Dear Musers!

Here’s this month’s round up of places to apply and submit to. Some are for artists and illustrators as well as writers. If there’s some on your radar that I haven’t included please let me know in the comments!

I really encourage you to submit your work as it is part of the ‘work’ of being a writer and artist and sometimes the act of putting your submission together can help you to clarify what you are trying to do (synopses, artist statements…).

Inside

• Residencies, fellowships, funding and grants

• Submissions and competitions

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Dear Musers!

Here’s this month’s round up of places to apply and submit to. Some of them are for artists and illustrators as well as writers. Please note that they are correct at time of me putting this together. If there’s some on your radar that I haven’t included please let me know in the comments!

I really encourage you to submit your work as it is part of the ‘work’ of being a writer and artist and sometimes the act of putting your submission together can her you to clarify what you are trying to do (synopses, artist statements…).

Many years ago, I switched my thinking from ‘wins’ to ‘rejections’ and needed to increase how often I was submitting so that I could get enough rejections each year. A slight reframe that meant I began to get more wins!

Inside

• Residencies, fellowships, funding and grants

• Submissions and competitions

Read more

Hello my dear Muser

In last month’s Mindset Insight, I explored how your energy shifts across the day and how working with your natural rhythms can make creativity feel easier and more sustainable.

This time, I’m looking at something almost every creative person encounters sooner or later: self-doubt.

Not how to eliminate it completely, that’s probably unrealistic, but how to understand it well enough that it stops controlling your creative decisions.

Because creative confidence is not the absence of doubt. It’s the ability to continue creating even when doubt is present.

And strangely enough, self-doubt is often a sign that you care deeply about the work.

Read more

Dear writers, once again, there are so many opportunities in here for you.

Please note that the upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions included here are correct at time of publishing.

Inside

• Residencies, fellowships, funding and grants

• Submissions and competitions

Read more

Dear Creative,

Last issue of Mindset Insights, I explored what happens inside a single work session and why breaks are part of the creative process.

This time, I’m zooming out and looking at the shape of your full day: how your energy rises and falls and how you can ride those waves rather than swim against them. Because while a single session matters, when you do that work matters just as much.

Your brain is not a constant resource. Some hours are naturally sharper, more focused, more creative. Others are quieter, better suited to organising, reviewing, or even resting. Noticing these patterns and aligning your work with them can make creativity feel easier, more natural and less forced.

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Hello my dear creative

I’ve had a complicated relationship with the Pomodoro Technique over the years. I’d try it, feel like the timer was bossing me around, abandon it, come back to it, and repeat. It wasn’t until I understood what was actually happening in my brain during those breaks that something shifted. The technique stopped feeling like a productivity leash and started feeling like a creative tool.

That’s what this issue is about.

Most of us have tried using the Pomodoro Technique. Some still use it, some quietly abandoned it because it didn’t quite fit the work. This issue we go beyond the basics with fresh neuroscience that reframes not only how you use it, but also why your brain responds to it the way it does.

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This newsletter is for my paid subscribers who may be keen to put their words out into the world. The upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing. Writing Opportunities & Competitions comes out on the fifteenth of each month.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer. This month is loaded with opportunities for you!

A reminder

Before we get into the opportunities, I want to implore every Victorian to sign the petition to get the Victorian Parliament to review the defunding of Writers Victoria. Writers Victoria is an organisation that supports writers through courses, community and so much more. The defunding means Victoria is the only state or territory in Australia without a writers centre. They petition needs 10,000 signatures to get this decision reviewed. They have just over 7000 signatures and need 3000 more. Please do add your name to this petition.

Incredibly, Melbourne joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2008 when it was designated the second City of Literature in the world and the first Creative City in Australia.

People from anywhere in the world can also take up a membership and enrol in courses, which will help to bolster the organisation to ensure it is viable.

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Hello my friend

Do you find it hard to keep your momentum with your creative work when life throws tricky things your way? I hear this a lot from creatives, but I have good news for you. We can find ways to sustain our momentum through these times and, by doing so, we are more nourished.

Creative practices need to bend, not break.

In my group coaching masterclass today, I’m exploring what it actually takes to sustain momentum through life’s different seasons. The busy ones. The quiet ones. The difficult transitions. All of it.

This masterclass is for creatives who want to build practices that last, not through sheer willpower, but through smart adaptation.

I combine teaching with reflection exercises and community discussion and there’s always dedicated time for questions, because the challenges we face are smaller when we share them.

Whether you’re navigating burnout, a creative transition, or you simply want to be around people who understand what it’s like to make things in the midst of real life—this is for you.

My masterclasses are interactive, practical, and honestly, a lot of fun. Past topics have included overcoming self-doubt, managing comparison, building courage, and setting boundaries that actually stick.

Details

When

• Monday 2 March, 12.30-1.30 pm Melbourne time (work out your time)

• This is a live event and all ticket holders receive the replay and handouts within 24 hours of the event

What you’ll learn

The mindset shift

Why consistent identity matters more than consistent output, and how to reframe “staying consistent” to “adapting to this season”

Five practical strategies

1. Shrink the container, not the identity

2. Match the work to the season

3. Create seasonal systems (not rigid routines)

4. Separate identity from output

5. Plan for the dip

Each strategy includes interactive exercises, real-world examples, and tools you can use immediately.

Plus community Q&A

covering restarting after breaks, balancing ambition with capacity, sustaining creativity with demanding jobs, and more.

Who this is for

Writers, artists, and creatives navigating transitions, dealing with burnout, or wanting to build practices that last.

Format

I run this over Zoom and we have 60 minutes combining teaching, reflection exercises, chat discussions, and Q&A. Cameras optional. Replay available with no time limit.

Investment

• $20 single ticket

• $180 for a 12-month pass (10+ masterclasses throughout the year)

Grab a ticket

Paid subscriber?

Did you know that now I offer paid subscribers one masterclass per year? Send me a message if you’re a paid subscriber and you’d like to attend this one.

Yours in creativity

x Meg

PS: If you’re seeing this after the event and would love to get the replay, please let me know as you can purchase the replay (or redeem your one masterclass as a paid subscriber). Email or message me.

This newsletter is for my paid subscribers who may be keen to put their words out into the world. The upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer.

There’s heaps in here to get going with your submissions this year. There’s a few that are due today so get your skates on if you’ve got the time (and work) for it.

Before we get into the opportunities, I want to implore every writer in Victoria, Australia to sign the petition to get the Victorian Parliament to review the defunding of Writers Victoria. Writers Victoria is an organisation that supports writers through courses, community and so much more. The defunding means that Victoria will be the only state or territory in Australia that does not have a writers centre. They need 10,000 signatures to get this decision reviewed. Incredibly, Melbourne joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2008 when it was designated the second City of Literature in the world and the first Creative City in Australia. People in and out of Victoria can also take up a membership and enrol in courses.

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I created these retreats for writers like you — for anyone who has ever stared at a blank page and felt both longing and hesitation. There is something about being in a place that invites reflection, in the company of people who understand that writing is as much about feeling as it is about words.

This year, I return to Karma Kinglake, a place where the bush becomes your companion, the birdsong a quiet soundtrack to your thoughts and the open sky a canvas for ideas to stretch. Here, in these gentle surroundings, there is room to breathe, to think and to write.

How we’ll spend our days

The rhythm is yours to embrace. Long stretches of writing time flow alongside walk-and-write sessions, small group workshops and moments of one-on-one coaching and mentoring. Evenings are for conversation, readings and quiet reflection. There is no pressure — only an invitation to show up fully, to reconnect with your story, your craft and yourself.

These fully-catered retreats are small, intimate, and intentionally limited — minimum 5, maximum 10 participants — so that everyone receives attention, support and space to flourish.

What writers have discovered here

Many come carrying doubt, fatigue or unfinished drafts. They leave with something unexpected: clarity, renewed confidence and the joy of being immersed in the creative process.

“It was like falling in love with my story all over again.” — Susan G.
“I got the clarity and momentum I’d been chasing for years.” — Susannah G.

2026 retreat dates

📅 26 February – 1 March
📅 25 – 29 June
📅 27 – 31 August
📅 19 – 22 November

Spaces are limited and a retreat will run only once the minimum of five participants is met — keeping the experience intimate, nourishing and deeply creative.

More information and bookings

If you’ve been yearning for time to think, to write, and to reconnect with your creative self, I hope you’ll join us this year.

Come for the writing. Stay for the clarity, community, and quiet renewal.

With warmth and creativity

x Meg

PS: Know someone who may be interested in these much-loved retreats?

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This newsletter is for my paid subscribers who may be keen to put their words out into the world. The upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer.

This is our first one for the year and there’s heaps in here for you to get going with your submissions this year.

Read more

Hello my dear creative

Take a moment to remember that feeling when you first learned to ride a bike. That wobbliness, laughter, fear, excitment, the unexpected thrill of trying something completely new.

That’s the energy I want to invite back into your creative practice through a bit of creative cross training.

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This newsletter is for my paid subscribers who may be keen to put their words out into the world. The upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer.

This is our last one for the year and there’s heaps in here for you to focus on during your break!

Read more

Close your eyes and imagine yourself on that day, looking back on the year. What do you want to have accomplished? How do you want to feel? What do you want to be grateful for?

Now here’s the harder question: What’s stopping you from making that vision real?

Usually, it’s not lack of desire. It’s lack of clarity, structure, and intentional planning.

That’s why I’m hosting a free working session, not a lecture, but an actual guided workshop where we’ll do the reflection and planning work together.

Design your 2026: A reflection & planning masterclass

Sunday 30 November 2025 | 10:00 AM AEDT (find your time here)

I’ve developed a framework that I use myself and with my coaching clients and I want to share it with as many people as possible. I’ve developed it over my adult life as I learn more about how this kind of goal setting works best.

The masterclass takes you through all areas of your life and helps you:

• Celebrate what you’ve already achieved

• Identify what brings you genuine joy

• Extract lessons from challenges

• Set specific, meaningful goals

• Create anchors (words, images, affirmations) to ground your year

• Articulate why you deserve success

• Take immediate action

We’ll work through each exercise together in real time. You’ll have 90 minutes of focused attention on YOUR life, YOUR goals, YOUR 2026.

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being intentional.

What you’ll receive:

• The complete workbook (yours to keep and use every year)

• First access to my 2026 programmes with a special 7-day discount

• Connection with other creative women doing the same work

This is live only, not recorded, because some work is best done together, in the moment.

Register here – it’s free

Bring your journal, your favourite beverage, and your commitment to designing a year you’ll be proud of.

I hope you’ll join me.

With warmth

x Meg

PS: If you can’t make it live, I’ll be offering the workbook as a standalone resource. But there’s something powerful about doing this work together, in community. If Sunday mornings work for you, I’d love to have you there.

Initially, everyone was hesitant. There were many reasons why they hesitated, and they’re not the only ones. We talked about why it is harder for creatives to call themselves a ‘writer’, ‘jeweller’, ‘artist’, or ‘creative’ than to use one of the many other identifiers like ‘mum’, ‘accountant’, ‘marketer’, etc.

I recently spoke with an author whose book came out about five years ago and she asked if she could still call herself an author. I’m sure you can guess what my response was (hell, yeah).

So why is it so hard for creatives to step into and own their creative identity?

The thing at the base of it is around mindset beliefs. The ones that limit us, that block us and the ones that hold us from becoming who we really want to be.

During the masterclass and the exercises within, I noticed a shift. A very powerful shift where the writers and artists stopped qualifying their identities with words like ‘aspiring’ or ‘trying to be’. They began to claim who they are, right now, without waiting for permission. That minimising language (’just’, ‘only’ …) began to loosen and dissolve. Hurrah!

It was a great masterclass that had a good half hour of Q&A at the end. I am always so energised afterwards when I have borne witness to mindset shifts.

One participant said it perfectly: I’ve been waiting for someone to tell me I’m allowed to call myself a writer. I just realised the only person who can give me that permission is me.

Here are some notes from the masterclass and exercises that may help you to make some shifts in what you call yourself.

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“When can I actually call myself a writer/artist?”

After publication?
After payment?
After someone with authority tells me I’m allowed?

Here’s what I’ve learned: You’re waiting for permission that will never come.

Not because you’re not good enough, but because creative identity doesn’t work that way.

You don’t earn your identity through achievement. You claim it through practice.

And then everything else follows.

The cost of unclaimed identity

When you wait for external validation before owning your creative identity, several things happen:

• You don’t prioritise your creative work because you don’t see yourself as a “real” creative.

• You abandon projects when they get difficult because you lack identity-based resilience.

• You don’t share your work because you haven’t claimed the right to be seen.

• You stay stuck in the loop of “not yet, not ready, not good enough.”

What changes when you claim it

When KP joined last month’s group coaching masterclass, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to write. She had a few ideas but felt scattered and stuck.

‘I kept circling around my ideas, waiting for one to feel right.’

During the session, through group discussion and coaching prompts, she realised how to shape her story. She got off the call and immediately began planning her project – and later called to thank me, saying the masterclass gave her the breakthrough she’d been waiting for.

‘For the first time, I knew exactly what to do next – and I couldn’t wait to start writing.’

That’s the power of claiming your identity instead of waiting for it. It’s something I see time and time again with my coaching clients and that’s what I want for you too.

Join me for a mindset workshop on creative identity

I’m running a focused 60-minute online workshop exploring exactly this: Your Creative Identity: A Mindset Workshop for Writers and Artists

When: Monday 10 November 12.30-1.30 pm AEDT

Where: Online via Zoom

Investment: $20 AUD

What we’ll cover:

• The three identity blocks that keep creatives stuck

• Mindset shift 1: From product to practice (you’re a writer because you write, not because you’re published)

• Mindset shift 2: From comparison to curiosity (other people’s success doesn’t diminish your identity)

• Mindset shift 3: From waiting to claiming (identity comes first; validation follows)

• Daily practices that strengthen your creative identity

We’ll do live exercises, you’ll craft your own identity statement, and there’ll be 15 minutes for open Q&A.

Register here

Spaces are limited to keep it intimate.

This is for you if:

• You qualify your creative identity with “aspiring” or “trying to be”

• You wait for external validation before calling yourself a writer/artist

• Comparison to other creatives leaves you feeling inadequate

• You want to build creative practice from a foundation of identity, not insecurity

You are already a creative

Not because of what you’ve achieved.

Not because someone gave you permission.

But because of who you are and what you practice.

This workshop will help you believe that.

See you there,
x Meg

Register now

All registered participants receive a recording of the event and a resource sheet with identity-strengthening practices to continue the work beyond the workshop.

Subscribe now

Yesterday, I did something I’ve been dreaming about for a long time. I gathered people from my creative community together.

Two years and three days ago, I took a leap of faith. I started Retreat with Meg with a simple vision: create spaces where people could show up for their creativity, their stories and their growth. I didn’t know exactly what it would become, but I trusted the process. The retreats were the beginning of something wonderful for me and so many creatives.

Yesterday, my inaugural Let’s Gather brought together past and present clients –people who’ve attended retreats, members of my Creative Empowerment Program, those I’ve coached, writers whose stories I’ve edited, and everyone who’s shown up to Writing Momentum sessions. Different doors, different journeys – but all those who could come in the same room for the first time.

As I looked around that room, watching the conversations unfold, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Over the last two years, in addition to the editing I was already doing and retreats, I’ve added more ways to help writers: 1:1 and group coaching, regular workshops, a podcast and more. I undertook further study in mindset and life coaching, and in group dynamics. I stretched my wings, reminding myself yet again that when I take risks – like jumping off metaphorical cliffs – I have wings and it’s always an exhilarating ride.

The numbers still astonish me:

• 137 people attended 30 free events

• 11 writing retreats

• 56 people attended my retreats (11 returned for more)

• 460+ hours of one-on-one coaching with 112 clients

• 18 people completed the Creative Empowerment Program

• 11 group coaching sessions

• 340,000+ words of stories edited

• 10 podcast episodes

But yesterday wasn’t about the numbers, though those numbers still astonish me. It was about the people behind them. Each person came to me through different doors: retreats, coaching, editing, Writing Momentum sessions, or free events. Different journeys, but all seeking the same thing – space to become who they’re meant to be as creatives.

What I’m grateful for:

• Clients who trusted me with their stories, their growth, their most vulnerable creative work.

• The courage it takes to say “yes” to yourself.

• Watching people discover they’re part of something bigger than their individual journey.

• Building a community where connection and creativity fuel each other.

While I’ve had the gift of witnessing each person’s journey, they haven’t always had the chance to see each other to realise they’re part of something bigger than their individual experience. Yesterday changed that.

We shared a journal where people reflected on their year of creativity. Some signed their names. Some used initials. Some anonymous. All of it mattered. All of it belonged.

The energy in that room – the recognition, the warmth, the creative spark when people who’d never met discovered their parallel journeys – that’s what happens when you trust your intuition and create the spaces you wish existed.

Two years ago, I didn’t know if anyone would come. Yesterday, I looked around at the great conversations people were having and thought: we’re just getting started.

Thank you to everyone who’s trusted me with your creativity, your growth, your stories. Thank you for saying “let’s” with me.

Let’s Gather is now a twice-yearly tradition – because community isn’t built in isolation. It’s built in rooms like yesterday’s, where we finally see each other.

If you’ve been curious about Retreat with Meg (2 spots open for November 20-23 at Karma in Kinglake) or the Creative Empowerment Program (3 coaching spots available now), reach out. I’d love to talk about what might be possible for you.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is trust the leap.

x M

This newsletter is for my paid subscribers who may be keen to put their words out into the world. The upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer.

Read more

Have you ever noticed how isolation makes everything harder? The blank page looms larger. Self-doubt grows louder. That project you were excited about last month now sits untouched in a drawer.

Here’s what I’ve learned: this isn’t a personal failing. It’s neuroscience.

Our brains are literally wired for connection. When we try to create in isolation, we’re working against our own biology.

Last week, in my monthly group coaching masterclass, I explored creative communities with the group, and what emerged was so powerful that I wanted to share some of that with you here – whether you attended or not.

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This newsletter is for you to take what you need. There are upcoming writing residencies, fellowships, opportunities and competitions that are correct at time of publishing and a writing prompt to take into your writing.

I’ve done the work hunting around for places to submit so you don’t have to. I hope there is something for you or something you can pass onto another budding writer.

This issue is a bumper one again with loads of places to submit your writing to.

This newsletter is a perk for my paid subscribers.

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