Skip to main content

Portfolio





  online features  



EMPIRE AUSTRALIA ONLINE
(News stories from Aug '12 work experience)
August 17, 2012; Going Underground
August 17, 2012; Love Is In The Air...And In The Cinema
August 17, 2012; Blue Movie In Blu-ray 3D
August 16, 2012; Cirque du Soleil Gets a New Poster And Trailer
August 22, 2012; Festival Separates Itself From the Rest




WRITERS WHO ROCK
September 14, 2012; When We Observe the Wallflower


  print magazines  



EMPIRE AUSTRALIA
October 2012 issue
Classic shot; "Heroes"
Review; "Blade II on Blu-Ray"


  short stories  



SYDNEY MORNING HERALD YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Northern Sydney Regional Winner
2010; "How to Dive"



HSC ENGLISH EXTENSION II MAJOR PROJECT
Short story
2012; "Zelda, Midsummer"
Note: Unavailable until after HSC marking



  short films  


HSC VISUAL ARTS BODY OF WORK
Film, 1/3 in Collected Works
2012; "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known. Chuck Palahnuik"
Note 1: The film is designed to be viewed alongside two other panels (25x watercolour and 25x digital portraits)
Note 2: Film is unavailable for view until after HSC marking.

24/7 YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL
Second place
2008; "Enigma"
Link unavailable.

IFSS Future Filmmaker 2012
Second place
"I am their effort"


  artworks  

(Coming soon)




  novels  



GHOST IN THE FLESH
YA Scifi Thriller
"A long, long time ago in a grey and sad city, a boy was lost. 
He returned as a man to those he loved, and suffering befell them all."
Full synopsis coming soon.




Just a reminder folks, all these works © Nina Newcombe

Popular posts from this blog

D'You Ever Get Those Umpteenth Draft Blues - They're Like the Mean Reds (Or, I Need to Buy HG Wells' Time Machine off Sheldon Cooper)

Say hip hip hooray for absurdly long titles. (And if you didn't catch those references, look here (at 2:50) and here ) I apologise profusely here, boyos. School has been an even greater burden that I'd ever imagined. If I want this mark I've been blabbering about, I am going to need to clone myself. Seriously. It's been a long week since I last spoke to you all and I'm afraid it may be another until I can break above the water. I'm drowning in homework, and core texts that I absolutely despise. In fact, I'm starting to look a little like this: And this glorious situation sparked me with inspiration as gracefully as lightning destroys a palm tree. Inspiration for, well, my blog. *Casts longing glance to manuscript in the corner* As I tried to straighten out my weekend to catch up on all the work I missed when I was sick this week, I realised that Saturday - my devout RETURN revisions day - was being consumed by extra reading/film viewing/art sketching for s

"In 900 Years of Time and Space, I've Never Met Anyone Who Wasn't Important Before" (Problem: Boring Lead, Riveting Supporting Cast)

I received an email the other day from a reader (who wanted to remain anonymous in this post - but we'll call her Sarah) who told me that she was having trouble getting into her protagonist, despite this being her most prominent POV. She is dynamic as many Young Adult characters are, but at the beginning she's anxious and self-doubting because she's in that adolescent phase when you realise everything you know about yourself is completely wrong and you're just starting to discover who you REALLY are. There's not much that makes her like me (or am I kidding myself?) even though I've been in the same position as her. Well maybe not exactly since this is YA SF, but as far as her emotional state goes, I've been through that. But I just feel like she should've developed more by now, and she still feels like a faceless stock character. Bildungsroman is the nature of YA above all, and that relatable trait for the protagonist is necessary. To some extent,

Have we seen the end of action-oriented YA?

Well, have we? A lot of writers struggle with balancing action and suspense with realistic development and emotion. I've received a couple emails about concerns that in writing physical struggles at the forefront, internal conflict plays second fiddle.  In many ways, characters vs. plot  or even the conflict in pleasing your readers vs. pleasing yourself. We get caught up in all the little opinions - agents condemn certain features and talk about the importance of "emotion" and issues relevant to the YA audience, and critics on sites like Goodreads can be absolutely brutal about their preferences.  We as authors have a tendency to reconsider our choices and our work in their desire to be relevant and pleasing and, well, good. But it's all about balance. And I do mean action-oriented   and not action-packed .  All plots have a sense of urgency to them, and that pacing is absolutely vital. It's important not to forgo that in the mistaken