5 minutes with Daniel Car

1. What did you study at RMIT and what attracted you to that program? 

I first studied the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing (PWE) and followed that with the Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing). What brought me to PWE was that it was geared towards career/professionals and had a mature, engaged cohort. I followed with the Bachelor because I came to understand just how immense the world of storytelling is and wanted to increase my scope.

2. What is your business all about? 

At The Write Stuff, I work with authors to help their words shine. I want the stories, characters, emotions, and worlds to land on the page in their most effective form. The goal is doing so in a way that doesn’t hijack or dimmish the authors hard-written words.

3. Where do you see your business in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years I would love The Write Stuff Editing to have expanded into a well-established team equipped to carry an author’s manuscript from draft to print – layout, cover design, and all. Australia needs more authentic small publishers to promote independent and emerging authors and I would love to be a part of that. A Masters of Publishing may be on my horizon. 

4. How has studying at RMIT prepared you to run your business? 

My degrees each had a focus on group workshopping, where I learned what it was like to have my own beloved writing scrutinised and critiqued by others, and where I refined my ability to give fair, considered, constructive feedback.
PWE in particular gave me hard skills in editing which led to internships and eventually to editing work with various publishing houses. I also built the first iteration of my professional website and social media pages as part of the course.
RMIT left me with connections to industry professionals that I can contact with queries and who are always willing to support me.

5. What advice would you have offered yourself when you first started your business? 

It takes constant work to get a business rolling, but there’s no work more satisfying than the work you’ve done for yourself. Keep thinking, planning, dreaming, and talking about your business goals, and it’ll pay off.

6. Where do you find inspiration for your designs? 

Overwriting. There are various forms of overwriting, but they all come down to the author not trusting their reader enough. The words on a page come to life in the reader’s imagination; brilliant minds have again and again told us that a story (fiction or nonfiction) is completed by its reader. There needs to be space around the words on the page to let the reader build their own connections with the writing. That is where the magic takes place.