Contents:

Page 2 President’s Letter

Page 3 Editor’s Letter

Page 4-5 Magic Moments by Agnes Chat-

field

Page 6 The Ticking Bomb by Razmi Wahab

Page 7-8 Margaret Hazzard

Award

9-11 Competitions

Maxine Beneba Clarke: Short Story Workshop

By Lauren Thompson

Maxine first went through the five traditional stages of a short story. They are:

1) Exposition: The Beginning

This is the introduction to the main character and the setting. The central conflict of the story is also set up.

2) Rising Action: Introduction of the Problem or Conflict

This is a stage of tension in the story. The main character is forced to take some sort of action to resolve the story’s conflict.

3) Climax: The High Point

The darkest point of the story occurs here, and the main character must face their biggest challenge.

4) Falling Point: Winding Down

The first of the two final story elements, this is where the story begins to slow down. The reader is shown the outcome of the main character’s ac-tions or decisions.

5) Resolution: The End

In the final stage, the conflict is resolved and all loose ends are tied up. Whether it is happy or sad, the story concludes here.

Maxine made it clear that these are more guidelines than strict rules. She didn’t agree that step five was essential for every story. Maxine believed that in some cases, the readers should be able to draw their own conclusions on the end result. There can be more suspense and pleasure in a story that doesn’t tie up every loose end. Ending a story on the Falling Point can be effective storytelling.

President's Letter

Dear Members,

We had a great short story session with Maxine Beneba Clarke at the last meeting, which finished with a special treat of Maxine reciting one of her performance poems on request. Maxine took us through a couple of writ-ing exercises that really challenged the group to look at a story from dif-ferent angles.

Maxine is winning awards all over the place right now and is being tout-ed as a brave new voice in Australian writing.

This has made me think about why we like to read other people’s stories. Is it because we want to know how other people tick? We want to know that they have flaws, just like us, and that these flaws don’t make them

(or us) any less human or likeable. Aren’t the most flawed characters the ones we like after all? This is true for fiction as well as biography because even in fiction the characters need to be true to life. Otherwise, who cares?

For a lot of writers, there is reluctance to go deeper, to expose the person behind the words. This usually stems from fear. Fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, fear of failure.

What usually happens though, is that the deeper, more authentic the writing, the more it resonates with the reader. This results in a greater connection and the reader applauding the writer for their work.

So where do you start? Write without thinking about it too much. Just get your story out. Get out of your head and into your heart. Don’t think about what anyone thinks or if there are issues with spelling or grammar. Don’t skim over things; get to the heart of them. Don’t write ‘I was devastated’, tell the reader what that devastation felt like. Did it make you (or the character) physically ill, pained in the stomach, unable to sleep? Don’t write, ‘he was angry’, tell the reader what that person did to convey anger. Was he red in the face, was he aggressive, did he raise his voice? Don’t worry if some of this comes out as clichés. If you worry about it too much, you will lose the flow. Grammar, cliché, spelling and details can all be fixed in the rewrite.

Essentially, to get to the heart of the story, you need to ask yourself, ‘how does it make you feel?’ If you’re truthful about this in your writing, the rest will fall into place.

Until next month, keep writing!

Blaise

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 2

Editor’s Letter

Dear Members,

Last meeting we had a special meeting, with writer and slam poet Maxine Beneba

Clarke.

Maxine took us through the structure of a short story, and showed the importance

of character building. In the first exercise, we worked on creating an image of our

characters, showing readers information instead of telling them.

Maxine demonstrated how we could convey things such as a character’s age, gen-

der and lifestyle in a brief paragraph. Guessing the identity of the characters we

created as we read our paragraphs to the group, was a fun and informative exercise.

We then talked about the different perspectives, such as first person, second person, third person

limited and third person omniscient. After that, we changed the perspective that we first wrote our

paragraph in in. If we wrote it in the first person, the next paragraph would be in, for example,

third person omniscient. This strategy allowed us to look at the story and characters we created

from a different perspective. Many talked about how they gained a deeper understanding of their

story through that exercise.

This month’s meeting, we will have a Writing Slam. We each bring our work and read it to the

group for four minutes. Feedback is welcome. The Society is an environment where we can learn

and grow as writers through sharing our knowledge, giving advice, and listening. I feel that I have

learned so much as a writer during my nearly six years as a member of the SWWV.

I think I’ve become better at creating clear and vivid images in my stories simply through listening

to other writers and talking with them. That’s why meetings where we share and discuss our work

are such an important learning experience. Presenting our work is also an important element of

being a writer. The thought of reading to a group has terrified me in the past. However, I think

reading my work out loud to an audience has been invaluable to me. Vocalising the story you’ve

worked so hard on to a group is an exciting experience. The feedback might range from positive,

constructive criticism to negativity. No matter what, you have spent hours writing something

you’re passionate about, proofread, and then shared it with others. The feeling that comes with that

process is deeply satisfying to me.

Happy writing to you all,

Lauren

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 3

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 4

Magic Moments

By Agnes Chatfield

My friend and I took a trip to Castlemaine and Bendigo two weeks ago. We took the train from Flin-

ders’ Street to Castlemaine, the journey took about two hours in all. Castlemaine in previous decades

was one of the places where gold was found and thus was and is a thriving old town. We stayed at a

local motel and enjoyed some great walks and some excellent cuisine. On the first morning we went

for breakfast to the German café. A very spacious establishment, it is situated outside the town and

on a huge portion of land. The café is old fashioned, in the sense that it is very large and everything

about it is on a big scale. The walls are plaster cast, the floors bare wooden boards. The male waiters

wear black aprons and caps and the service is good. The coffee and the food looked and no doubt

tasted delicious. We didn’t indulge in a heavy meal, but saw other patrons having the full breakfast

and enjoying the service.

The cafe is set toward the rear of a large old factory with high ceilings, several large sketches on the

walls, and a prompt service that spoke of attention to detail. The café is placed well outside the town,

and indeed if you didn’t know about its existence, you would never find it. Once on route, however,

it is easy to spot. The tall, red brick chimney stands out on the landscape and is quite impressive.

There is a large factory on the grounds, with a sign up for rent, yet that was empty and looked in

need of a bit of brightening up to attract business. The eatery itself is set well back from the entrance.

It is well heated and spacious throughout. The aroma of the German coffee met us as we entered, and

we sat well forward in the shop and had a good view of all that was going on both in the kitchen and

in the dining room.

Some patrons were sitting outside in the large garden area and indulging in the full breakfast, in no

apparent hurry to finish and be on their way. The waiter brought them a tray, heavily laden with the

traditional fry, poured their coffees, before leaving them to enjoy their food and good fellowship.

What struck me about the establishment, was that it is situated about a kilometre from the centre of

town, yet at that considerably early hour, it was well patronised. A place where one needs to know it

exists, otherwise one misses a great experience of food and service. We lingered awhile, before

walking back to our motel and enjoying a leisurely day, viewing the sights and eating and drinking in

various places. I slept well that night in out twin share bedroom. Next day we moved on for the next

stage of the journey to Bendigo and almost bare bosomed beauty of bygone Hollywood glory.

We booked into the Shamrock Hotel for the night, and took in the sights around town. Indeed, there

is lots to see and enjoy in Bendigo. The park is absolutely beautiful, with many trees, flowers, rare

plants and seats to dally awhile and enjoy the tranquillity and the essence of such a lovely setting.

The Art Gallery has a fascinating exhibition on at the moment. We went to see the current expedition

and the theme is Marilyn Monroe. We saw segments of all her films, in some she spoke, sang, and

throughout each movie, indeed she was the belle of the ball. Dressed in tight fitting, light coloured

gowns, with low necklines, tight waisted, she looked and indeed was the loveliest woman of her

time.

We were enchanted to see a vast selection of her personal wardrobe. Lovely day clothes, dresses

many with high collars, fitted waists, three quarter length, and they were very grand. Her wool trench

coat, again tied at the waist and very seductive.

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 5

We viewed her many pairs of shoes, her bags. Pictures of her with her film producer, and her hus-

band Joe DiMaggio.

Hers was a tragic story. Brought up in an orphanage, married at sixteen, divorced soon afterwards.

Then the big break came. Swept into the Hollywood dream, she was a pin-up girl, calendar girl and

much sought after by men. Surely all too much for a girl with such an insecure background. Indeed, it

proved to be so and in some tragic circumstance she overdosed and died sadly alone.

We went for lunch in the café downstairs and ordered our meal.

Just then, there was a power cut and no service was available until

the lighting could be restored. We walked until we found another

venue where we enjoyed a substantial lunch and stayed on and on,

discussed the exhibition in its every detail. Although Marilyn

reached the pinnacle of theatrical fame, she never achieved having

a child of her own, nor indeed did she reach old age. Marilyn died

alone.

The gallery has built for itself a reputation for putting on exhibi-

tions that draw great public support. Some years ago, it showed

the story of the legendary Grace Kelly. She too was sexy and appealing, her films and her life story

tragic too.

Bendigo has been the venue for many such exciting exhibitions. No doubt in a few years’ time we

will see other stars presented, such as some English stars, the likes of Glynis Johns or Glenda Jack-

son. I would love to see stars such as James Mason, or Steward Granger, Elizabeth Taylor and her

five or six husbands. Maybe we will see them all in good time.

Bendigo is the place to visit. To admire the wide streets, the many hotels and eating places, the parks

and gardens. It could rival Melbourne anytime, but then there might not be the memory of the great

Nellie Melba. In truth, where would we be without the glamour of great movie stars, the over blown

pictures we have of Hollywood and the stars? It gives our lives a touch of glamour and excitement.

Quote of the Month “Writing is not like dancing or modelling; it's not something where-if you missed it by age 19-you're finished. It's never too late. Your writing will only get better as you get older and wiser. If you write something beauti-ful and important, and the right person somehow discovers it, they will clear room for you on the bookshelves of the world-at any age. At least try." —Elizabeth Gilbert

The Ticking Bomb

By Razmi Wahab

I was set for a European holiday starting with my flight to Rome on Sunday, the first day of May. I was exhausted when I got into the plane, hoping to get some sleep. I had the window seat and dur-ing the long haul to Dubai I got up from my seat twice. Perhaps that economy class syndrome of be-ing squashed in a tight space over a long period was just the thing to set off that ticking bomb.

It was arrivederci Roma as my Florentine friends brought me to Florence and then a seven -day stay in the hospital. I was taken to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, (founded in 1288 and built close to the famous Duoma), in an ambulance with its siren screeching. It was mandatory for the siren to be turned on even though I did not think I had to be rushed to the hospital. After the triage in the emergency department I was transferred on to a trolley and on that trolley I remained for over twen-ty- four hours. ECG, X-ray, ultra sound and the CT scan were used to explore the cause of my breathlessness and pain in my chest. After the X-ray the cardiologist, a beautiful young woman with raven black hair, told me there could be a clot in my left lung. After the CT scan she patted my hand and told me that the presence of the clot was confirmed. She patted my hand in sympathy. I shrugged my bare shoulders, as underneath the blanket all I had on was my underwear.

I was trying to shrug off the seriousness of the problem. Treatment started immediately. When my friend asked if she could bring me a book to while away the time I immediately thought of the mur-der mystery books she had on her shelf. She brought an Ian Rankin and a Ruth Rendell. I started to read Ruth Rendell. There I was bound to my trolley by wires to monitor my heart and tubes to medi-cate me and surrounded by medical staff who would speak to me in Italian and I had to read the first few pages a few times before I could make out the characters and the story. Once I was engaged with the plot I was taken away from my surrounding. Earlier I had joked to my friend that I was expect-ing to see the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, not the bare white one of the emergency department. I was not going to feel sorry for myself. I did not even get to see a single monument in Rome. I had to say to myself I was lucky not to end up with a stroke. I was lucky to be alive and to be looked after, albeit in a foreign land.

My son came from France to be with me and brought along a Lonely Planet Italian phrase book. My children in Melbourne passed on messages for me. Out of the tumult I quickly learned one Italian word I had to use again and again. I was desperate to go to the toilet. My bladder was bursting but I was tied down to the trolley by tubes and wires. I motioned to a nurse to come. I told her I needed to go to the toilet.

“Padella” was all she said and returned with a plastic bed pan. It had the appearance of an elongated pan and it was dark green in colour. She drew the curtains of the cubicle to give me privacy and shoved the thing underneath me. I told her in English it is called bed pan. All I had to do was yell out “padella” to a nurse when I felt the urge and the job was done. I also learned to say “grazie” and “aqua” and “bene”.

It was not the holiday I had planned but my stay in a Florentine hospital taught me valuable lessons. One of which is that you can read Ruth Rendell anywhere and that her plots could lead you to unex-pected turns, just like real life.

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 6

Note on the Next Meeting Next meeting is Friday 24 June, 4th floor of Ross House. This session will be a ‘Writing Slam’ where members read their own work. Each person will have 4 minutes of reading time, or max 500 words. The group will give feedback.

The Society of Women Writers Inc

Reg No. AOO39632B

THE MARGARET HAZZARD SHORT STORY AWARD

Short story competition open to all members of the SWW Australia

Closing date: Friday 5 August 2016

Fees: $10 per entry, 3 entries for $20

Prizes: First $400; Second $200; Third $100

Entry form available from SWWVic website. Entry forms may be photocopied.

Conditions of entry:

Entries must be original, unpublished, and not have won an award.

All manuscripts to be no more than 2000 words, double spaced, single-sided, size 12 font, with the title and page number on each page but NOT author name.

Author name on entry form only.

A cover sheet MUST accompany each entry.

Hard copy only.

Entry fee must be enclosed with entry.

The judge’s decision will be final; no correspondence will be entered into.

No limit of number of entries but each entry must be accompanied by a cover sheet and entry fee.

Copyright remains with the author.

Competition results will be published on the website, winners will be notified by email or phone.

Presentation of the awards will be held at the SWWV meeting on 30 September 2016, at Ross House, Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

Winning stories will be published on the website as well as in printed form in a society journal due for publication in 2017.

Use reference: [your surname] Hazzard

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 7

ENTRY FORM

Mail entries to:

The Society of Women Writers Victoria

Margaret Hazzard Award

Ross House

247 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC 3000

Title (please print clearly): …………………………………………………………………………………………………

Author name: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Address: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Postcode: ……………………………………………..

Phone: ………………………………………………….

Email: …………………………………………………...

Fee paid by cheque/money order/direct bank transfer (please circle)

Make cheques/money order payable to: The Society of Women Writers Victoria Inc

Or direct bank transfer to: The Society of Women Writers Victoria Inc

BSB: 033363

ACC: 152422

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 8

COMPETITIONS

By Nenia Tavrou Wollongong Writers Festival Short Story Prize This international short story prize is open to writers around the world regardless of age, genre or career stage. The winner receives $1000 and will be published in prestigious literary journal, Mascara Literary Review. The theme for this year’s competition is Tidal. Wollongong is a beautiful coastal city, but you still never know just what might wash up on the shore! The organisers hope people will take that theme and make it their own. That means that your submission doesn’t have to be all about the beach (unless you want it to be). All submissions are blind judged and judges are looking for a story that makes them sit up in their seats, regardless of genre. Submissions are open to writer across the world. Stories submitted should be previously un-published (including online), and a maximum of 2500 words (not including the title). entries close Thursday 15 September 2016 The Winner will be announced at the final day of the 2016 Wollongong Writers Festival on 27 No-vember. There is an entry fee of $12 See website: http://www.wollongongwritersfestival.com/competitions/ for further info ********************************* The Stringybark Times Past Short Story Award 2016 Stringybark Stories is pleased to announce its latest short story award with over $950 in cash and book prizes, as well as publication, awarded for the best entries. The winning story will be a story of 1500 words or fewer that explores some aspect of Australian history and entertains the judges at the same time. International entries most welcome. The story must: 1. Have a connection, no matter how incidental, to a real historical event that occurred in Austral-ia or had a big impact upon Australian history; 2. Be written for an adult audience (that is, we aren't after children's stories); and 3. Have a 100 word epilogue that summarises the historical event that is depicted in (or provides the background to) your story. This 100 word summary is in addition to the 1500 story word limit. You are free to interpret the degree to which your story follows historical reality. Entry Fees: One story - A$12.00; Two stories - A$22.00 ($11 each); Three stories - A$30.00 ($10 each) Closing date for entries is 31 July 2016. Details at: http://www.stringybarkstories.net

ESU Roly Sussex Short Story Award The ESU Roly Sussex Short Story Award is designed to foster original creative writing of outstand-ing quality, including experimental, challenging or thought provoking work.

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 9

Prizes: First Prize $7500 Second Prize- $1500 Best Secondary School Student story First Prize $1000 Second Prize $500 Highly Commended Length: Maximum 3,000 words Eligibility: Australian citizens who are not related to the judges or members of the Executive of the English Speaking Union Queensland. Entrants to the Secondary School section must be enrolled full-time at a secondary school. Submit-ted stories should not have been published before. Submission Closing Date: Friday 29 July 2016 Entry fee of $55 applies Chair of Judges: Professor Peter Little, Deputy Vice-chancellor QUT For detailed guidelines, visit the link below. Website: http://www.esu.org.au/the-esu-roly-sussex-short-story-award-2016/ ******************************************* The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript After a successful inaugural year UWA Publishing is pleased to announce that The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript is now open for submissions. The winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize and the offer of a publishing contract with UWA Pub-lishing. A Highly Commended writer will receive $1,000 and an offer of publication. Terri-ann White, Director of UWA Publishing, and Lucy Dougan, poet and niece of Dorothy Hewett, return to the judging panel in 2016. Critic, writer and inaugural editor of the Sydney Re-view of Books James Ley will join the panel as the 2016 guest judge. The Dorothy Hewett Award is a multi-genre award that was established in response to the diminu-tion of the Western Australian Premier’s book awards, which have moved to a biennial format. Sup-ported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the award celebrates Western Australian talent and provides financial support to a writer furthering their professional writing career. Entries for the inaugural Dorothy Hewett Award heavily favoured fiction and poetry, and so the judges encourage submissions of narrative non-fiction in 2016. As stated by the 2015 panel, “this is an ideal opportunity for collections of essays, memoir writing and other forms of non-fiction to be considered for a major new writing award.” Submissions will be judged on the following criteria: • Literary merit • The work should have a connection to Western Australia (landscape; people; history; the resi-dence or birthplace of the author, and so on) The Award is open to completed, unpublished manuscripts of fiction, narrative non-fiction, or a po-etry collection of more than 90 pages, from Australian citizens or residents aged 18 or over. There is a limit of one entry per applicant; entry fee of $15 applies.

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 10

Submissions close 1 August, with the shortlist to be announced on 30 November. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at the 2017 Perth Writers Festival.

Further info can be found at Website: http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/pages/the-dorothy-hewett-award-for-an-unpublished-manuscript

The 2016 City of Rockingham Short Fiction Awards The 2015 City of Rockingham Short Fiction Awards will be open for submissions from 16 May. En-try is free, and authors can win over $3000 in prizes over three categories: Open, Over 50s, and Young Writers (10-17). Authors can submit up to three stories between 1000 and 4000 words. Entered stories must be in-spired by, drawn upon, or use the theme of the 'Mixed Media Study' by Drewfus Gates (1993), which can be found on the website and on the entry form. Individual stories cannot be entered in more than one category, and must be original, unpublished, not have received an award in another competition, and not be under consideration elsewhere from the time of entry in awards until the official announcement of winners. For the first time, entries can be submitted via email. All entries must be accompanied by a com-pleted entry form. Entries close 12 August 2016 For entry forms and detailed guidelines, visit the website. Website: http://www.rockingham.wa.gov.au/Community/Art-and-culture/Writing-and-literature#short_fiction

Flash Fiction Competition Round 2 1000 WORDS or LESS wishes to give writers the opportunity to showcase their creative skill in the shorter story genre. Approx. 50 entries will be selected for printed and e-book publication to capture the creativity, in-spiration, ideas and thoughts of a diverse range of writers. The entrant may choose any subject, theme, idea or inspiration. The entry must be fictitious and not exceed 1,000 words. The competition is open to writers in Australia and overseas. First prize A$1,000. Up to 5 prizes of A$100. For further details, visit Website: http://www.1000words-or-less.com.au

The Joyce Parkes Women Writers' Prize The Joyce Parkes Women Writers' Prize is now open for entries of prose - fact or fiction - from 1,000 to 2,000 words. Topic: "Reflection" Entry fee: $10 per entry. Prize: $500. Open to Australian women. For entry forms and guidelines, visit the link below. Deadline 30 June 2016 Website: http://www.irishheritage.net/prizewinners.html

WRITE AWAY JUNE 2016 page 11

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AUSTRALIA

Society and Newsletter Info

Contact Editor: laurena8@bigpond.com

Deadline for material: the 7th of the month

Society Meetings are on the last Friday of each month

Meeting Room: Hayden Raysmith Room, 4th Floor, Ross House. 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne