FAITH

Masterclass 4 - June 3 2026

Maintaining faith in your project for the long haul. What to do when ‘why not write’ turns into ‘why’? This session offers guidance on how to face the blank page when you’re wondering what the point of it is. We’ll talk about how to use both internal and external motivation, helpful/unhelpful emotions – how to set them aside, how to use them to keep going – and about creative self-doubt versus second guessing.

Class discussion includes

  • Writing in dark times: what's the point?
  • Finding your 'why'
  • Touchstone books & role model writers
  • Mantras & manifestos
  • Obstacles versus excuses
  • Emotional foregrounding & backgrounding
  • Tolerating uncertainty
  • When giving up is a good idea

  • Day & time

    Live class Wednesday June 3; Sydney time 10am-11am; NZ time 12pm-1pm.

  • Zoom class

    Zoom link provided in the week prior to each webinar class. Links to video, readings and other resources provided after class for viewing anytime over the following 6 months.

  • Cost

    $60AUD

  • About Emily Perkins

    Emily is an award-winning writer from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her novels have twice won Best Book of Fiction at the New Zealand Book Awards (including Lioness in 2024) as well as Best First Book of Fiction for her debut collection of stories. Other recognition includes the Believer Book of the Year (US), the Geoffrey Faber Prize (UK), and long-listing for the Women’s Prize UK. Her books include The Forrests, Novel About My Wife, The New Girl, Leave Before You Go and Not Her Real Name. She is an Arts Foundation Laureate and Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

  • About Charlotte Wood

    Charlotte is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her latest book Stone Yard Devotional was short-listed for the 2024 Booker Prize and five other awards, drawing praise from authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler and others. Previous books include The Luminous Solution on the creative process; the international bestseller, The Weekend; and the Stella Prize-winning The Natural Way of Things. In 2023 Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre Company staged an adaptation of her novel The Weekend, and The Natural Way of Things featured in ABC Television’s 2021 series ‘The Books That Made Us’.