Swanwick: S Day minus 1

Every year, during the second week in August, around 300 writers gather in Swanwick for the Writers' Summer School, which has been running for more than sixty years. I don't think any of the current delegates having been going from the very beginning — but some have been attending for the past twenty or thirty years. They talk about 'the magic of Swanwick' and reminisce about the days before the rooms were upgraded to en-suite facilities and all the walkways between the conference rooms were roofed in. Throughout the year, regular attendees keep in touch via Facebook and the Swanwick monthly newsletter. They yearn for tea and cakes on the lawn; the chance to catch up with old friends; and the opportunity to peruse new releases in the book room.

I first attended Swanwick in 2006 and, frankly, found the whole experience rather overwhelming. There was a small group of us, all white-badgers (as first-timers are called) who alternated between throwing ourselves into everything that was going on (until exhaustion took over around day 4) and trying to keep out of trouble (not laughing at the serious bits or being late for notices or meal-times). It felt rather like moving to the ‘big school’ for the first time.

I returned in 2008 and 2009, during which time I learnt to be more selective about the timetable and allowed myself some down-time during the week.  I also presented a session on writing as a small business. In 2010, I managed just one day and two nights; last year, I missed Swanwick altogether due to pressure of the day-job.

This year I am returning for the whole week. This time tomorrow, I will be on a train heading towards Derby and the Hayes Conference Centre. I am looking forward to meeting old friends once more — and getting to know writers that I have so far only ‘met’ via Facebook. I am also presenting another session on the business of writing and leading a write-around hour. For the first time, I am attending not as a part-time writer of non-fiction, taking time out of the day-job, but as a full-time writer; so this year, Swanwick is part of the day-job.

I don’t know whether I will come away from Swanwick talking about magic and counting the days to next year; I do know that I’m going to enjoy the opportunity to ‘work, rest and play’ with lots of other writers over the next week - and that I will return home full of energy and ideas.

Time Management for Grasshoppers

I've been thinking a lot about time management recently.

I've been a writer for three months now. Well - that's not strictly true - I've been a writer for a long time and a published author for nearly fifteen years. However, at the end of March, I 'retired' from technical consultancy in order to write full-time.

This week, I got the opportunity to write my first guest blog, thanks to Susan Howe and The Long and The Short of It. http://howesue.wordpress.com/ I used it to write about some of the lessons I'd learned about writing. They turned out to centre on how I manage my time. At the same time, discussion threads on a couple of my Facebook Group talked about dealing with distractions and other aspects of time management.

I would classify my approach to life as that of a grasshopper. I've been working in an industrial setting for more than thirty years; I've co-run a small business for the past twenty years. I get involved in other activities at the drop of a hat and jump from one thing to another as they take my interest. I couldn't have done that without learning to manage my time. So here are my top tips:

1. Your diary is a critical tool. I use an A5 hard copy one, which will fit in my handbag. I've tried electronic formats, but they don't work for me. I need to be able to flick through the pages.(That's probably age-related). Decide which format suits you - and keep it with you at all time.
2. Your diary needs to be flexible, as priorities will change. If it's electronic, it can easily be updated. In my hard copy, I use pencil, NEVER pen - and I always have an eraser handy.
3. Periodically run through your To Do list (you do have one, don't you?) and check progress. I prepare a monthly one as a Mind Map, with daily ones on scraps of paper if I am particularly pressured for time. The monthly one is a brain dump and often helps to reduce any feelings of stress over having too much to do.
4. Learn to distinguish between items with a deadline, which are your MUSTS and those which can be moved around or pushed back, which are your WANTS.
5. When a MUST needs to be achieved, learn to ignore all the WANTS and concentrate on just one thing. Chances are, you will achieve it quicker and better that way.
6. When you've cleared the immediate MUSTS, you can go back to the WANTS. This is when I release the inner grasshopper and let her play for a while.

Flashing in Worcester

Last week, I received an email telling me that I was shortlisted in the Flash Fiction competition running in Association with the Worcestershire Literary Festival. Yesterday, I joined other finalists in reading our entries before the winners were announced.

I didn't make the top three, but still had great fun reading my story and listening to all the others. The ten short-listed entries can be found here: http://www.worcslitfest.com/see-the-finalists-flash-fiction-entries-here/.

Congratulations to Amy Rainbow for a winning entry that reduced the entire audience to tears; well-done to all the finalists; and thanks to the organisers - especially Lindsay, Calum and Polly.

Welcome to the Party!

Hello there; glad you could make it - welcome to the launch party. Leave a comment to say 'hi'. Email us for your glass of bubbly, gift voucher and entry to the prize draw: editors@chudleighphoenix.co.uk

Virtually a Party!

Tomorrow Sharon Cook and I will be throwing open all the rooms in our electronic house and holding a virtual party to celebrate the launch of Life is Not a Trifling Affair as an ebook.

Since we launched this first collection of short stories at the Chudleigh Literary Festival last July, we've had great fun learning about marketing, promotion and selling. We've held a pre-Christmas book fair, sold copies on Amazon, persuaded local libraries to stock it and started working our way through all the local book shops and gift shops. We've had some great feedback and we're pleased with the sales to date.

Now we're taking it one step further and have converted 'Trifles' to an ebook. It's available in formats to suit all sorts of devices. You can find it here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127377

We will be partying tomorrow on Facebook, on Twitter, on Skype and here on the blog. Drop by for a glass of fizz, some cool music, discount vouchers and a prize draw with the chance to win your own copy for free.

Chain Letter with Currants

Ten days ago, a dear friend knocked on our door and proudly handed my husband a small food container and a sheet of instructions. This was our introduction to Herman, the Friendship Cake. Like the ginger beer factory that was doing the rounds when I was a child, it's a yeast mix that needs to be nurtured for several days, fed occasionally, then split into portions - one to be used and the remainder to be handed on to other 'lucky' recipients.

Our heads told us to quietly put it in the bin. Our hearts told us this would be unfeeling and unfriendly. So, we poured Herman into a bowl, grabbed a wooden spoon - and started stirring. Ten days of arguing and worry had begun. To start with, it was just a case of investing a little time - stirring every day and admiring the bubbles that started rising to the surface on day 2. Then on day 4, we were faced with feeding the thing: milk, sugar and self-raising flour. We have a cupboard full of plain flour and different bread flours - but hadn't bought any self-raising flour for years - so bought a small bag specially for this.

Now we'd started investing more than just our time, we faced the fact that in less than a week we would have 5 little Hermans to deal with. I started asking friends if they would like a portion - not wanting to put them on the spot at the last minute. And that's when I found that this thing was sweeping through our little town; everyone I spoke to knew about it - and most of them had already killed at least one so far.

In the middle of one of the busiest work-weeks of the year, I found myself taking time out to try and decide what to do. Flushing down the loo was still a favoured option, but that would mean wasting the ingredients we'd used so far. At one point, I suggested cooking all 5 portions and donating the extras to the church produce stall - until we realised this would involve 15 eggs plus copious amounts of flour, sugar, fruit etc.

I managed to get one friend to agree to take 2 portions - and if she's reading this, going away for the weekend is not a good enough excuse - they'll be waiting for you when you return.

After a second feed on day 9 - yet more milk, sugar and flour, we came to the final stage. At an ungodly hour this morning, we separated it all into different boxes and kept one portion back. As I weighed out the final set of ingredients - trying to ignore the part of my brain that was adding up all the sugar in this thing - I had one final moment of lucidity. There's still time to end this madness. Don't crack those eggs; put the flour back in the cupboard - but too late. As I write this, I can smell cinnamon - it's almost like Christmas. The cake is rising beautifully - and we may even get to share some of it with the friend who started this whole thing for us.

My parents warned me about chain letters when I was very small; I have no problems with hitting the delete button on every petition, sympathy call or other electronic device to draw me in. My head still wonders why we got pulled in to this one. I'll ponder it anew later over a cuppa - with maybe just a little slice of cake.

Anyone fancy giving a home to little Herman?

Literary Festivals

In July 2009, I stood in the sunshine at Dartington Hall and listened to Kay Dunbar describe how Ways With Words had grown from tiny beginnings into the hugely successful event it is today.

We could do with something like that in Chudleigh, I thought!

One month later, at the launch party for Chudleigh Writers' Circle, I suggested we might want to publish our own anthologies at some point - and that we might even have our own literary festival one day. Well - be careful what you wish for!

In November 2010, just in time for the Christmas trade, we published Lavender Chickens, an anthology of work by members of CWC. We have 20+ members and nearly everyone contributed to this anthology. We got a great thrill out of seeing our names in print - and spent our launch day busily passing round copies for everyone to sign. Sales are going well and we may even need to go for a reprint in time for the 2011 Christmas Fayre.

Now, less than two years since that sunny day in Dartington, plans are in full swing for the first Chudleigh Literary Festival. Wanting it to be a real celebration of words, we are catering both for writers and readers. The flyers are ready, tickets are being printed and plans are being made for refreshments and a book store. It will be a tiny event compared with Ways With Words - no competition at all - but from little acorns etc etc.

I will be at Dartington as usual this year, enjoying listening to all the authors - and also picking up tips. The new kid on the block is going to be a fast learner.

Full details of the Chudleigh Literary Festival can be found at: www.chudleighphoenix.co.uk

For details of Ways With Words, see: www.wayswithwords.co.uk