Writing is often seen as an isolating craft, but for local authors John Snowdon and Shane Worrell, the written word is building profound connections.The men are among five regional writers chosen to take part in this month’s Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne.The annual event brings together writers for professional development and to create links with editors, publishers, agents and readers.Both say they hope the opportunity will open doors for their work that may not occur within Bendigo’s literary community.For Shane, his debut novel Tom Climbs the Fence – released last year – has already made a big impact, both on the writer and his readers.“The standard good response is it’s a page tuner but at the same time it’s really hard to read and to me that means I’ve done a good job and probably given the issue what it deserves,” Shane says.The novel, set in Bendigo, is about the realities of drug addiction and how it affects those closest to the drug user. Although it’s a fictional work, it’s based on Shane’s experiences of supporting his sister through her own addictions.“She had a heroin addiction for years, along with other drugs, as well as alcohol,” he says.“She committed suicide in 2007. She’d gone through the same stuff that’s in this book for ten years.“In the aftermath of it all I was able to think clearly about what happened.“I was able to think that there’s not really a lot of understanding or information about how those kinds of things affect the family members of people with an addiction.“I thought if I could get a lot of those things out on paper and put the experience in writing it would not only help me deal with it but also help others understand the reality of it.”Shane has achieved his goal, plus supported his own theory that the best novels should have something big to say, rather than be merely entertainment. Which sets some high standards for a follow-up book.The Bendigo Advertiser sub-editor is in the thick of a second novel and says the Emerging Writers Festival has come at a good time for him to progress with the work.“Just the opportunity to speak to more experienced writers and the opportunity to look at how they’ve gone about taking the whole writing process through to the end will be great,” he says.John Snowdon is part-way through a novel as part of a PhD with La Trobe University. He says although the book will serve an academic purpose, he is hoping the festival will open up publishing opportunities.John returned to study at university after completing the Professional Writing and Editing course at BRIT. The music teacher at Bendigo Senior Secondary College says he’s always been a writer, it just took backstage to other commitments for many years. “I trained with John Fairfax in the 1970s as a proof reader. I left when I was replaced by a computer – replaced by the Harris 2200,” he smiles.“For me, I didn’t want to retrain as a computer operator, so I worked as a music teacher for many years.“I changed my mind a few years ago and did the TAFE course. “One thing that’s been great about returning to study has been having good teachers and mentors.”John credits Ian Irvine at BRIT and Sofia Ahlberg and Sue Gillett at La Trobe for encouraging his creativity.John’s novel, The Margin, spans from the 1940s to modern times and is based upon a historical relationship between a musician and a bohemian artist: Eugene Goosens and Rosaleen Norton.“It asks, can the modern-day couple make it? Can they overcome the barriers that Norton and Goossens faced?,” John says.The topic can’t easily be summed up in a newspaper article. John opens a notebook of ideas he will present at the Bundoora La Trobe campus later that day. Written in long hand.“The idea of a creative PhD is quite poorly understood at the moment,” he says, adding he is one of just four local students undertaking such a task.PhDs aside, it will be as a published novel that The Margin will ultimately be read and understood, something John hopes the festival will help him achieve.For information on the Emerging Writers Festival, including the full program of events, go to www.emergingwritersfestival.org.auShane Worrell’s novel can be purchased at Collins Booksellers or online at tomclimbsthefence.com