Deborah Hayward Art

Deborah Hayward Art Making life more beautiful one story at a time, through writing, art and photography

I used to go to the movies with a man in his nineties. He had experienced stories on film right from the first talkie in...
08/04/2026

I used to go to the movies with a man in his nineties. He had experienced stories on film right from the first talkie in 1928 to the modern films of 2018. I asked him once what makes a great story. He paused for a minute and said, "it's got to hit you in your soul!" It's that truth, that honesty, that really connects with a reader or an audience. You're not just weaving a story, you're keeping it real. How honest can you be when you're telling your story?

No man is an island. There are so many advice givers, experts, articles, industry advice, AI coaches and just wise old p...
24/03/2026

No man is an island. There are so many advice givers, experts, articles, industry advice, AI coaches and just wise old people out there ready and willing to help you with any project. But you have to have the right mix. As a writer, editor and publisher I work with the best in the business. I choose the best printer, get the best advice, I consult with the best graphic and web designer, the best readers and otherwise brilliant minds to bring a project from first word to final print. Who would you trust with your book?

In Finding Forrester, Sean Connery's character says to his student, "Write the first draft with your heart, the second, ...
17/03/2026

In Finding Forrester, Sean Connery's character says to his student, "Write the first draft with your heart, the second, with your head." Sometimes the editing process can be hard. But proofreading is all about lovingly, and with discernment, combing through your text and smoothing out the rough bits. It's about shaping and weaving together a carefully crafted, very readable story. If you have a story but you don't know how to proofread, that's where a good editor comes in. Do you have a story to tell? Are you giving it the attention it deserves? Link in bio.

Where you write can be just as powerful as what you write. There is nothing more unsettling than not having a place to s...
11/03/2026

Where you write can be just as powerful as what you write. There is nothing more unsettling than not having a place to settle. Many writers can find inspiration when they're out and about, gathering their story from nature, experiences and other environments and climates, but when one needs to sit down and focus, get that draft done, one needs a space of their own. The setting shapes the story. If you're writing from a city apartment or a country garden, your results are going to be different. Whether it be a home office, the kitchen table, or sitting up in bed, your space matters. A consistent, settled space makes for consistent, structured writing. Because you've found your creative home. You're starting to make things happen. Don't know how to set up your space, or make it work at home? Check out my blog at www.wordsongpublishing.com.au. You can find it in the blog section, called Small Space, Big Dreams. Link in bio.

What family stories have shaped your narrative and affected your life course? Sometimes what happens to us sets us on a ...
04/03/2026

What family stories have shaped your narrative and affected your life course? Sometimes what happens to us sets us on a trajectory that we might not have chosen. Sometimes circumstances make us into writers, poets, artists with something to say. How do you look backwards and write forwards? Have you ever hunted in your family tree for skeletons in the closet, or left well enough alone, knowing there are a few monkeys dangling from the branches, a few nuts hanging from the leaves? Sometimes we turn our history into heroines, our villains into literary victories. How do you draw on the past to shape your own future? Do you write it out? Or keep it bottled inside? Writing is healing.

Nobody reads the phone book anymore. It is a collection of facts and figures, an address and location of a fixed point o...
23/02/2026

Nobody reads the phone book anymore. It is a collection of facts and figures, an address and location of a fixed point of interest, a business, a person, a place. There is no emotion, only a reference point for what we might be looking for. Good writing should never just state the person, place and purpose, the action, conflict and resolution. Good writing doesn't tell you what is going on, it pulls back the curtain to explore another world. How are you sharing your story, your world with others? Are you presenting a collection of facts or are you making people feel something? When we pull back the curtain, inch by inch, with the reader in mind, we are plunged right into another person's existence. What will you reveal when you write your next story?

Have you ever tried to write in somebody else's voice? There's only one you but it's easy to write a book and want to so...
17/02/2026

Have you ever tried to write in somebody else's voice? There's only one you but it's easy to write a book and want to sound like a born storyteller. Write a novel like Hemingway. Recall a tale like a great British thespian. The best thing about your book is YOU. I help authors to find their voice and make their unique narrative accessible to readers

Do you know your parents' story? Do you know an amazing individual who has had an extraordinary life and hasn't recorded...
09/02/2026

Do you know your parents' story? Do you know an amazing individual who has had an extraordinary life and hasn't recorded it in some way? Or do you know someone who has been an incredibly hard working mother, an awesome farmer or a person who has dedicated their life to helping others? How about somebody who has touched the lives of countless others with their baking or their handicrafts? Every story leaves its legacy but if it is not written down, the stories die out as the last person tells them. Hidden histories remain hidden, and these beautiful people are forgotten. Who needs to tell their story today?

I once spent eight years writing a novel and it was rejected by four mainstream publishers. Did that stop me from writin...
02/02/2026

I once spent eight years writing a novel and it was rejected by four mainstream publishers. Did that stop me from writing? Not really. Sometimes we learn from our first book, our first draft, our first literary failures. But a failure in the eye of a few publishers does not mean your book is a failure, or that you are a failure. The beauty of self-publishing is that you get to publish your story, no matter what anyone else thinks. But you do need and editor. My writing journey has led me from short story competitions, to University, to editing people's books and continuing to write my own. Rejection is not the end. It's often an introduction to resilience.

Have you ever picked up a pen or sat at your computer and wished you could write like your favourite author? How about w...
27/01/2026

Have you ever picked up a pen or sat at your computer and wished you could write like your favourite author? How about wishing your sentences flowed better or came together magically without any effort? We can be a born storyteller but we sometimes try to be like somebody else. To write like somebody else. But I'm here to tell you that your story matters, there's only one of you, and people want to hear YOUR voice. So get writing...

Kill your darlings! Have you ever heard that phrase? When we write, when we let it all hang out on the page, we tend to ...
20/01/2026

Kill your darlings! Have you ever heard that phrase? When we write, when we let it all hang out on the page, we tend to waffle. Repeat ourselves. Overshare. We may even create what we believe is the perfect sentence. But in shaping and crafting a manuscript, economy is key. Most of the time. Sometimes, the most beautiful sentence that you love might be a repeat of something else you have said. It might be too excessive. Too saccharine. Just too much. Or, you already have a perfect sentence and this one is taking up space. So you kill your darling sentence. You don't have to keep all the sentences you have written. Just write!

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Surfers Paradise, QLD
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