The first time Katherine Collette attended a Toastmasters meeting, she immediately thought, ‘This would be great for satire.’
Toastmasters is a public speaking organisation that started in the US over 90 years ago, and now has over 300,000 members in 149 countries – and both Katherine and I are past members.
Toastmasters is also the inspiration for Katherine’s second novel, The Competition.
Katherine Collette is a novelist, podcaster and engineer living in Melbourne with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, The Helpline, was published in Australia, Germany, Italy and the US and UK. She co-hosts the writing podcast The First Time with author Kate Mildenhall.
If you’ve ever dreaded public speaking, ep 55 of James and Ashley Stay at Home is for you! We explore why public speaking is so intimidating for most people, and how that fear can be overcome.
We also discuss Katherine’s personal experience with public speaking clubs, and how they can build both confidence and empathy. As she says, ‘You sign up to learn to speak. But the real power is in having to listen.’
Two authors who really like salted caramel gelato
Finally, we answer the question – is some discomfort in life necessary?
Books and authors discussed in this episode – After Story by Larissa Behrendt – David Sedaris – Found, Wanting by Natasha Sholl – Sarah Krasnostein – Love Stories by Trent Dalton – Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton – Ben Hobson
I’ve wanted to be an author since 1989, when I was six years old.
At my first book launch, April 2019
I took creative writing workshops in university and college. I churned out novels and stories and possibly the worst poetry in history of English.
In my early thirties, I spent five years writing and revising a creative non-fiction book that, despite being shortlisted for two unpublished manuscript awards, is still unpublished.
A selection of my journals, circa 2012 to 2020
Finally, in 2019, my first book came out. It only took me 30 years.
Over that time, I collected a lot of writing advice, and thought a lot about the process of going from aspiring writer to published author. If I’d had even half of this advice when I started, I think the process would have been easier and more enjoyable, if not faster.
So here it is, my gift to you.
My Name Is Revenge book launch, April 2019
13 tips on building a writing practice
1. Don’t wait for inspiration or the ‘right’ mood Learn to unleash your creativity through generative exercises and build a consistent practice. More advice on accessing your creativity >>
2. Start by building a creative practice When you’re starting out, engage with your creativity for its own sake, rather than with any specific end goal (like publication) in mind. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to develop your skills if you want to be an author. Enjoy the process. Plus, engaging with our creativity can be therapeutic – hear art therapist Karin Foxwell discuss the healing power of creativity in this interview >>
3. Remember that your creativity is important Creativity isn’t frivolous, or selfish, or peripheral – it’s a radically powerful act. Author Sarah Sentilles teaches that when we turn toward our creativity, we turn toward the world. Hear more from Sarah in this interview >>
4. Understand that creative work can spark anxiety What if we don’t know what we’re doing? What if the work we’re producing is rubbish? This is absolutely normal, and something many published authors still struggle with. Listen to author Kate Mildenhall share her advice >>
5. Tune out your inner critic Most of us judge ourselves and our ideas harshly, but the truth is you often need to go through a lot of mediocre ideas and drafts before arriving at an exciting one. You can learn to tune out the inner critic that tries to shut you down. Here’s a tip: when I’m find myself second-guessing every word of a new draft, I change my font to trees >>
Writing in trees
6. Overcome project inertia Often during a project we can lose momentum, and day by day it becomes increasingly difficult to go back to the work – resistance builds up. I call this ‘project inertia’ and there are strategies to overcome and avoid it. Read more about project inertia here >>
7. Trust the process As you progress in your practice, you’ll develop a process that works for you. But then you’ll get derailed and feel lost. Go back to your process, and learn to trust it >>
One of my writers’ groups
8. Get a writers group (or two) Once you’ve started producing work you think might be headed for publication, it’s time to get feedback. One of the best ways to do that is a writers’ group. I credit mine with helping me sharpen the skills needed to get published. Read more about how to get the most from writers’ groups here >>
10. Build your confidence Submitting your work means getting rejected. Don’t let that dissuade you, or take up too much of your emotional energy. You can learn to handle rejection! Here’s my advice on building up your confidence >>
11. Accept the ups and downs If you want to become published and get paid for your work, the process will have many ups and downs. This is true for practically all writers. Here’s the messy process I went through, summarised into 10 easy steps >>
My other writers’ group
12. Find your joy, even through rejection For a lot of years, I received a lot of rejections. But I found myself having a wonderful time, because I loved my creative work, and I loved all the fabulous readers and writers I was meeting through the community. During that, I got involved in supporting the writing community as a way to connect with others, and wrote about how much I learned through this process >>
I’m teaching an in-person memoir workshop in Sydney, and I’d love to see you there.
Crafting Memoir: An Introduction Saturday 7 May 2022, 10am-4pm In person at Writing NSW, Callan Park, Sydney $135-$210 (see website)
Your lived experience provides the raw material for a memoir – but how do you shape that material into something greater than a series of recollections? How do you craft a cohesive, compelling narrative arc from the quiet moments our lives often turn on?
Join me for a practical workshop filled with writing exercises, analysis of memoir extracts, and discussion. You’ll learn strategies for getting your first draft down and approaches for tackling the serious task of revision, including what narrative structure is and how it works when writing from real life. For more info and enrolments, visit Writing NSW >>
Ashley Kalagian Blunt 