Www
There were two courses which ran parallel to each other during the week:
Monday 27th June
Creating That Novel - The Drive-through Imagination!
Adrienne Dines, Author
Is fiction something we make up or something we write down? Often it feels like the latter – the story is already there, all the experiences that have touched our imaginations interwoven and tangled and we don’t know where to start unpicking. This workshop explored the first steps: deciding on what your story is to be about; how you choose the main character; and how the narration you choose affects both. It took a quick look at the influence of genre on stories and how a new writer might find the genre that best suits him/her. It was very interactive, suitable for beginners and experienced writers, with plenty of light-hearted, ice-breaker exercises to get people thinking!
Tuesday 28 June
From First Draft to Publication
Paul Bavister, Author and Poet
This course was for writers who had completed a first draft and now feltl the need to revise their work towards publication. It was also aimed at those at the planning stage hoping to avoid common pitfalls. Taking a practical approach throughout, it looked at how description can increase empathy for situations, the role of the narrator and the relationships between character and plot, as well as how to create suspense and readability.
Wednesday 29 June
Structuring Your Novel
Allie Spencer, Author
This course explored the fundamental ideas and structure that underpin the fabric of the novel and how these can be harnessed to provide a powerful dynamic in writing. Delegates workshopped the structure of an entire book and looked at how this might be altered/adapted with reference to various genres.
Thursday 30 June
Peopling the landscape
Judith Allnatt, Author
By looking at some fascinating characters invented by great writers through a range of exercises, this course appllied techniques from masters such as Hardy and Gogol, as well as contemporary writers, to develop new characters. It explored how location creates atmosphere, informs plot and impacts upon character and how sometimes place can almost become a character in itself…
Friday 1 July
From inspiration to publication: how to negotiate the choppy waters of the publishing industry
Jake Wallis Simons, Author and Broadcaster
Congratulations: you have written a good book, which is no mean feat in itself. But how do you go about finding a deal? On this course, novelist Jake Wallis Simons gave some insider's tips on making your book attractive to agents, finding the best publishing deal, and what to expect when working with publishers.
Monday 27 June
The Writer’s Guide to the Highways of Children’s Fiction
Sarah Mussi, Author
Have you got a great idea you want to develop? A manuscript you want to get published? Are you just starting out, or well on the way, or stuck on the road wondering how to fix that metaphorical puncture? This workshop aimed to give delegates the tool kit, the roadmap and the companions they needed to drive your narrative straight into the parking lot of publication.
Tuesday 28 June
Writing Marketable Children’s Books
Stephanie Stansbie, Editorial Director, Little Tiger Press and Eleanor Farmer, Editor, Little Tiger Press
Stephanie gave an introduction to writing for children from a publisher’s perspective. She discussed the most common reasons why authors’ manuscripts do not achieve publication, and set the group exercises to help hone work and make it stronger and more publishable.
Wednesday 29 June
Writing for Children - Reaching your dream
Elizabeth Arnold, Author
This course aimed to look at the delegates’ personal targets and help them reach them by considering plot, character and editing from a writer’s point of view.
Thursday 30 June
The Publisher and the Editor: Getting Through the Publisher’s Door and Knowing What’s Inside
Beverley Birch, Senior Commissioning Editor, Hodder’s Children’s Books
What does it take to get a hard-pressed editor to look at your work? What would convince them to consider your book and then take it on? In turn, what does an editor have to do to persuade their colleagues to back their choice, publish a book, and do so successfully? This workshop looked at the detail of publishing decision-making, marketing and selling - a practical exploration of the state of the trade and how work might fit.
Friday 1 July
How to Get Your Writing for Children Published
Paul Bryers, Author
Having worked for many years as a film-maker and novelist, Paul Bryers has recently turned his hand to writing for children and the success of his first novel, ‘Kobal’, led to a five-book deal with Hodder Children’s Books. This workshop, which included a PowerPoint presentation and film clips, was a practical guide to writing for children and young people and how to get published.
