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 inspirationIn October, as you know, I went to the WIN conference in Rome. I love this event so much that I have attended nine times in the fourteen years it has been going. I wrote about this year’s experience for Andrea over at ExpatWomen, and it was published yesterday. To find out what WIN meant to us all this year, please take a look at my article. And if you want to see more evidence of what goes on then you need to see my posts about Where Words Meet Art and The Importance of Art [...]  booksAnyway, the reason I mention Jobs is because he once said that ‘it is only by looking backwards that we can connect the dots’. I’ve said that a few times this month, a month in which my feet have hardly touched the ground. Looking back at October, and at all the things I have done, I lay in bed this morning, reflecting on the month, and, as always, looking for the theme about which I would write to you. And then it hit me, as I looked back and connected the dots, that this month has been all about [...] inspirationThree reasons why writing is scary Because we dream of being ‘Larkin’ or ‘Dickens’ or ‘Austin’ and yet we can never truly be someone else, so our work can never match up. writingMy latest column at The Hague Online is about the amazing power of writing – to help you to calm down. To find out more you can read on here eventsNancy told us how studies were done in which trainee medical doctors were also taught history of art alongside their other work, and how doing so made their diagnoses more accurate. Why? Because they had learned to pay [...] competitionsHave your funny story included in the second edition of Forced to Fly. I would like to include 20 new pieces of writing of up to 1,000 words in length. They can be on any specific incident or any theme that could only have happened to you because you were living abroad. Like how amusing your life became when you lived in Holland and began to travel everywhere by bicycle, or how you entered into the local Oktoberfest with more gusto than was appreciated, or the pickle you found yourself in when driving in India. Entries will close on August 31st 2011. [...] articlesWhen you are a new writer you are unlikely to have the networks you need. I have a network of over 5000 in my address book and have the contact details of people who are an authority on every topic about which I write. I’m not simply ‘lucky’ though. No, I have built this network easily and quickly, by attending the best conferences I can and where experts give workshops and keynotes on the topics about which I am passionate. I take copious notes while these gurus are speaking and focus on what I call quote spotting. Yes, I collect the quotes these people say, make a note of who said this and when and where and then use them in my [...] eventsBack to school. Back to work. Though nature may wind down when autumn creeps in, for writers things really get going. As a writer, September is very probably the best month of all. Read my column at The Hague Online to find out why. And then, if you are fired up and want to attend a fabulous [...] eventsIf you are serious about getting published and making a living as a writer you need topics and people to write about, you need people to know about you and approach you with your stories. So, go on, get [...] expatriate stuffI am a big fan of writing competitions, particularly when the winners get published. Earlier this year I was a judge for the Netherlands Young Writer Competition and the winners had their entries published in a super book about friendship. A week or so ago I judged the finalists in the Life in a Flying House competition where winners earn $10,000 from the Expat Youth Scholarship and publication online. I urge you to look at the website and read last year’s entries while you are waiting for this year’s results (out 13 September). This week, I have two more competitions to tell you about – and this time they are for grown ups! Entering a competition has many six [...] |
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Copyright © 2012 Jo Parfitt - All Rights Reserved |
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