30 Days to Vogel

-
One of the best pieces of advice that I have ever been given about writing is don't become a writer- be one.

That means:  Have a day job to support your writing.  Prioritize time to write.  Keep a journal.  Have a project on the go.  Eavesdrop on conversations for research.  Stick to deadlines or break them if you have to.  And most importantly, never give up.


On a spur of the moment whim yesterday, after reading this article on why there was no Vogel Award for the 2013 round, I decided that I was going to send in something for the 2014 award.  Yes, I am aware that the award closes on the 31st of May, and yes I am aware that my shot of winning is something like one in a bazillion.  I'm also aware that the manuscript I put aside two years ago and thought was awesome is pretty rough and naive.  So I'm going to try and finally live by that advice that I was given, rather than just taking it up when I feel like it.  And I'm really really scared, mostly of that voice inside my head that keeps telling me that I'm not good enough, but a little bit of doing it largely on my own, because oh yeah, I moved out of home for a month.

I'm going to keep you all updated, and I hope that you will wish me luck.

Emily


Comments

Post a Comment

Hi! I never check these, or at least not very often as the inbox is full of spam messages. Please use the contact form to get in touch or reach out via social media.

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  Emily Paull is a Western Australian librarian, author and book reviewer.  Having formerly worked in bookselling, Emily is an avid reader and a big supporter of the WA writing community who regularly moderates author interviews around Perth.  She is the author of the historical novel, The Distance Between Dreams (Fremantle Press, 2025) and the short story collection, Well-Behaved Women  (Margaret River Press, 2019). The Distance Between Dreams was shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award under the working title 'The Dreamers.' Emily was also highly commended for the 2021 Fogarty Literary Award for her manuscript, 'The Good Daughter.  When she's not writing, Emily can often be found with her nose in a book.  What readers have said about The Distance Between Dreams 'Emily Paull is a talented storyteller who makes 1940s Fremantle come alive in her sparkling debut novel.' - Natasha Lester 'This gem of a novel is a heart-storming and uplifting tale of t...
Read more

Australian Books I'm Excited to Read in 2025

-
Image
  I made this image earlier in 2025, when I was writing on my Instagram account about the importance of pre-ordering books. The list of books that I am excited about is an ever-growing, living document, and I am always on the lookout for things to add to it.  You'll notice something about the authors included in this image too: they are all Australian writers, and a lot of them are from Western Australia, where I live.  One thing I was taught when I did my professional writing and publishing graduate diploma that will always stick with me is that the Australian book market is vastly oversupplied. Meaning, that there are somehow lots more Australians out there writing and wanting to publish books than there are buying Australian books to read. How can this be possible, you might be wonderi ng? Well, it's not as simple as there being lots of aspiring writers out there who don't read books (good luck to them, I say), but rather that when faced with a choice of which books yo...
Read more

Introducing The Distance Between Dreams

-
Image
 My book has a cover (!) and is now available to pre-order from your favourite local bookstore. You can also sign up on the Fremantle Press website to be notified when it is available to purchase.  Sarah Willis longs to free herself from the expectations of a privileged upbringing, while Winston Keller can’t afford the luxury of a dream. Despite their differences, the pair are drawn together in a whirlwind romance that defies the boundaries of class. But when a dark family secret pulls the young lovers apart, and WWII plunges the world into chaos, it seems impossible they will ever find their way back to each other – or even hold onto the dream of what might have been.
Read more