Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Dear Fellow Writer, I hope this missive finds you well and happy - and that your writing is all that you want it to be. I've been casting my latest play this week. Twenty five actors, singers and dancers. It's funny because it's the dance part I'm most excited about at the moment - the idea of transferring my writing into movement seems like a fabulous, previously unexplored, opportunity. I'll keep you posted on how the play goes - it's due for curtains up in July. Keep Writing. Rob@easywaytowrite.com Writers! Click here to get published free by Magellan Books. THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: On Hay House Rob Parnell Hay House must be every self help writers ultimate publisher. Their author list reads like a hall of fame: Wayne Dyer, Esther and Jerry Hicks, Don Miguel Ruiz, Doreen Virtue and, of course, Louise Hay herself, whose Heal Your Life books, you could argue, singlehandedly paved the ...

 Creative people often get bitter about what's not happening. The trick is to know that you have always had total control of your destiny. You make things happen, you decide, you control. When things don't work out it's because either we don't have as much control as we thought we had - or we perhaps we really haven't really tried to exert it as much as we could have. And it's wondering why we didn't try harder that we need to deal with, rather than blame the universe - or others - for not responding as we wished. Do you believe you're entitled to success? Nothing happens without good reason. Some people get rich and famous. Some people don't. Some people live lives of quiet desperation, or an existence of silent rage. Some people have a lot to give. Some people can't let go of what they have. Some people's light shines so bright they can't hide it. Some people live in a place so dark that their light can't esc...

Dear Fellow Writer, Still here - just three more performances of Are You Being Served? to go and then I'm looking forward to a rest - at least a whole day to ourselves - before the inevitable onslaught of new projects and TTD (Things To Do!) Weeks like this I find myself singing the old Bon Jovi song, Sleep When I'm Dead... Oh, by the way - quick reminder - my one day sale of Easy Cash Writing ends at midnight tonight: (Click on the image!) Keep Writing. Rob@easywaytowrite.com Writers! Click here to get published free by Magellan Books. THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: The Cosmic Ordering Service Rob Parnell "Take it easy, have fun, and everything else will follow." That's the advice of Barbel Mohr in her new book, The Cosmic Ordering Service , which I couldn't help picking up to read recently. It's actually barely a book at 100 pages - and is more a collection of notes ab...

Bit frazzled today - last night was the opening night of a play I'm acting in: Are You Being Served? (based on the old TV series). I'm playing Mr Humphries of all people! Here's the poster: No rest for the wicked , as I often say. Next I'm directing a musical set in a nightclub - a cross between That 70s Show and Glee . Should be lots of fun! This week, I was sent this amusing link by an esteemed subscriber - showing how writers should NOT react to a bad review! It's also an object lesson on the importance of doing a very good self edit on your material BEFORE you let ANYONE see it! Keep Writing. Rob@easywaytowrite.com Writers! Click here to get published free by Magellan Books. THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: Surfing the Write Side Rob Parnell I was shocked to see the revenue generated by modern media products last year. Hollywood - as you'd expect - ge...

Today we have a new video - mainly a promo to introduce The Easy Way to Write to visitors unfamiliar with the website. Have a look - you may be surprised just how diverse we've become in the last nine years! Of course, all of the images, material and even the music in the video is copyright to us. Copyright is hugely important to all artists and in today's article, I explain why... Keep writing. Rob@easywaytowrite.com Writers! Click here to get published free by Magellan Books. THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: The Importance of Copyright Rob Parnell In most modern arenas it's easy to identify products - they exist as objects. You can slap a patent on objects - and often on the processes that make those objects. But ideas are more nebulous. Artistic expression is perhaps harder to quantify - or so it would seem. Which is why copyright and the concept of 'intellectual property' is so important. ...

On the last St Pat's Day, we went out to celebrate. Great lunch at an Irish pub with a band playing. Green hats, Irish flags and Guinness signs everywhere. Terrific fun. It occurred to me how amazing it was that the logistics behind this essentially unofficial world holiday are enormous - and a great testament to the tenacity of humans to find an excuse to celebrate! What's clear is that we do need time out sometimes, just to get a better perspective on our lives and rejuvenate our spirit. Writing can be a solitary profession. We tend to spend a lot of our time alone, typing words into a computer, allowing our subconscious to spill forth words onto the page. Just as it should be. It's funny. Every now and then I allow myself to get involved in other people's affairs. I've noticed that other people like to be sociable and have lots of get-togethers where they just enjoy each other's company. As a writer I tend to observe rather than participate. I fi...

Haven't got long this morning. We're off to give a talk on Screen Writing at midday to some esteemed writing students in Adelaide, SA. Should be fun! I have to thank everyone on Facebook for remembering my birthday this week. It was awesome to see so many happy returns. There were far too many to answer! I feel very humbled by your kindness. Robyn and I had a lovely day down by the beach, then we pottered in the garden in the sunshine - and then off we went to another writer's group in the evening. No rest for the wicked. Have a great week. A writer asked me a question this week about writing style. He thanked me for a couple of the courses he'd taken but thought he needed extra instruction on prose style and finding his unique voice. To be honest I was a little flummoxed as to how to respond. My belief is that style is one of those things you can't really teach. Yes, you can correct stylistic errors. Yes, you can make suggestions as to how to structure writing for...