2025 Stella Prize Longlist: Reflections

Michelle de Kretser, author of Theory & Practice, reflects on her writing routine.

What are the things you cannot write without? 

A Frenchman once enquired about my writing routine. On hearing my answer, he said, scandalised, that I’d described the life of a public servant, not the life of a writer. I asked what the life of a writer looked like, and he gave a rambling answer that came down to sporadic bouts of impassioned writing, night and day, in the grip of inspiration. So now you know what you should aspire to, if you wish to live like a writer and not like a public servant, and if your writing practice fits my French friend’s template, I’m truly pleased for you.

            As for me, the words only arrive through the dreary discipline of showing up at regular times on regular days and working. In this way, I have even known something I think the Frenchman would call inspiration: it’s blessed and it’s rare and it’s produced by the work, not the other way around. It’s also true that I look on public service as a high calling. I would welcome a society in which writing books was viewed as serving the public, and writers were provided with workspaces and paid wages and superannuation. In any case, my inner public servant requires a steady, undramatic work routine – five hundred words a day, five days a week – and I can’t write without it.  

Explore the latest from Stella

Interview: Jaclyn Crupi – 2026 Stella Prize Judge An interview with editor, author and bookseller Jaclyn Crupi. What role do you believe …

This month Stella celebrates The Museum of Modern Love, the winner of the 2017 Stella Prize.  Tell us about your relationship with …

Interview: Sophie Gee – 2026 Stella Prize Chair of Judges An interview with academic, author and podcast host, Sophie Gee. What role …

Help change the story

As a not-for-profit organisation with ambitious goals, Stella relies on the generous support of donors to help fund our work.

Every donation is important to us and allows Stella to continue its role as the leading voice for gender equality and cultural change in Australian literature.

Stella is a not-for-profit organisation with DGR status. All donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible.