.