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| The Wonderful world of Winchester Writers |
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Writing is a solitary and sometimes lonely business and so it was with excitement and trepidation that I set off to King Alfred's College in Winchester for a three day residential Writers' Conference. The programme of events was huge and completing the application form took almost as long as writing a novel! I had opted for a mini course in screenwriting and an extended workshop on writing short stories for women's magazines - two areas that I'm not overly familiar with. By the end of the screenwriting course I had the characters and basic outline for a TV drama as well as a whole new vocabulary including such terms as "treatment" and "tag line" - it was totally exhilarating. In the evening I went to learn about women's magazine fiction and was amazed at how prescriptive it is and how the various publications differ in what they will and will not accept. The general rule seemed to be nothing too gritty, nothing controversial and a nice happy ending. Not really my style. After a brief visit to the Student Union where I sat with my mouth half open in a state of utter exhaustion, I collapsed in my student bed and was too tired to worry about the ants marching about on the window sill (I had had a stem word with them earlier and told them not to go on the bed and they seemed to listen!)
On Saturday I had booked up for four lectures but only attended one which was actually a very practical workshop and showed us how so much can be expressed in plays without words - a lesson in what not to write, so to speak. The other lectures were up squillions of flights of stairs and having done more than my fair share of stair-climbing the day before my joints told me that enough was enough. Although this was a shame, the time was well spent in talking to other delegates and tutors and just being involved in the most incredibly creative and positive atmosphere. The campus literally buzzed with hopes and dreams. There were published writers, total novices and the somewhere-in-betweens like me but everyone was extremely friendly and desperate to share experiences.
On the the Sunday I had the second part of my women's mag fiction workshop. The bit I was dreading. Writing a story. Gulp! However, with some sound feedback from the tutor, I ended up with a piece that she reckons will sell. I've yet to put that to the test but fingers crossed! On the Sunday night I moved to a bed and breakfast in a little village outside Winchester for an intensive course in Writing for Children, which was running from Monday to Friday. We were a small group of six and had a really diverse week's tuition. The best day was the Wednesday when we were visited by the commissioning Editor of Little Tiger Press who publish children's picture books. This was another genre I hadn't considered but by the end of the day I had a rough draft of a storyline and have since come up with two more. I also got the chance to read a section from the children's novel I'm writing and got very positive feedback.
It was the most fantastic week. I met some incredible people (and am still in touch with three of them) and learnt a phenomenal amount, but more than that I gained confidence, an insight into my own strengths and weaknesses and was introduced to a world of possibilities.
Since Winchester I have finished the first draft of my novel, two picture book storylines and have a multitude of ideas buzzing around my head. Unfortunately, ideas and drafts don't pay much so to keep a roof over my head I am using my degree in English to good effect and offering private tuition for Key Stage 3 and above. If anybody knows a young person who needs help with their English, please point them my way!
Jane Martin - Struggling Writer |
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The Wonderful world of Winchester Writers
