DeScribe

Hey, my name is Amber.

I'm a 2nd year Professional and Creative Writing student. You probably didn't see me around 1st year, because I was finishing my Diploma of Arts (Writing) at Box Hill Institute.

In writing I enjoy mostly flash fiction, plays short stories and poetry. I would like to throw myself into the huff-puff of novel writing, one day, one day!

At the moment I'm taking Fiction, Poetry, Editing & the Author, and then Scriptwriting, Non-fiction and Desktop publishing. I'm submajoring in Literature Studies.

I must admit, I'm a bit of critique nerd. I love reading people's writing, and editing or proofreading! I love writers such as Nam Le, Helen Garner, MTC Cronin, Edward Albee, Raymond Carver, etc.

I have been published in onefifty e-zine, Avant anthologies and ReadThis. I like to perform my stories and monologues, however, I need a kick in the bum. I'm lazy on the circuit.

Apart from that, I love crazy dancing, nights out, photography and laughing.

Hey Amber.

There are a few of us ex-TAFErs on campus. I did a diploma in writing and editing at Holmesglen before I came to Deakin. I'm trying to build up enough courage to write a novel as well - in the meantime, I write short stories mainly, some poetry, some reviews and a whole shitload of assignments.

Those are some pretty big names you're flashing around. Nam Le and Carver are sensational - I have to read more Garner, I have these great argument at parties with this friend who loves her and reckons I only love Tim Winton more because he's a man (she's a gender politics lecturer).

I'll be posting more links to publishing opportunities etc over the coming weeks - I've been offline during a house move for the past fortnight

Tim Winton is a brill author, hahaha. A gender politics lecturer WOULD say that! But there are great female authors that have successfully captured male voice, like Kate Grenville with 'Dark Places'.

Do you find the course structure similar to the one at TAFE?

It's nice to meet you!

The physical structure of the course is similar to TAFE, i.e. prerequisite subjects and streams (TAFE had the 'creative' and 'professional' streams), although it's all terribly underexplained at Deakin - you should be able to go in and say, "I want to come out of here with a degree in writing that has a writing major and a lit studies major" and they present you with a list of subjects you can choose from, rather than the current system of wading through the world's worst-structured website and picking subjects that sound good.

However, TAFE concentrates almost solely on the craft of writing and uni on the theory of writing. I've definitely read more widely at Deakin, and I can almost explain the difference between structuralism and poststructuralism to a given random person; on the other hand, Holmesglen taught me why conflict and tension are critical to good writing and how to write dialogue. I'm glad I've done both, but I'm gladder that I went to TAFE first.

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