Wow! What a brilliant day at the 5th Get Writing Conference.

Wow! What a brilliant day at the 5^th Get Writing Conference.

 For the second year the conference was held on the De Havilland campus at the University of Hertfordshire. Delegates arrived from 9:00 and left at 18:00 exhausted, but buzzing!

A murmur of excitement began to build as the Atrium filled with delegates, who gratefully sipped a warming cup of coffee to kick start the day before heading into the auditorium for the official welcome and opening address. This was immediately followed by a talk and Q & A session ‘How to Impress Us’ led by John Jarrold, Robert Dudley and Matt Bates. This was an excellent opportunity to ask those questions you’ve always wanted to ask and the delegates did just that, keeping the agents and buyers on their toes.

After another break for refreshments, delegates went off to their selected hour long workshops /talks. Afterward they headed back to the main auditorium for another Talk and Q & A session ‘Beyond the Revolution’ led by Simon Taylor, Marlene Johnson and Gillian Green, who made up our wonderful publishers panel. Once again this was a vibrant session questions came thick and fast - the answers giving us a peek inside the world of the publishing house.

During lunch - a delicious buffet selection there was an opportunity to socialise with the agents, editors, authors and buyers. Also at this time there was a chance to purchase books from Waterstones who joined us for the day and have the books signed by the authors in attendance. 

The Archangel and the White Hart, the new anthology from the VWC edited by Jon Pinnock, was also on sale, many of these were sold on the day, but copies can still be purchased – go to VWC website for details.

Two o’clock had delegates back in the main auditorium for the presentation of the ‘Get Writing’ Cup by Sue Cook to Geoff Guiver for his short story – Muse. This was followed by ‘From Fact to Film and Fiction’ a talk and Q & A session with Sue Cook. Once again this was a lively and animated forty-five minutes.

Then came the scary bit! Pitching to agents or editors. There were two opportunities here: the three minute pitch: John Jarrold, Scott Pack, Robert Dudley, Lyn Vernham and Jane Holland or the five minute ‘super’ pitch: Marlene Johnson, Simon Taylor, Gillian Green and Jonathan Pegg. For this the delegates were gathered, herded and put under starter’s orders. The timer was set, the go was given and the rest was up to the delegate to get the most out of their pitch as they could. Pitching is an art which has to be learnt. It isn’t easy but it can be the moment the bud of your idea begins to bloom. This is only one step in the process of getting published, but one everyone should experience at least once.

Whilst the pitching was going on upstairs those not pitching were engaged in ‘The Hooker’s Story’: keeping readers reading. This talk and Q & A session was run by the wonderful Sarah Duncan. A fantastic session on the skills needed to stop the reader closing the book.

Beautifully ice cold juice was served to quench the thirst of those delegates who were beginning to flag. It did the trick just in time for the next two talks and Q & A sessions. The first was led by Scott Pack, Raymond Tallis and Ian Skillicorn titled 'With the Innovators’ this session took us into the future of the book now we have e-readers like iPads and Kindles. This was an interesting session that inspired and encouraged writers not to be afraid of this technology but to cherish the opportunity to be part of the way forward.

This was followed by the last Q & A with: Lyn Vernham, Sue Moorcroft, Christina Courtenay and Matt Bates. You may have thought by this time that delegates would be exhausted, but no, this wasn’t the case. The questions rained down and the answers were informed and full of passion which encouraged  further questions. The closing address was given by Ian Cundell the Chairman of Verulam Writers’ Circle. 

The whole event covered by Radio Verulam and will be aired on Thursday 24th February at 5:30 by the wonderful Danny and Elizabeth

If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend the conference this year, make sure you don’t miss it next year, it promises to be another fantastic event.

Get Writing 2011 - Tickets on Sale NOW!

Inspired to write? Well if you really love writing, have a dream of becoming a writer or just want to know a little more about writing then Get Writing 2011 might be worth attending.

Verulam Writers’ Circle has been supporting and encouraging writers for more than fifty years and in association with the University of Hertfordshire are pleased to announce their fourth Get Writing conference.

So what do you get for your money? The opportunity to pitch your novel to an agent, editor or publisher. A selection of seminars and workshops to inspire your development. Q & A sessions dig out all the trade secrets of getting your writing from the written page to the published novel. Time to network with authors, editors, agents and publishers during coffee and lunch breaks. And no conference would be complete without the writing competitions. If you would like to find out more click on this link: www.vwc.org.uk

Get Writing 2011
Saturday 19^th February 2011
9:00am – 6:00pm
de Havilland Campus
University of Hertfordshire
Off St. Albans Road West (A1057)
Hatfield.
AL10 9EU

So brush up your writing skills, check it out the website and sign up. What are you waiting for?

A Selection of Talented Writers.

Open Mic Night 25^th November.

Wow! What a selection of talented writers. Twenty five authors turned up at ‘The Goat Inn’, Sopwell Lane, St. Albans to share their work.  The event was part of the National Short Story week and kicked off at 7:45pm with the wonderfully talented comedian, actress and writer Mandy Knight as MC. The pub was alive with laughter, applause and the odd barracking, all in good fun of course. Mandy kept everything in order and to time. 

The occasion was filmed by Kevin Bennett and Ian Cundell. Keep an eye out for an exclusive extract appearing on YouTube soon. 

Authors in order of appearance:

Lesley Eames - Breaking down.
Anne Ellis - Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Ellen Hanns – Waiting (poem).
Dave Weaver – Tweelight .
James Feilding – Untitled.
Ian Cundell – The Flower.
Kevin Bennett – Who’d Have Thought It.
Ellen Hanns– Burgess Hill (extract).
Jon Pinnock – Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens (extract forthcoming novel)
Tim Blinko – The Radiance (extract)
Steve Barley  – West Falkland’s Finest.
Sandra Norval– Libertine On Life (prequel to the novel)
Susanne Stanton  – It’s Time.
Mark Clementson – Secure in the knowledge that everything happens for a reason.
Oscar Windsor-Smith– Charity Begins
Jane Fookes – A trophy of war.
John Goh – The announcement of a new political philosophy.
Tina Shaw – Found one, lost one.
Ian Cundell – Lost Princess.
Toby Frost – Space Captain Smith (extract)
Susan K Franklin – Unwilling Sorceress (extract YA novel)
Nick Cook – Final Draft.
Janet Baldy – Pendulum.
Jenny Barden – To the Ends of the World (extract)
Katie Barron – Blaze, Unmade Bed & Last day (poems)
Simon Bowden – The Manual (extract)
John Spencer – Bill & Al (extract)
Jon Pinnock – Advice re Elephants.

This was a resounding success and bodes well for next year.

Open Mic Night

Open Mic Night
25th November 2010

This is the second Open Mic Night from the Verulam Writers’ Circle. The first was an event full of magic, mystery, mirth and on occasion morbidity, and this year’s experience is shaping up to be just as wonderful.
As part of the annual Short Story Week, the event is being hosted at The Goat, 37 Sopwell Lane, St. Albans, AL1 1RN on Thursday 25th November. Arrival time 7pm the readings begin at 7:30pm expecting to finish around 10:30pm, but don’t hold us to that.

You’ll find us in the front bar, just as you come in the front door, turn left and you’ll find us. The work read will be varied as suggested above and be prepared to laugh, cry and maybe feel fear, but this is all done in short burst, hence the short story element, you will also find a touch of the poetical amongst the creative works on offer. check out their websites.
All of the authors below and around another twenty will be reading their short stories, poetry or any other material they have selected for the evenings entertainment.

Check out these websites for more information on the talent standing up for your entertainment.

Toby Frost – creator of the Space Captain smith trilogy http://spacecaptainsmith.com/
Jon Pinnock – creator of the Mrs Darcy & the Aliens www.mrsdarcyvsthealiens.com
Ian Cundell - Journalist http://www.cundell.net/
Julie Mayhew – creator of the forthcoming 16 Days Since http://juliemayhew.co.uk/
Mandy Knight – comedian & writer http://www.mandyknight.co.uk/
Jenny Barden – her upcoming novel To the Ends of the World http://www.jennybarden.com
Oscar Windsor-Smith http://oscarwindsor-smith.blogspot.com/
Sandra Norval http://www.sandranorval.co.uk/12.html
Steve Barley http://www.stevenbarley.com/
Dave Weaver http://daveweaver-unreal.blogspot.com/

Added to this we have the honour of the amazing Mandy Knight who has agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to MC for us on the night.

So put the address in your Satnav and head on over. You will be in for an evening of great amusement.

Struggling to get the words in the right order?

We all do it, yes, all of us. Even the greatest writers have to juggle each word to ensure each is used to it optimum potential, and of course to check they haven’t used that word too many times.

I recently read a scene from a novel I’m currently working on to the VWC and struggled through the whole thing. It was that terrible it made me laugh with embarrassment, I’m being honest here - it was tragic. Once the audience had also stopped laughing, it really was that bad, the true constructive criticism poured out. The upshot was that all the words were in there but in the wrong order. The ideas were good, but used in the wrong way. It was time to go back to the drawing board.

I attacked this issue in a positive way, after all they liked the ideas, they just needed to be written in a different way – I was up for the challenge. Firstly, I stripped the scene down in to its individual components and then placed them out in front of me. And as I looked, I saw a more coherent way of developing the scene. Now with each section in place I began the rewrite. The words behaved, formed sentences that actually made sense, always a good thing for a sentence, and then those sentences grew in to competent paragraphs. Well, that is what I’m saying now, the proof will be in the reading this coming week.

A little tip: Check to see how many times you use favourite words by using ‘find’ in your word processing package. This will show you how many times you’ve used each word giving you the opportunity to find new and exciting words to replace some of the old favourites. It's surprising how much stronger your work will be.

How useful are writing circles?

That would depend on how good the circle is. So how can you find out?

The best circles will probably have been established for a long while, but this isn’t always the case. I’ve visited some very good ‘New’ circles who have been constructive and forward thinking, but equally, I’ve found some ‘Pat on the Back’ groups – If you are serious about your writing avoid these with a passion.

What attributes should you look for in a good circle?

Established members – new and fledgling members, published authors, active journalists an odd agent or two would be an added bonus. Also invited speakers, manuscript evenings, workshops, good critiquing (constructive criticism, praise where it is needed and guidance on how to move forward), regular meetings with manuscript surgeries.

So what makes an exceptional group?

All of the above plus:  an active online network and forum, run their own conference and links with agents, publishers and editors.

Exceptional groups like this are rare. I’m lucky to belong to one - The Verulam Writers’ Circle. They have been established for over 50 years and have many published authors - fiction and non-fiction. Members can enjoy their online services, which includes online critiquing, information on forthcoming events and much, much more.  They run their own ‘Get Writing’ conferences and weekly meetings which are always inspirational and informative.

The next ‘Get Writing’ conference will be announced soon, I’ll post details when I receive them.

So keep your eyes open for a good writing circle, they really are worth their weight in gold.

SCBWI – Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.

British SCBWI is celebrating 10 years of supporting and encouraging Children’s book writers and illustrators with their third conference.

This year the conference is being held between the 13 -14 November 2010, at The Stripe complex, King Alfred Campus, University of Winchester, SO22 4NR. This is also the venue for the regular Winchester Writers Conference which has now been supporting writers for 30 years and the university offers degrees and MA’s in creative writing.

The SCBWI conference is for writers or illustrators focusing on children’s writing. There are opportunities to have work critiqued, talk to agents, and editors and attend workshops as well as networking with established authors and illustrators.

Not a member of SCBWI? Well that doesn’t matter, the conference is open to anyone working or wanting to develop their work in the children’s genre. Check out the official British SCBWI website for more details and how to book your place.

If you are serious about writing for children this is a brilliant place to start. If you become a member, not expensive, there are many benefits: professional series, networking parties, retreats and much, much more.

If you do go, why not drop us a line and let us know how you got on?