South - Develop Sustainable Writing Routines - Ōtautahi Author Fest

Workshop/Masterclass suitable for Beginner to Experienced Writers.

Becoming a writer is simple: Start writing. However, to turn your writing into a career, you need to develop sustainable writing habits that work for you. To do that, you need to the unique aspects of your personality that have a direct influence over your creativity.

•      What time of the day are you the most productive?

•             What happens when you are given deadlines?

•             What happens when you’re surrounded by other people?

There are so many facets of our writing personalities that extent well beyond the nature of the stuff we write. And this says nothing about the normal day-to-day tasks that often get in the way of the writing tasks.

During this workshop, you will be encouraged to:

•             identify your unique quirks associated with your creative brain;

•             examine your current routines, reminding yourself that you’re only human;

•             develop a toolbox of ideas to work past the dreaded writer’s block; and

•             explore how you can use your unique writing personality to work for you within your writing routines.

Location: Sydenham Room, South Library

Age: 16 years +

Free

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Kiwi Judy L Mohr (pronounced “more”) is a writer, developmental editor, and writing coach, with nearly a decade of experience of helping other writers feel confident in claiming the title of “writer”. She loves working with newer writers, just finding their way in the publishing industry. And some of her clients have gone on to traditionally publish.

Her book Hidden Traps of the Internet: Building and Protecting Your Online Platform (published 2024) focuses on how one can protect themselves on the internet, highlighting the many security and financial loopholes that exist within the different components that go into building an online platform. Judy is also a contributor to Putting the Science in Fiction, published by Writer’s Digest in 2018. For her fiction, Judy was awarded an Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest in 2020, and she was a semi-quarter finalist in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition in 2022.

She's a member of the New Zealand Society of Authors, Sisters in Crime, the Australian Crime Writers' Association, SpecFic New Zealand, and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). She is also the co-founder of Canterbury Writers, an online network for writers in her home region and the international stage.

To throw a little more crazy into her life, Judy is a mother of two young adults and a cat. (Yes, she gladly admits that she's an overachiever.) When she isn't writing, editing, or volunteering in her local community, she can be found in her backyard with a camera in her hand, enjoying the world around her — no doubt scouting for locations to hide the bodies.

You can find out more about Judy's various projects on her personal website (judylmohr.com) or follow her on Instagram (@JudyLMohr). For editorial advice or writing tidbits, check out the Black Wolf Editor's Blog (blackwolfeditorial.com/blog).