Williamstown Literary Festival

Writers write stories. But how do we know if our stories are good?

One way of knowing is entering our work in competitions. The Ada Cambridge Prize is run as part of the Willy Lit Fest and the Novel 2 class of VU was asked to help shortlist the short stories. As a reward the volunteers received a free ticket to the festival.

The 6th Willy Lit Fest was held on the 1st to the 3rd of May 2009. It is a fantastic opportunity for writers of all ages to find out if their stories are good.

Some writers like to plan before they begin their story. From Lucia Nardo I learnt a funky and fun way to produce a writing plan in visual form using magazine images.

Then you have to write the story. From Garry Disher I learnt how to start my story. Disher gave many examples of where to get ideas and begin writing. One important thing Disher noted was he believes in writing for yourself and not for publication.

Once your story is written and you think it is pretty good, you might send it out to a publisher. And if they think it is pretty good it gets published. Part of the publishing process is working with an editor. Sarah Brennan and Tess Moloney explained why the editing process is vital and how an editor can help you publish your work.

Once the story is published it's all about promotion. Claire Saxby, Corinne Fenton and Glenda Millard discussed how the book promotion process works and the difference between showing off and promotion.

So I guess, if you have a good idea for a story and finish writing it, it must be good. If the story is published, it must be great. It you promote it, without showing off, and people buy it and read it, it must be excellent. And if you want to know more about writing good stories attend the 7th Willy Lit Fest in 2010.

Rhiannon Lacy