Blog

Professional development: writing and editing non-fiction, memoir, poetry, fiction

Sally-Anne’s Professional memberships

• professional member of Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd).
• professional writer member of Life Stories Australia (LSA). Secretary of the LSA Board 2019-2023.
• committee member (promotions) of Gippsland Writers Network (GWN).
• member of:
  • Oral History Victoria within Oral History Australia.
  • Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG).
  • Northern Territory Writers Centre
  • Australian Poetry

Sally-Anne’s ongoing voluntary roles/involvement

• Sally-Anne participates in monthly  Life Stories Australia skills exchange sessions, regular Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG) workshops, and Oral History Australia skills & exchange sessions.
• Sally-Anne is a registered mentor of poets, writers and editors through formal mentorship programs run by GWN (annual poet mentorship) and IPEd (early-career editor mentorships), mentoring via Zoom.
• Sally-Anne provides mentorship and training to our early-career contractors.

upcoming seminars and workshops

• 21st September: Sally-Anne will present Self-Editing your Poetry workshop and attend events at Writing with Voice in Latrobe City, presented by Gippsland Writers Network.
• 21st-24th November 2024: Sally-Anne will present a seminar on the creative uses of oral history, within the theme The Power of Oral History—Risks, Rewards & Responsibilities, at Oral History Australia Biennial Conference in Melbourne, presented by Oral History Australia.

Sally-Anne presented these workshops/events 2019-2024

2nd August 2024: facilitated Zoom cuppa forum, about book printers, working with disabled life stories clients, life stories picture books.  Presented by Life Stories Australia

17th February 2024: presented the Writing Your Life Story or Memoir workshop; and participated in an author panel around writing memories as fiction, memoir and autobiography. Event: Write for your Life event at Moe Library, Latrobe City. Presented by Gippsland Writers Network.

29th February 2023: presented Life stories interviewing and recording  for publication purposes. Presented online by On Time Typing, Editing and Proofreading.

10th 2023: presented Tips for writing resumes and working with resume clients. Presented online by  On Time Typing, Editing and Proofreading.

11th December 2022:  presented How to consult with clients to obtain the information needed for their resume. Presented online by  On Time Typing, Editing and Proofreading.

4th November 2022: facilitated Zoom cuppa forum: Q&As about life story documenting.  Presented by Life Stories Australia

3rd June 2022: facilitated Zoom cuppa forum: The process of producing life stories. Presented by Life Stories Australia. 

16th September 2021: presented at Poetry editing zoom forum. Presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

18th June 2021: co-presented Scoping life stories projects. Presented by Life Stories Australia.

25th March 2021: co-presented So you think you’ve finished your manuscript – now what? Presented by Life Stories Australia.

15th November 2019: presented/facilitated Life story writers/editors and vicarious trauma (forum). Presented by Life Stories Australia (LSA).

7th September 2019: presented How to edit your own poetry workshop. Presented by On Time Typing, Editing and Proofreading.

Sally-Anne participated in/attended these events 2019-2024

2023-24

23rd June 2024: Regional Writers Rise Festival: Celebrating Gippsland’s Diverse Stories! Author presentation around their  creative memoir My Friend Fox with Heidi Everett founder of Schizy Inc.

4th June 2024: Pervasive and problematic: editing trauma in the Australian context, seminar by Camilla Cripps. “A brief overview of the insidious nature of collective trauma in an Australian context [our coloniser history, our displaced First Nations, and our extremes of environment and weather] … Camilla will describe … how principles of trauma-informed practice can assist editors to safely and responsibly address, and actively pre-empt, the adverse consequences of working with traumatic narratives and traumatised authors, and through their own trauma histories…” Presented by IPEd.

21st May 2024: Where to find answers to copyright questions, seminar by Eileen Camilleri, CEO of the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), who holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) from UNSW and has extensive experience in intellectual property. Editors need to understand enough about copyright issues to alert a client to the possibility of a legal problem (A5, Australian Standards for Editing Practice 3rd ed, p 5). This seminar is about where to go to get clarification on copyright issues without hiring a lawyer, and where to direct clients for information. Presented by IPEd.

7th May 2024: Editing the Autistic voice: Dr Clem Bastow in conversation with Dr Louise Merrington, presented by IPEd. Cultural critic, Autistic advocate and screenwriting researcher Clem Bastow and Autistic editor Louise Merrington discuss editing the Autistic voice – what it is, their own experiences of being edited as Autistic writers, and how editors can work with neurodivergent clients in ways that maintain the authenticity of their voices.

1st May 2024: Focusing on readability in writing, editing and design, seminar by David Whitbread, presented by IPEd. Front-loading headings, sentences and paragraphs is a technique that involves writing, typography and layout to improve readability. If you are wanting to help readers cruise through your text content, you can increase reading speed for all audiences. We will consider how you can incorporate decisions for quicker/easier reading, making them an automatic part of writing, editing and design.

9th April 2024: Life Stories Australia forum: Dr Bruce Powell, who had a life-altering accident that led him to write his life story, discussed the process that led him to write his life story, how he writes, and tips on interviewing and writing about a person with a brain injury or who has suffered major trauma.

23rd March 2024: Indigenous perspectives, panel with Tony Birch, Daniel Browning and Jeanine Leane, facilitated by Paola Bella. How culture profounding affects the outlook of First Nations writers in their poetry, novels, essays. Presented in Clunes by Clunes Book Town Festival.

21st and 28th February 2024: Editing point of view in fiction and narrative non-fiction, workshop with Nadine Davidoff (editor and writing/editor teacher) – looking at point of view in from an editor’s perspective; narrative voice (1st, 2nd and 3rd person) and weighing up the effectiveness and limitations of each; and how to communicate this to writers. Presented by IPEd.

12th Dec 2023: Artificial Intelligence and Oral History: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (recording) by Prof Doug Boyd – exploring the implications of AI for research interviewing across multiple disciplines. Presented by La Trobe University 21 Nov 2023.

27th Nov 2023: First Nations in Fiction, workshop with Angie Faye Martin, a Kooma/Kamilaroi/European writer and editor in Meanjin who is a member of First Nation Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) and Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd). Aim: to build the ability to identify issues around the presentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander characters and cultures in fiction manuscripts, work with authors on these, and develop a sense of when to seek a specialist cultural sensitivity editor.

16th Nov 2023: AI and its potential for and impact on life story writing, by Leon Furze PhD.  Presented by Life Stories Australia.

30th Oct 2023: The Art of the Line, by Hannah Lowe. Workshop on how enjambment and caesura can augment poems and create new meanings. Presented by The Verandah (UK).

25th  Sept 2023: Renée Otmar in conversation with Thirangie Jayatilake re “Editing for Sensitivity, Diversity and Inclusion (2nd ed)”, presented by IPEd.

16th Sept 2023 : Writing without sight: In Conversation with Nicola Catalano, presented by Editors SA, IPEd. About Nicola’s experience writing a book without sight and using adaptive tools, and what it was like being a first-time author working with an editor on the project.

3 Sept 2023: Unsettling Narratives of the Past, presented by NT Writers Centre in Mparntwe. Panel of historical fiction writers Anita Heiss AM, Geraldine Brooks and Christopher Raja, facilitated by Eleanor Hogan. How fiction writing can challenge dominant narratives of the past. (NTWF 2023 podcast series.)

19th Aug 2023: Advanced Workshop – Conducting Oral History Interviews on Sensitive or Painful Subjects, presented by Sarah Rood and Al Thomson, Oral History Australia.

8 July 2023: Shadow Spirit – First Peoples Exhibition. Immersion in this world of storytelling and sharing of information via images, text, voices and ceremony, created by “thirty of the most exciting First Peoples artists and collectives from across Australia…. Harnessing ancestral knowledge to share stories of First Peoples Spirit worlds through multiple artforms including installation, sculpture, animation, sound, and video.”

9 June 2023 – Telling a Yarn: a discussion of some of the techniques to get into a story, by Tony Wright. Forum presented by Life Stories Australia.

3-9 May 2023 – 11th IPEd conference: Futureproofing the editing profession. Attended and participated in the following seminars including Q&A sessions: 

• • 9 May 2023: (1) Keynote: AI and related technology in scholarly publishing – a double-edged sword? By Martin Delahunty, Director, Inspiring STEM Consulting. (2) Editing in the digital age – a near-death experience, by Nigel Brew. (3) Futureproofing the next generation of editors: How mentoring benefits all of us, by Elizabeth Beach (Chair, IPEd Mentoring Committee). (4) Standards for Editing Practice, by Dr Sharon Lierse (Chair, IPEd Standards Working Party). 
  • 8 May 2023: (1) 5 tips for optimising your metadata to boost book sales, by Joel Naoum, Booktopia. (2) Editing all over: perspective of editing practices in New Zealand’s public and private sectors, by Thomas McGrath, Colleen Trolove, Megan Bennett (Write Limited). (5) From perfectionist to alchemist: celebrating the nine lives of plain English editors, by Justine Dixon Cooper.
  • 5 May 2023: (1) Publishers panel with PANZ, SPN and APA, chaired by IPEd CEO Karen Lee. (2) New micro-credentials in editing, by Theresa Crewdson and Odessa Owens, Whitireia Publishing. (3) Books without barriers: A practical guide to inclusive publishing, by Julie Ganner, Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya, Maryanne Park AE and Kayt Duncan.
  • 4 May 2023: (1) Better books – Cultural intelligence and Indigenous strengths in editing, by Dr Sandra Phillips. (2) Neurodivergence and editing: a view from inside, by Dr Louise Merrington and Tanja Gardner. (3) Trauma-informed editing practice: A framework, by Camilla Cripps. (4) Research on and about editing: What we know we don’t know (and how we might find out), by Dr Renée Otmar, DE.
  • 3 May 2023: (1) Adapting to technological developments in language use and publishing, Emeritus Prof Roland Sussex OAM, School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies,  University of Queensland, interviewed by Ruth Davies (IPEd Chair). (2) (Im)mutable publishing ecologies and editorial practice in the 21st century gig economy, by Dr Katherine Day and Dr Jocelyn Hargrave.

27 April 2023 – The Australian literary scene, poetry and editing. By Evelyn Araluen, poet, researcher and co-editor of the Overland literary journal, and author of Dropbear. She was born and raised on Dharug Country and is a descendant of the Bundjalung Nation.

21 March 2023 – Guided Autobiography, by Dr Cheryl Svensson, PhD, Director of the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies (USA) and a leading international authority. Forum presented by Life Stories Australia.

Thursday 12 January 2023 – Editors in Conversation, with Susan Midalia and Casey Mulder. Presented by IPEd.

2021-2022

2 December 2022 – Life Stories Australia Conference 2022, Melbourne.  Biography and life story writing: some things they don’t tell you, by Jacqueline Kent. I’ve written my book – how do I get others to read it? – Deb Gough (President, Life Stories Australia) facilitating a panel of expert speakers from Australian Booksellers Association, Small Press Network at the Wheeler Centre, and Prahran Mechanics Institute. Presented by Life Stories Australia.

12 and 19 November 2022 – Oral History Interviewing course, presented by Oral History Victoria

15 September 2022 – attended Bringing Data to Life: Co-Designing a Language Data Commons, co-hosted by the ARDC and the Language Data Commons of Australia. (Pre-recorded seminar about  preserving oral histories across cultures.)

6 September 2022 – Defamation law for editors, by Aditya Vasudevan from Arts Law Centre of Australia, presented by Editors NSW

2 September 2022 – Zoom Cuppa – member Q&A session about life story documenting, facilitated by Imelda Cribbin, presented by Life Stories Australia

5 August 2022 – Zoom Cuppa – member Q&A session about life story documenting, facilitated by Heather Millar, presented by Life Stories Australia

14 July 2022 – Writing and editing across genders, by Alice Pung, presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd

31 May 2022 – Storytelling, setting the record straight about the shared history of Aboriginal Australians and their lived experience in the pastoral industry by Delyna Baxter, presented by Northern Institute

20 May 2022 – Art Spiegelman, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning MAUS, presented by Sydney Writers Festival online to Latrobe Literary Festival.

9 April 2022 – Speak to Self, Speak to Others: April Anti-Racism Workshop, presented by The Wheeler Centre.

6 April 2022 – Crafting Raw Memoirs, Jacki Ferro, presented by Editors Qld/IPEd.

23 March 2022 – Dealing with grief and vicarious trauma as a life story writer
and self-care solutions, Karen Percy, president of MEAA, presented by Life Stories Australia.

13 February 2022 – Cultural Inclusion Workshop, presented by Australian Greens Victoria.

2-3 December 2021 – The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Representation, Voice and Agency, presented by the Wheeler Centre.

25 November 2021 – Addressing gender and sexuality as editors with Roz Bellamy  – writer, editor-in-chief at Archer Magazine. Presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

October-December 2021 – Structural editing (fiction) for editors (8-week course) with Nicola O’Shea Editing & Training.

26-28 November 2021 – The Editing Micro-Festival 2021 (attended 3 sessions). Presented by The Editing Micro-Festival.

19 November 2021 – Mentors’ workshop: Constructive Conversations with Gary Ryan, Organisations that Matter. Presented by RMIT.

16 November 2021 – Geneology and life stories by Ruth Graham, CEO Society of Australian Geneologists. Presented by Life Stories Australia.

3 November 2021 –  Language matters for editors by Associate Professor Roslyn Petelin. Presented by Editors Qld/IPEd.

30 September 2021 – Editors and the design process by Pooja Desai. Presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

1 September 2021 –  Cultural sensitivity editing by Grace Lucas-Pennington, presented by Editors Qld/IPEd.

31 August – Oral history and life stories by Alistair Thomson, President of Oral History Australia, guest speaker at this Life Stories Australia forum.

29 August 2021: Integrate the IPEd Code of Ethics and IPEd Standards into your editing practice, by Joely Taylor AE (pre-recorded webinar presented by Editors Tasmania).

20 August 2021: Career mentoring (RMIT).

29 July 2021: Editing Fiction: Starting out or crossing over by Dr Renée Otmar, presented by Editors WA/IPEd.

28-30 June 2021: Editing on the edges IPEd Conference 2021, presented by Editors Tasmania. Attended: Writers on the Spectrum – Lisa Gershwin. Linguicism and editing – Cassandra Wright-Doyle. Editing and publishing silenced and under-represented voices – Jodie Lea Martine. Inclusive publishing in Australia in context – Agata Mrva-Montoya. Literary translation: the ultimate act of betrayal? – Pam Allen. Bridging linguistic and cultural gaps in academic publishing – Sarah Kitaoji. Culturally safe editing – Mark J Lock.

1 May 2021: Sydney Writers Festival events (online, streamed to Latrobe City Library in Moe). Attended: Barrie Cassidy & Friends: Opposition and Dissent by Barrie, Scott Ludlam, Sally McManus. Caste – The Lies That Divide Us by Isabel Wilkerson.  The Living Sea of Waking by Richard Flanagan and Laura Tingle.

10 April 2021: The decolonised editor: unconscious bias, representative publishing, and a way forward for editorial best practice by Dr Radhiah Chowdhury, presented by NSW Editors/IPEd (Vimeo recorded event 6.10.20).

30 March 2021:  OHS for editors working with sensitive and explicit content by Renee Otmar, presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

29 March 2021: Editing narrative non-fiction by Nadine Davidoff, presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

2019-2020

24 November 2020: Memoir writing and author presentation by Sue Gunningham. Presented by East Gippsland Shire Council (Libraries).

28 October 2020: Editing Family History (webinar) by Editors Tasmania.

13 October 2020: Editing Poetry and Fiction (editor discussion) by Dr Naomi Parry. Presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

23 September 2020: Disability Equality Training (for editors) by Publishability.

17 September 2020: Manuscript assessment (editor discussion) by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

27 July 2020: attended Introduction to SEO [website/blogs] by Work My Own Way.

23 July 2020: Editors working with self-publishing writers (editor discussion)  by EdANZ/IPEd.

7 July 2020: attended Editing fiction and poetry (forum) by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

17 June 2020: When Words Matter – how do writers chronicle world-changing events? Presented by Meanjin.

4 June 2020: Documenting life stories during and after COVID-19 (forum) presented by Life Stories Australia.

12 May 2020: Editing memoirs (forum), presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

30 April 2020: Let’s get published [self-publishing: ebooks, hard copy books, audio books] (webinar) by Patrice Shaw, PS Editing.

22 October 2019: Online mentoring workshop for IPEd mentors and mentees, presented by IPEd.

12 October 2019: Editing Diverse Voices seminar, by Bridget Caldwell, Carly Findlay, Kirstie Innes-Will, presented by Editors Victoria/IPEd.

15 August 2019: Setting up life story contracts/agreements webinar, presented by Life Stories Australia (LSA)

10 August 2019: Reporting Pell (seminar) by Louise Milligan, presented by Bendigo Writers Festival – Writers Victoria. About interviewing; publishing stories of sexual abuse; ethics; post-traumatic stress disorder.

28 June 2019: Writing trauma and traumatised characters  workshop, by Lea Scott, presented by Queensland Writers Centre. Sessions included: trauma and PTSD in memoir, biography and fiction; interviewing trauma survivors; neuroscience of trauma; ethics; self-care for writers, editors or researchers dealing with vicarious trauma; building trauma/PTSD symptoms into the  narrative structure; post-traumatic growth arc within the narrative

20 June 2019: Marketing and memoir writing seminar/workshop by Life Stories Australia

25-26 May 2019: Latrobe Literary Festival events around writing, writing/visual arts mixes, and the issues faced by writers with disability. Organisers/facilitators included Writers Victoria, and Writeability.

May 8 – 10, 2019: Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) national conference Beyond the page 2019  workshops and seminars including:

• • Editing non-fiction, memoir and trauma: Memoir and life writing; Editing personal trauma stories – practical tips to limit the emotional cost; Life writing – how can it do good and how can it cause harm?; When to care and not to care – the editor’s angst; Ethical considerations of editing an autobiographical work.
  • Ethics, editing across cultures and accessibility: Ethics in editing and OHS for editors; Copyright for editorial gatekeepers; Sensitivity readers – who, what, when and why editors should use them; Illness in editing – resonance and the integration of paradoxical knowledge; Accessibility – creating content for everyone; Accessibility and the Australian Inclusive Publishing initiative.
  • Other, including: Young adult and popular fiction genres – editing for multiple markets; Digital collections – archival and editorial impulses remixed; How ‘other’ professions inform editing…; The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas.

Sally-Anne participated in theSE events 2018 and previous

• February 2018:  Own Voices Forum: Why Writing Matters – social model of disability best-practice language, advocacy and power, presented by Writers Victoria.
• September 2017: achievement of Certificate – Simplified Recruitment Merit Selection Training, Office of the Commissioner for NT Public Employment, Public Sector Appeals & Grievances Review, Darwin NT.
• 2015 to 2018: completion of short courses around online marketing, SEOing, blogging, and business management.
• 2016: Critiquing Manuscripts workshop, Writers Victoria.
• 2006:  Completed Staff Selection – Interview techniques & interview report writing, presented by NT Department of Corporate and Information Services
• 1996-2001: on-the-job volunteer training/development in editing and self-publishing (funded by Australian Volunteers International 2000-2001)
• 1999-2004: completion of a number of NT Writers’ Centre workshops
• 2000: Completed Tetun Language Course, Timor Aid, Dili, East Timor
• 1990s: completed most units of Bachelor of Arts (English Literature double-major) at Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory. High Distinction (HD) achieved for: English Literary History, 20th Century Australian Literature, World Literatures, Modern Literature, Independent Study (William Blake), and Evolution of Humankind and Culture. Distinction: Contemporary Fiction. Credit: Indigenous Health Issues, South-East Asian Studies.

Sally-Anne’s awards and voluntary achievements

• 2019: co-founded (with three other local poets) ongoing online poetry workshopping group Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG).
• 2019: Sally-Anne awarded Certificate of completion Mentor Induction – Editing industry (RMIT).
• 2017: On Time Typing was a finalist in the 2017 Federation Business School Gippsland Business Awards – Business and Professional. 
• 2016: On Time Typing “opted in” to be covered by the relevant sections of the Privacy Act (1988) (Australia). Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) advised on 27/1/16: ‘[We]… will be including your details in the Opt-In Register under s 6EA(3) of the Act. … OAIC appreciates your commitment to protecting individuals’ privacy.’
• 2013: On Time Typing was a finalist in the 2013 Bendigo Bank Gippsland Business Awards, On-Line Retailing/e-Business.
• 2013 to 2014: Sally-Anne (representing local businesses) presented verbal and written submissions to the Inquiry into Telecommuting and e-Business conducted by the Rural and Regional Committee of the Parliament of Victoria; final report produced and published in 2014.
• 2002: Sally-Anne received the Australian Government Award: “The Australian Government expresses its gratitude to Sally-Anne Watson for a valued contribution towards assisting developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.” Signed by Prime Minister John Howard and Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer.
• 1991: Sally-Anne awarded Certificate of Merit – 20/20 English, Year 12, and Certificate of Achievement – 20/20 English, Year 12.

For details of Sally-Anne’s current and previous editing and self-publishing experience, go to: Publications and Editing experience

Image: Copyright Sally Mitchell-McCulloch 2016.