Author Archives: Shannon Meyerkort

What’s it Like Receiving Free Stuff?

I had been writing for WeekendNotes for quite a while before I received my first freebie. I was offered a free lunch at a café in West Perth in return for a review. I was absolutely terrified, so I took my Mum as support. As you do. But you remember that saying… there’s no suchContinueContinue reading “What’s it Like Receiving Free Stuff?”

I Don’t Think I Am a Stalker

Have you ever had the experience where you read something, and think ‘Oh my God. That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. That person must know me. We must be, like, TWINS.’I have that experience on a fairly regular basis when I read a column by Perth writer Ros Thomas, every Saturday morning in theContinueContinue reading “I Don’t Think I Am a Stalker”

So, You Want to be Restaurant Reviewer

I have been doing restaurant reviews in a very informal capacity since 2010 when I started writing for WeekendNotes. I was looking for a paid writing job that I could do in my own time, and the advert to write about ‘things you could do on your weekend’ appealed to me. I was regularly eatingContinueContinue reading “So, You Want to be Restaurant Reviewer”

The Future is Unread Books

A woman’s wardrobe is a place for her most private possessions. Intimate, cherished, well worn. But clothes no longer take pride of place in my walk-in-robe. Clothes are merely items to modestly protect the eyes of others. My wardrobe has spontaneously forged a new existence – as a bookshelf. What started as a humble pileContinueContinue reading “The Future is Unread Books”

The Question with No Answer

A lot of people lately have been asking ‘how my writing is going?’ They sidle up to me at parties, or over lunch or in the playground at school, and ask with genuine curiosity. Unless people are following my blogs or subscribed to my articles at WeekendNotes, it would seem that there is a bigContinueContinue reading “The Question with No Answer”

Writers versus Bloggers

I recently attended a blogging conference in Sydney, during which I learned many things, mostly that I seem to be breaking a lot of the unbreakable rules of blogging*. But over the three days, as I spoke with different people, with a range of blogs and diverse stories, the main thing that crystallised was thatContinueContinue reading “Writers versus Bloggers”

Machiavellian Bastards

In the not so distant past I attended the ‘Writing Dramatic Dialogue’ class run by author John Harman. I had hoped that it would help me limber up my writing muscles: what I didn’t realise is that it would give me licence to kill – in the literary sense that is. John started by telling us:ContinueContinue reading “Machiavellian Bastards”

Should I Let Other People (Re)Publish my Posts?

This is an issue I have been grappling with for a while: should I let other websites publish my posts on their site? What about SEO and duplicate content? Will Google freak out? Will readers get annoyed when they see the same post in multiple places? Will I be losing blog traffic? Will I beContinueContinue reading “Should I Let Other People (Re)Publish my Posts?”

How to Unblock Bloggers Block

Feast or famine. Flood or drought. Inspiration or desperation. Do these sound familiar to you? As writers, do you find that it’s all or nothing when it comes to your writing? People who have been reading my other blog Relentless over the years can see that I tend to write in spurts, and can eitherContinueContinue reading “How to Unblock Bloggers Block”