Very Very Short Story

How about this as a writing exercise?

Write a very short story - a Twitter-short story of only 140 characters.

An example from @VeryShortStory is below.

'The power went out. The elevator stopped. In the dark you told me your fears and cried.  The next day you fired me to keep your secrets safe.'

My next challenge is to write one of my own.  Watch this space.

Free writing

In groups we often start with some free writing. The person leading the session will give a series of words, sometimes linked but often not, and we simply write what comes into our heads. If you can't think of anything, you simply write 'I can't think of anything' until something else comes to mind. I find it is much easier to do when being directed by someone else. At home on my own I hardly ever do it.

Today's exercise is free writing.                                       

Write a page about each of the following topics. Banish all distractions and don't worry that you don't know much about the subjects - write what comes into your mind. It isn't a test and nobody else need ever see it. In fact, you never need to read it back. It is surprising, however, what comes out when you do an exercise like this.

So, one page each on:

• Office furniture
• Marilyn Monroe
• The ozone layer
• Swallows
• Christmas decorations

What surprised you?

Did anything spark a memory that you had forgotten about?

Did you get any ideas for a longer piece of work?

Can you make any connections between the five subjects?

Now that you have 'loosened up', is it time to start on some serious writing?

The sounds around us

Writing exercise 23.10.12

I am going to try to do a writing exercise every day.  Here is today's adapted from The Creative Writing Coursebook.

• Write down 5 things you can hear right now.
• List what you associate with those sounds.

Examples:
- a car engine might remind you of being driven to school
- the door slamming might remind you of family arguments
- a dripping tap might remind you of your student days


In a group, this exercise is really interesting as people tend to hear the same things and interpret them differently. It demonstrates the variety of ways in which people relate to and react to the world around them.

Try it on your own. Look at the words you chose to use and look at your associations.
This is YOUR language.
These are YOUR stories.

Ask yourself -

•  is this YOUR unique writing voice?
• are you using cliches, and if so, is there something more original you could say?

Please, try it and let me know how you get on.


I'm going to do this writing exercise right now.

The Full Manuscript

Hello everyone

Since last time we spoke, an agent asked to see my full manuscript.  How happy I was! 

Three weeks later she said it wasn't for her.  How sad I was!

I am currently deciding what to do next. A friend at Mungrisdale Writers has self-published. Her book is called Learning to Tie a Bow by Sarah Hampton. Should I do the same?

What do you all think?

Bel x

The rite of passage

So much has been written about getting rejections from agents and publishers. All I can add it that it is all true. Last time I spoke to my writing-buddy Lizzie Gates (http://authorgym.wordpress.com) I told her that I was despondent. She still maintains that you can’t call yourself a writer and that you mustn’t allow yourself to be down-hearted until you’ve had at least thirty (yes, 30) rejections. My niece Katie Ward, whose lovely book Girl Reading was published by Virago this year, says thirty – and all the rest! To date, I have had four rejections and have not been short-listed for the two debut novel competitions I entered.

So now it’s back to the drawing board. I am looking at my journal and reminding myself of some of the basics:

·         Research the agencies to be sure to approach the right ones

·         Follow their guidelines – to the letter

·         Know which authors/books you liken yourself/your book to (grammar!!)

·         Welcome feedback and don’t be over-sensitive

·         Persevere

·         Use contacts shamelessly (I’ve never been able to do that for anything)

·         Be professional (does that contradict the point above?)

I’m going back to Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook now to continue my quest.

TLC – no not Tender Loving Care!

In May 2011 I sent my first three chapters of Fail Better to The Literary Consultancy for critique. This was a ‘free offer’ to Cumbrian writers with experience of writing and with a low income! How did they know? I waited ages to get it back but when I did I was SO delighted. I wish I could quote everything from the covering letter.

Here are some snippets:

- ‘I’d like to say that I enjoyed reading this extract very much. The complex character of Judith was, at times, reminiscent of Ripley in Patricia Highsmith’s novels; not entirely likeable but definitely compelling!’

- ‘The pace is very strong indeed ..... and there is a solid and worryingly plausible story at play.’

- ‘You ask about genre. Reading this extract, it seems to me the best way to describe it in a pitch to an agent or publisher is to emphasise the pace and story alongside the psychological elements.’

I am now (October 2011) going through the rite of passage of reject letters. In re-reading the whole of the critique from The Literary Consultancy (TLC) I am administering some Tender Loving Care (TLC) to my writing ego.

Thank you, Zoe Strachan for your encouraging words along with constructive critique.

Cambridge Literary Festival

By March 2011 I had become preoccupied with agents and publishers. I chose my birthday present – a weekend at Cambridge Literary Festival in April. My reasons for that choice included:

·         To hear eminent authors speak - I saw/heard P.D. James, Nicola Upson, Dame Antonia Fraser and Robert Goddard

·         To attend a workshop on getting published by Nicola Morgan – that was fab and I later bought her book  www.nicolamorgan.co.uk

·         To attend a workshop on e-publishing – interesting and comforting

·         To soak up the atmosphere – it was lovely and not snobby at all

·         To see whether there were any ‘stalls’ selling stuff (another story for another day, my friends) – there was a book shop and I bought a beautiful blue leather notebook which will record my progress through the next book

·         To see Cambridge as I had never been there before – stunning and well worth a visit

·         To stop and see my sister Georgie on the way back – we spent a happy hour in her garden in the afternoon sunshine

It was a perfect weekend except for a huge shiny milk tanker rolling backwards into my beautiful car on the way there. Nobody was hurt and the driver’s boss paid in full for the repairs with no fuss or argument.