The South Coast Writers Centre offers on-demand courses on the WetInk platform - classes across a range of writing subjects that can be undertaken at any time, with comprehensive chapters, readings, guides and exercises to take you through the subject.

Sarah Nicholson

Sarah Nicholson is the author of The Evolutionary Journey of Woman: From the Goddess to Integral Feminism, and co-editor of Integral Voices on Sex, Gender and Sexuality. She has taught in the fields of religion and gender studies, literature, and academic writing practice at a number of universities in Australia.

Sarah has been a Visiting Scholar at York University (Canada) and the Australian National University, was awarded the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fellowship for Literature in 2004, was a recipient of a Rhodes fellowship, and was the 2017 Emerging Writer in Residence for the Katherine Susannah Pritchard Writers’ Centre. Sarah is the Director of the South Coast Writers Centre and of the Heroines Festival.

WRITING THE HEROINE’S JOURNEY

Writing the Heroine’s Journey is a self-paced online course by Dr Sarah Nicholson, developed from her teaching by Samson Soulsby for the South Coast Writers Centre, in partnership with the Heroines Festival.

This course explores classic models of the hero and heroine, the missing voices of women in literature and history, and introduces some alternative maps of the heroine’s journey. Through readings, writing exercises and resources, this course also explores ways in which authors have responded to the dilemma of the heroine via three models, and what might be the future for the heroine.

This short course offers six topic sessions, exploring elements of the heroine as archetype, narrative form, and character. Each session includes informative written text relating to the topic along with several exercises requiring a combination of research, creative writing, and self-reflection to answer. This course provides a lot of written materials, some visual diagrams and images, and several links to external free-to-access resources and readings (both as downloadable pdfs and on other sites).

There are no assessments in this self-directed course. All questions are intended to inspire creative writing and assist in developing personal reflection and practice. Please note this course requires considerable reading.

Estimated time to complete: approx. 4-6hrs.

Dell Brand

Dell has written seven books for adults, five of which are historical fiction. Dell has three degrees in education, and was recognised for her exemplary teaching with the Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Outstanding Achievement in Education Award from the Australian College of Education.

She has a particular interest in family history and history in general and was a volunteer researcher at the Kiama Family History Centre for twenty years, where she helped many families find their past.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

This course will cover the historical research involved in writing historical fiction, memoir and non-fiction, including the importance of detail, and the use of language from the time the story is set and the problems that can be inherent in this.

It will include lessons on accessing many of the online resources available to help ‘get the history right’ and give practice in accessing and using these resources. When the writer is familiar with these resources, the use of appropriate language, words and phrases will be explored. Participants will take part in a series of exercises to exemplify the points being made.

This short course offers six topic sessions, covering different areas of focus when conducting historical research. Each session includes many short exercises and questions to be completed to help build proficiency in using the various research strategies and resources covered. This course provides primarily written materials, some visual materials (e.g., illustrations and photographs), and many links to external archives and free-to-access resources to assist with exercises utilising databases and other collections.

There are no assessments in the self-directed course and all answers are available for self-checking once each exercise is complete.

Estimated time to complete: approx. 4-6hrs.

Mike Cavanagh

Mike Cavanagh is a prolific South Coast writer who has produced two highly-rated memoirs, and a third that was released in December 2020. His Beginners Memoir course at the South Coast Writers Centre returned twice due to popular demand. Previous participants’ responses were overwhelmingly positive: they “loved his presentation” and described it as “helpful and motivating”. If you’ve got a memoir in you; don’t miss out!

WRITING MEMOIR

If you’re thinking about writing a memoir or have already begun, this course is for you. It’s designed to prepare you and kit you out for your memoir writing journey, from beginning to end.

The course will cover the basic memoir writing concepts and provide you with some key strategies as well as some practical tips and guidance for your writing, so that you and your readers get the most out of your unique story.

This short course offers eight topic sessions, guiding you step-by-step through the process of developing your memoir from start to finish. Each session includes several exercises, with some practical exercises requiring you to look at provided materials (e.g., writing excerpts and images) and some creative writing and reflective exercises directly relating to your own work and practice. This course provides written materials (both on site and as downloadable pdfs), audio-visual material in the form of a brief video introduction at the beginning of each session, visual diagrams, and several links to external free-to-access resources.

There are no assessments in the self-directed course and answers are available for self-checking once each practical exercise is complete. For subjective creative writing exercises, feedback is only available as part of the tutor-guided course.

Estimated time to complete: approx. 4-6hrs.