Final day........Planning for Success

Festival programme

I've been a very good girl and gone back into my last post and added all the links I should have done the first time round (tiredness is my excuse).

I am now home, still tired, and it will take me a while to digest everything I learned at Winchester Writers' Festival.

The final masterclass was with Simon Hall entitled Planning go Success which left me wondering afterwards whether I should just re-draft my novel after all he said! Seriously, it was brilliant. He went through everything a writer should do to get published, what he calls the Six P's - Premiering, Place, People, Plot, Professionalism and Persistence, all of which add up to the Big P - Publication. Simon had us doing little written exercises and then at one point he had us all close our eyes. None of us knew what he would be doing which created suspense (which is what he wanted). He kicked a chair over, he sprayed (over our heads) his cologne and deodorant and breathed on the back of some heads. Wow! He told us he once got a friend to tie him up and put him in the boot of his car and drive him around so he could see what it felt like -- what he could hear etc. (What would have happened if the friend had been pulled over by the Police, I wonder - 'Yes, sir, and you say he asked you to do it? Of course, sir!)

The session was very interactive and Simon was great at creating those 'tension spots' by starting or saying something that he would go back to later, so it leaves everyone wondering. He does write thrillers, so he's good at this. Simon went into great detail about each 'P' and I think the whole class got tons out of it. Before any break time he'd set a little puzzle. Most were lateral thinking, which I am hopeless at. The logical ones I'm better at - it's the way my mind works.

So, it may be a few days before I get back to my writing. The novel will sit for a bit longer yet. I think some deep mulling is required to take in everything I have learned before I go and edit again. I need to catch up on sleep first because my brain will not work on short rations! A great, if exhausting, weekend and I'm so proud of myself for actually plucking up the courage to go.

My purchases

It's nearly all over....Winchester Writers' Festival

My room for the weekend

I am recovering after a very grueling day at The Winchester Writers' Festival. This should have been the easier day but somehow it ended with me feeling washed out and a headache borne out of lack of sleep over the days, information overload and two one-to-ones. But don't misunderstand me - I am exhausted but happy!

I arrived on a beautiful warm sunny Thursday and dragged my suitcase from the station to Winchester University and checked in somewhere around 3pm. Anyone who has been to Winchester Uni will know when I say that the accommodation is up a steep hill and through various parts of the General Hospital! There was no shuttle bus for Thursday arrivals so it was a walking job. Tough. A student also here for the weekend was trailing her case up the hill so we joined forces, ended up in the wrong building and some kind lady told us where our accommodation was.

I have to say, though basic, I love my room. I have a desk by the window - bliss - and I brought a few home comforts - kettle, tea bags, treats! After unpacking I headed off down into the City and to my favourite cafe, Eighteen 71, and had a cream tea. Then I went for a short walk along the river Itchen and sat for half an hour listening to it flow past. Second bliss of the day!

There was no dinner laid on that night but I had some food with me, so no problem. I headed over to the pub opposite where 'Thursday arrivals' were apparently meeting for networking. When I arrived I couldn't see anyone with badges. Then I spotted them all outside. There were no seats left and I'm afraid that out of my comfort zone (entering a pub on my own) I did a runner! I later found out I wasn't the only one to do that.

Friday was the masterclass I had chosen 'Polishing and Perfecting Your Finished Work' with Lizzie Enfield. Thank goodness I made notes because already I'm having difficulty remembering what we did! We looked at structure and plot, frameworks, viewpoint, themes, getting feedback, literary consultants and the final edit. We did some exercises including writing a bio about us and our novel in 50 words and writing two or three 'book club' questions about our novel. I learned a lot from it, while also confirming that some of the things I'm doing are right.

There were plenty of breaks for coffee and time to look at the book fair and all day one-to-ones were running. My first one-to-one came just after lunch. I was seeing Liz Bonsor from the Blair Partnership. Sitting outside the room where all the agents were was like sitting in the waiting room at the dentist. You could feel the tension! I thought I'd clam up and not be able to speak but Liz put me at my ease and I was amazed that she liked my writing. She suggested a couple of things and said when I was ready to send it out to agents to include her agency. I was on cloud nine and floated out of there. That alone made my weekend.

After dinner, where I met another great bunch of people, I went off to hear Julian Stannard read from his latest poetry collection The Street of Perfect Love (which I bought from the book fair) and Carole Burns from her book The Missing Woman.

Today was another early start with a nine o'clock keynote speech from Sebastian Faulks who was brilliant, amusing and informative. He pitched his talk so well for us writers and fledgling writers. After that there were a series of talks to attend. My first one was 'Do I Need A Literary Agent' with David Headley. It was interesting to hear what an agent actually did and how his agency works with writers to get the best deal. I should say that all the talks lasted about an hour. My next choice was 'Why I Won't Read Past The First Page of Your Manuscript' with Scott Peck. He was so funny but very informative, though many I think felt quite despondent afterwards! He was honest. Simple things like keeping to guidelines to me are obvious, but not to some it seems. Why make things even more difficult for yourself? It's bad enough without ruling yourself out from the start.

After lunch I had my one-to-one with Julian Stannard. I was more nervous about this than I expected. I'd hardly considered my poetry at the time because I was so keyed up about my novel. At first I wasn't altogether sure I really agreed with what he said. At times I felt he was trying to make me write they way he does, but there were other aspects I understood. He was quite radical and I wondered why no one had said these things before. I found his one-to-one more stressful and more personal, yet I felt I was really getting something here if I allowed myself to 'get over myself'! My first thought was I need to write differently, I need to 'massacre my babies'! It was all quite daunting and I left feeling I been through some traumatic experience. In fact my next talk was his, entitled 'Cut. Cut, Cut'. He knew I was coming! Disappointingly there were only five of us. Three then left to go to one-to-ones and the other person booked the talk thinking it was on editing fiction. I was the only poet there! Talk about stressful. Even so, it was good to do. Leaving there I got to my final talk 'Means to an End' with Adrienne Dines' on how you get from start to finish in a novel. I was struggling and longed to just come back to my accommodation and sleep! It was a good session though, well worth attending.

I wasn't longlisted in the poetry competition and as I hadn't opted for the big festival meal I took the shuttle bus back to my room and went to bed to recover! Not that I slept. I needed to think a few things through and get ready for tomorrow.

The masterclass tomorrow is 'Novel Writing: Planning for Success' with Simon Hall but I need some serious sleep, My brain won't switch off at night! However, I am so glad  I took the plunge and came here. I've met some lovely people and had a chance to discuss writing with like minded people which is so good. The authors and agents giving talks are so supportive.

I am wondering if when I get home (I leave straight after the masterclass tomorrow) I will even feel like writing for a while! However, I have started a complete re-draft of the poem Julian gave me feedback on. It was hard to cut all those lines!

Here are a few pictures of my time here:

Cream tea at Eighteen 71

Winchester University

River Itchen, Winchester

View from my window

My accommodation

Countdown to the Winchester Writers' Festival and the agonies of indecision

My welcome pack from the Winchester Writers' Festival

It's countdown time to the Winchester Writers' Festival and I'm thinking - shall I take a case or a rucksack? Do I need the battery for my laptop (I always use it on the mains and the battery is in the attic, though according the techie son it should be in the fridge, or is it the freezer, to preserve it). I also went through the agonies of whether it would be easier to buy a tablet or ipad, which would be lighter to carry, but got totally confused and then realised how expensive they are. I actually like the Surface Pro 3 but don't want to spend all that money. So I have been in a quandary. In the end I've decided to take my laptop, probably minus the battery (when would I use it, in lectures?). I don't think I'll have time to use my laptop only in my room (ensuite in the student accommodation). The programme is so full I can't see me even using it!

Having never been to anything like this, I have no idea what to expect. The whole thing is a learning curve. My welcome pack arrived last week and I devoured it several times. The advice for the one-to-one appointments is 'be prepared' (very Boy Scoutish). Am I prepared? Hell, no! I don't know what to ask. What will I be asked? I sent my manuscript off some weeks ago, along with my poem (which I've hardly given a thought to because I'm freaked out by meeting a Literary Agent). Of course I have my own copy of the first chapter, letter and synopsis (the full thing is on my laptop) which I will take with me to the meeting. I suppose I should prepare somehow but I have no idea how to do that. Anyone with any advice, now it the time leave a comment. I'm in dire need of reassurance and anything else you consider to throw at me!

As I hadn't really asked for birthday presents as such (it my 60th last week) I then suggested that I could do with a laptop case if I wasn't buying a tablet etc., so I now have a nice purple one with carrying handles, strap and a couple of compartments, yet it is light to carry.

I'm getting my hair cut on Monday in honour - well it needs it, otherwise I'll end up hacking chunks off the fringe. Then there is the wardrobe. I haven't booked for the award prize night meal, though I understand there are still tickets available. I haven't yet decided whether to purchase one. The total expense of the weekend was a shock and I have to consider it an investment to justify it.

Away from the anxieties of the forthcoming festival I have been writing like mad on my latest project and am edging towards the half way mark. I have fallen in love with some of my characters, strangely the 'not so nice ones'. They are so much more fun to write, or is that just me? Some days I've slogged out my words and others it's just all fallen into place. This morning I sat down and roughed out by hand some forthcoming scenes and feel reasonably happy with them. They will be filled out and added to when I type them up.

Poetry really has taken a back seat. I only have one set of poems out there. I've heard nothing and actually wonder if I should just think them rejected. The results of all the competitions I entered have been announced and I wasn't there, even in the long list. I've also taken a look at my poetry and wonder whether I am actually good enough. Maybe I'm kidding myself if I think I'll ever get a pamphlet published or a poem published in a good, well known magazine. I feel rather fed up with it all, but because I am writing fiction I've not really thought too much about it. I've just decided to leave it alone for now. When I do write poetry it's now often humorous and I share it with my Facebook friends. I did write a couple using my 'random word' method and shared one with the OU Poets on Facebook and another with  Facebook friends. The OU poets thought the idea of random words was great.

The last thing I've been thinking about is trialing Scrivener. It looks like a great programme, if you can get your head around it. I think I might give it go once I've recovered from my weekend away. It might help me organise my writing better. Too many decisions....I never was good with decisions and all I can agree on right now is the decision not to make a decision yet about anything!

Panic over the first chapter

Having a bit of a panic. Okay, quite a major one. I looked at the first chapter of my first novel today and am now thinking - do I have time to re-write it? I wonder if it's because I've read it so many times that I'm over familiar with it. Yet, there's other bits I still love to read.

I have borrowed a book from the library entitled Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress. I am finding it very useful and am currently reading through the second chapter. My first scene, I think, fits the criteria mentioned. My second scene, I'm not so sure about and this is the bit I think I might try and work on, My first chapter is very short (it is the first chapter I have to submit in advance of the Winchester Writer's Festival for my one-to-one). I wonder if my chapter break is right. Is my first chapter enough? All these things are going through my head. Then I decided that the likelihood of my novel being picked up by this agent are pretty slim (confidence going down), so perhaps I should just use this experience for the feedback I will get. This, after all, is the first full length novel I have written. The more you write the better you become - hopefully. People frequently write several novels before one makes it.

Meanwhile, I have been working on the synopsis and the covering letter. I think both are about there, or the best I can achieve for a first time. I know I'm not alone in these feelings, but sometimes it feels like it. The sad fact is that I put a lot of my thoughts here because I have to have somewhere to sound off. I'm sure my family and my friends are sick of me going on about 'things of the writing persuasion'. Unless you write you cannot understand the high and lows, how you beat yourself up about things and convince yourself that you deserve to be in the slush pile.

Moan over for today! I'll take another look at my first chapter. I really want to get my submissions in next week. I've barely thought about the poem I will submit for my other one-to-one. Still, after all this, sending a poem will be doddle. Or will it?!

This is what I'm doing

I have been obsessively writing over the last two weeks. I have gone back to an earlier project and aim to finish it by the end of summer, hopefully. More on that at a future time.

This lunchtime I actually wrote a short poem. It's been some time since I did that as poetry has taken a back seat lately. It's just a wee little thing:

Untitled

I seek the light place
where sun streams,
warming skin,
bringing life to flesh and bone.
Blood bubbles and flows
as I unravel, stretch like a cat,
settle like a lizard, heating up.


I have subscribed to two magazines to get an insight into what is being written and published in the small press, getting to know new writers. Bare Fiction is one, Brittle Star is the other. I have to admit that to save money I opted for the online version of Bare Fiction. This could be a mistake as I tend to forget about them and find the next issue comes along and I've not read the last. I much prefer something to hold and take with me, to snuggle up with. But I must make the effort.

Brittle Star arrived this morning. I love it's size. I could stick it in my handbag. I've already started reading it. It contains fiction, poetry and articles and I like what I see.

I've subscribed to a couple of blogs too, but the biggest thing I've done lately is to book a place at the Winchester Writer's Festival in June. I've wanted to go along for years, but it is only in the last year that I have started writing fiction again, so it didn't seem worth it before. There was little for poets. Of course in September was the fantastic inaugural Winchester Poetry Festival which I attended. I'm pleased to say that is back for this year. Anyway, I decided that this was the year to try the Writer's Festival. Am I ready, I ask myself. Hopefully. I've booked two workshops and a full programme of talks. I have also taken the step of booking two one-to-ones (very scary). The first is with an agent, the second with a poet. I am now frantically putting together a synopsis for my first novel (still in editing mode) and a covering letter. I've had to research both as I've never done them before. These things have to be submitted before the festival. I also have to submit a poem in advance. All this is new to me and I am, to say the least, very nervous.

If you are going to the festival too, let me know.

Finally, I have found a competition for my piece of writing that has so far fallen between the categories, due to its word count. The Penny Dreadful is running a Novella competition (open for entries on 1st June). I shall be submitting!

See you next time.