Just Another Week in Suburbia and The Hachette Manuscript Development Program
The Hachette Manuscript Program is a joint initiative between Hachette Australia and the Queensland Writers Centre, which involves a week of workshops on writing, editing, publishing, marketing, agents, among other things. Entrants submit fifty pages. If they’re chosen, they submit the rest of the manuscript, then go to Queensland to participate in the Program. In 2013, I submitted Just Another Week in Suburbia and “Prudence” (the book I wrote immediately after) and, as had become my wont, didn’t expect anything. However, Just Another Week in Suburbia was shortlisted. It was gratifying given it was the novel I’d designated as THE ONE (as in the one where I was determined that…
Just Another Week in Suburbia: Revision ~ Part 1
Writing’s a spill. Even the most calculated first draft is a mess. But revision is where you find shape. After I’ve finished writing something, I’ll read it repeatedly while my head’s still in that world, fleshing out the story as much as possible. When I’m done, I’ll put it away for as long as possible – for at least a month. But I’ve got manuscripts that have sat in exile for years. Often, ideas for revision will occur to me – it’s always the same: once you step away from the computer, that’s when the ideas come. I think this is because when you sit down to write, you put…