Full day outline
9.30am–9.45am: Arrive at National Library of Australia
9.50am–10am: Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country
10am–11am: Session 1: R. A. Spratt
11.15am–12.15pm: Session 2: Sue Whiting
1pm–2pm: Session 3: David Conley
Session descriptions
Session 1
R.A. Spratt: How I Come Up With An Idea
R.A. talks about what it’s like to be an author and the process of writing a book. She will get the audience to vote for one of her books, then explain how she came up with the ideas, characters and plot. Demonstrating how ideas bubble up out of every aspect of day-to-day life. She’ll then read the chapter to show how it all came together, and finish by taking questions from the audience.
Session 2
Sue Whiting: Thrills, Spills and Spine-tingling Chills
Suspense. Surprise. Tension. Worry. What makes a truly thrilling novel? Using examples from Portraits of Celina and Promises and Other Lies, Sue will share aspects of her creative process and explore the central elements required to create a suspenseful, gripping narrative.
Session 3
David Conley: That drawing about what?
Think you can’t draw. It doesn’t matter. David will share how you can harness the power of the humble stick figure to make mythical and legendary mayhem and discover all kinds of weird and wonderful things along the way. Be prepared for moments of make believe and marvellously funny adventures featuring a cast of Gods, monsters, heroes and villains, all with added dinosaurs!
