DeScribe

I think every state in Australia has a writers’ centre. Usually they’re a quasi-pretentious, sometimes-useful mix of services and encouragement. The VWC is no different.

The rub with these societies (hey, like this one) is: how much and what do I get? VWC membership runs at $44 annually for a concession/ student member, for which you score a monthly magazine (24 page, two-colour pamphlet) and access to the VWC premises in Swanston St, next the Subway near Flinders Station. Oh, and they give you percentage off a range of goods and services, but really, who doesn’t offer a loyalty card these days?

Oh. Us.

Each month runs a theme, with a few pages of generally well-written articles sandwiched by a couple of identikit smug columnists and the omnipresent ads. The useful part comes in the form of the Awards, Prizes & Competitions pages, which lists – you guessed it – but in a tight, no-bullshit format. You can be sure that any ads from vanity competitions/ publishers (google it) are quickly tagged, chained to an engine block and dumped in Port Phillip Bay.

Yeah, they have an interesting little library, too, but face it: who wants to go to the city to borrow books? If you spend time in the city already, it’s sweet, but otherwise you’re not going to use the service, are you?

Seriously, the deeper you get into writing, the more use you will get out of the VWC. If you were planning to publish a book (self or *gasp* through a real-live publishing house), membership would be a very good idea, if only from a legal/ networking point-of-view. If you’re a newbie, there might be better uses for your money: i.e. books. Most of the articles won’t beat anything you can already access online. But there comes a time when you have to take yourself and your writing seriously (or take up macramé instead), and I’d have to say at that point, a VWC membership breaks even on the cost/use scale.

http://www.writers-centre.org/