“Tough but tender” – this is the Hemingway-like description given by John Layton’s trainer to an assignment he wrote for his Certificate in Short Story Writing.
“The works of Ernest Hemingway inspired me as a writer and I was particularly pleased when my trainer, the author June Colbert, said this showed in my writing style,” explains John.
John, who recently completed the course with flying colours, has loved writing since his early days at primary school. A decade ago, he did a course in freelance journalism and has had a number of short stories published in the Canberra Times.
John lives in Canberra and he has worked in administrative positions for the National Capital Development Commission and the CSIRO.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the course, which I did online, and I appreciated the constructive criticism received from June Colbert, as well as the ongoing support provided by Cengage,” says John.
Now retired, John has the time to focus on his craft and he is working on his next challenge.
“This may be the satisfaction gained from winning a writing prize or, sometime in the future, even the morale-boost of having an anthology of my short stories published,” he says.
I only recently worked out that I was interested in writing (probably an autobiography) -Im not too sure at this stage if I want to publicise my personal details..? but I know that I have a story / stories to tell and the process of writing is challenging. Having an on-going illness (MS) has opened my eyes to many things..I just need to hone in on how I need to write about it all.
I was interested to know from someone like yourself, if having a good reading background has given you some important tips and knowledge about writing?
Cheers and all the best,
Rochelle