Use Your Words

Book excerpt: Want to write? Got a memoir, novel, screenplay or blog in your back drawer? Need to get ‘unstuck’? This is the magic pill you’ve been looking for. In Use Your Words writer and comedian Catherine Deveny reveals the secrets that have made her ‘Gunnas’ Writing Masterclasses sell-out successes around the country. With humour and passion, she explains the struggles all writers face and reveals how to overcome them. Whether you’re already published or just starting out, writing for others or purely for self-expression, Use Your Words has the tips, tricks, techniques and honest truths to get you writing. You’ll learn how creativity is like a vending machine, how writing is like a magnet and how not to die with your light inside you. Wait no longer – smash through procrastination and fear and get those words on the page. ‘Everyone has a book in them. Before you write yours, however, read this. It’s brilliant. The world will thank you.’ —Clare Bowditch ‘Finally the truth about writing! Buy this book if you want to get the job done.’ —Chrissie Swan ‘The most readable book on writing ever written.’ —Dee Madigan ‘As practical and profane as the woman who wrote it.’ —Benjamin Law ‘Catherine Deveny’s no-nonsense attitude and comedic genius make learning fun. If you’ve always wanted to write but never thought you could, banish those thoughts right now.’ —Clementine Ford ‘An insightful, funny, honest how-to, go-do, firecracker-up-you bible for the emerging and established author alike. Buy it, read it, and WRITE.’ —Maxine Beneba Clarke ‘One of the big risks of motivational books such as this is they can lapse into cheerleader cliches. Excellent instincts allow Deveny to avoid this pitfall. Her views on feedback are worth pinning up behind your desk.’ —The Age