Behind the scenes but make it quick
A writing update, a question about palm cards, and a link to tonight's 'the little journal' Launch Party!
‘Thursdays After Lunch’ is a newsletter for readers, writers & story-lovers. I’m Joanna Morrison, a writer based in Western Australia. My short stories have appeared in various Australian journals and anthologies over the years, while my debut novel The Ghost of Gracie Flynn was shortlisted for the Hungerford Award in 2020 and published by Fremantle Press in 2022.
If you want to know more, hop over to my Linktree page, where you’ll find links to my website and my Instagram page, as well as interviews, reviews, and ways to buy my book. Thanks for joining me!
Hello, and welcome to my shortest newsletter ever!
If you’re relieved, I understand. Last week’s essay about Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song — A tough read but a must read — was very long, as was my review of Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy before it, so I think we all deserve a break.
The other reason I’m keeping things short and sweet is that I’m working on a short story today, and I’m still plugging away at my Design & Refine workshop, coming up in September. Both are coming along nicely. As is my current novel-in-progress, which has reached first-draft stage — always a good milestone!
I’m letting the manuscript breathe at the moment (after a mad-cap read-through / mini-edit over the last couple of weeks), but in a few weeks, I’ll be diving back into it, and this time I’ll be using a new approach to revisions: Palm cards!
I say ‘new’, but of course writers have been using palm cards to get a sense of structure, momentum, balance, gaps, continuity, and character development for a very long time. It will be new for me though, as I tend to make tables and visual maps on A3 paper. No doubt I’ll create those again too, because my brain loves doing it that way, but I’m eager to have a go at ye olde palm cards first.
Have you used the palm-card method? Any hot tips to share? Or do you have a different way of establishing an overview for yourself? Let me know!
Finally, I’m looking forward to a launch party in the city tonight, celebrating the inaugural edition of the little journal (a collaboration between
& Night Parrot Press, with the support of Raine Square and Edith Cowan University). I’m so chuffed that my post-apocalyptic flash piece Myfanwy will appear in this striking first edition.
If you’re in Perth and you feel like coming along, it’s from 5.30pm-7.30pm in the State Library, and I believe there are still tickets here. It’s free!
Okay, I promised to keep it snappy, so that’s all from me.
Until next time,
Thanks for reading ‘Thursdays After Lunch with Joanna Morrison’! Subscribe free of charge to receive new posts & support my work.
My name is Joanna Morrison. My debut novel is ‘The Ghost of Gracie Flynn’, in which three university friends are divided by a tragic death. Eighteen years on, they’re reunited, but when another body is found, the ghost of Gracie Flynn has a story to tell about the night that changed their lives forever.
Thanks for the shout-out - see you there! 🙏