Why I Love My Work...

I was browsing the local newspaper yesterday morning when I came across one of those self-help articles so beloved of copy writers and readers everywhere. The title read: 5 Ways to Enjoy Your Work. Read any book or article on how to write attention-grabbing copy and you will find that titles with numbers in them; lists; and advice on how to improve one's lot are right up there at the top of attention-grabbing topics for blogs, lifestyle pieces and the like.

Planning to be a Pantser

I saw a post on Facebook last week about creativity. Like most of the things I read on the social media platforms, it was very transitory - it floated past my eyes along with messages about book launches, pictures of people enjoying their New Year celebrations, and clips of cute cats/dogs/platypuses (well, there was only one platypus, but it was really cute). So I’m ashamed to say that the author’s name didn’t register with me - and nor, for that matter did the words themselves. But the sentiment must have stuck - as I keep coming back to it. It was a pithy comment about writers needing to stop planning and just let go, to give creativity a chance. (If anyone recognises, the quote, do let me know, I'd love to read it properly.)

#Swanwick66: Snapshots of Day Two

Day two started with a traditional Swanwick breakfast: sausage, hash browns, egg and beans. I tried to convince my neighbour that cooked breakfasts on Sunday contained no calories, but I don't think she believed me! It didn't stop either of us partaking, by the way.

The day is still buzzing round in my head, so here are some snapshots from my short-term memory:

Learning from David Hough that editing can be done in a structured manner (music to this scientist's ears);

Trying to feel sorry for Della, when she told us she still gets rejections (and that her file is now too heavy to carry around as proof) just after she told us she'd sold more than 1500 stories in just over 20 years;

Remembering absent friends and mourning ones we will not see again as Diana read out the In Memoriam card in the chapel;

Gathering with 30 other members of the Swanwick Facebook group, putting faces to names and acknowledging how the group helps to keep the family feeling running throughout the year;

Having attendees at my tutorial on Scrivener come and tell me afterwards how useful they found it (thanks guys, that makes it all worthwhile);

Seeing Katherine trying to hold on to her skirt as the pouring rain of this morning was replaced by fierce winds this evening;

And watching Roy and Fliss sing 'If you were the only girl in the world' at the candle-lit WWI commemoration.

This evening's speaker was Shirley Blair, Commissioning Fiction Editor of The People's Friend. She began  by asking how many of us had heard of TPF, and then how many of us had read it. The majority of the audience raised their hands - and I suspect if she'd asked how many of us had ever submitted a story, she'd have had another forest of hands. Shirley had been asked to speak on publishing opportunities in TPF - and she gave us a wonderful run-down of each type of story: short story, long read, and serial plus an overview of what happens to our submissions once they arrive in her office.

But I suspect for many, the best part of the evening was the Q and A session, where all sorts of queries were thrown at Shirley, each of which was answered honestly but kindly. She reminded us that the culture of TPF is for safe, cosy stories - and also gave hints on the types and length of stories that had more chance of being accepted. How many of the audience, I wonder, spent the rest of the evening running through their WIP files and planning their next submissions? (Although, in truth, some of us also spent time to go to the disco - but that's another story.)

You MUST Read This? I Don't Think So

I came across an astonishing outburst on Facebook the other day. OK, so this is Facebook, where astonishing outbursts are two a penny, but this one took my breath away.

In scrolling down my wall, I noticed a post in capitals. [Now, I used to write all my email subject lines in capitals, which I thought gave them emphasis, until a business colleague pointed out I was considered to be shouting, so I stopped.] This post was one of three from an author [whom I’m not going to name] informing her followers that unless they not only read her blog posts, but commented on them, she was going to unfriend them. She’d had it with ‘hangers-on’ and they could ‘take a hike’!

As a writer myself, I know where she’s coming from and can understand her frustration. I’ve written blog posts that have included questions at the end; I’ve sat waiting for responses to flood in (although even a trickle would be nice); I’ve wondered if the deafening silence means people hate what I’ve written, or just aren’t interested enough to respond, or haven’t actually found me in the crowded blogosphere.

But as a business woman I was horrified. Writers rely on readers and potential readers not only for primary sales, but unbiased book reviews, recommendations and repeat sales. John Wanamaker, one of the early proponents of marketing is believed to have been the originator of the phrase: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." The same can be said of any marketing or promotional activities. We just don’t know how effective anything we do really is. But I think it’s a safe bet that telling people to go away if they’re not reacting the way we want them to is NOT a good promotional tactic.

I was also shocked by the rudeness of the messages. I do not know this author personally and do not solicit links with unknown people; therefore the only way I could have ended up on her list is through responding to a request from her. So, she invited me into her world in the first place. Now she was threatening to expel me because I didn’t behave exactly as she required. Result? I posted a polite message pointing out why I thought her approach was wrong — and left.

Writers write for many reasons: for ourselves, for family, for other people, for fame, for fortune [good luck with that one!] but often, just because we have to; the words won’t stay in our heads any longer.

No-one has the right to demand anything of readers. So while I hope lots of people read this post and it would be nice if some of you leave a comment afterwards, I promise I won't shout at you if you don't!

Swanwick65: Seconds Out...

Well, we've not got to the stage of fisticuffs yet, but we've virtually had a real fight in the world of Swanwick (do you see what I've done there?). I've been coming here since 2007 and even in that relatively short period of time (in Swanwick terms) things have changed a lot.

In my first year, everyone used paper and pens to take copious notes of all the speakers' pearls of wisdom. Today, we had almost as many keyboards in use as writing implements - and in fact many of us are taking fewer notes as everything will be available online after the week is over.

 

But it's not so much the issue of paper versus electronic notebooks that is causing (sometimes heated) debate, so much as the question of social media: Facebook, Twitter - even blogs. It is a topic which seems to polarise opinions. There are many who believe absolutely that having an online presence (or a 'platform' in the marketing jargon) is essential, especially for those of us who are 'independently published'. On the other hand, there are still a lot of people who refuse categorically to 'get involved in any of that stuff'. And although there are obviously some generational influences on this, it's not completely youngsters versus oldies (as I hope I am demonstrating right here). I believe it's more a case of fear of the unknown versus willingness to have a go.

 

In today's session on 'Promoting Your Work', our workshop leader, the wonderful Marion Hough, told us she didn't 'do social media' and had no interest in it. By the end of the session, after talking about some of the benefits that can be gained, I think we may have persuaded her to change her mind or at least consider it. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up for Fiona's Twitter 101 tomorrow afternoon. I suspect it might be a full house!

 

***

 

Today was a full working day for me. The two sessions on the Business Skills Toolbox seemed to go well (although I suppose I would say that. wouldn't I?). I had a small, select group (but then I was up against three other excellent courses, including one by last night's speaker James Moran). However, what my group lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in enthusiasm. We stuck to the time schedule (well, we were covering time management, so we had to) but also managed to deal with a wide range of questions around the subjects of increasing productivity and setting up appropriate financial records.

 

 

But my favourite session of the day has to be the Write Around with which we finished the afternoon. Around a dozen White Badgers (where was everyone else?) examined the assorted items I provided as a trigger for 'Write a Life'. As you can see, it was a real cocktail - and the eight brave souls who read their pieces out for us showed great skill in concocting finished pieces of flash fiction; the beginnings of short stories; and one wonderful poem.  As always happens with this sort of exercise, there were as many interpretations and ideas as there were writers in the room. A huge thanks to all of you for making this session such fun. I hope to see you all again tomorrow evening, when someone else will be providing the trigger and I shall be on the same side of the table as the rest of you.

 

***

 

Tonight's speaker was Syd Moore, author of The Drowning Pool and Witch Hunt. I have to admit to being what my sister calls 'a real scaredy cat' when it comes to anything touching on the supernatural and so two novels written as ghost stories are never going to make it on to my To Be Read list (sorry Syd!) However, she was a brilliant speaker and particularly moving when talking of her research into the dreadful stories of how so-called witches were treated in the seventeenth century. 

 

Syd is also a great reader and the passages from her books had us all on the edge of our seats. I'm not sure whether Ian's defibrillator was needed at the end of the session, but the effect of a flicked switch on two hundred plus writers was electrifying. And I have to admit I'm typing this in my room with the curtains tightly closed and every single lamp lit. If anyone has bad dreams tonight, we'll know who to blame in the morning, won't we?

 

Who You Gonna Call? Informal Networks

I’ve just returned from a packed weekend at my first Winchester Writers’ Conference. This event, which has been running for the past 33 years, was the brainchild of the wonderful Barbara Large, who has just stepped down from her role as Director (although we got the feeling she wouldn’t be disappearing completely from the scene).

The weekend was a mixture of master classes, short talks and the brilliant one-to-ones, the opportunities for delegates to spend time in front of agents, publishers or authors, pitching their latest work in progress. There was anticipation, there was relief, there was laughter, and there were tears. But whatever the emotions we felt as each fifteen minutes slot was finished, we had been given the opportunity to learn from the industry experts.

And that’s the topic we’re moving on to next. We’ve identified our business objectives and made our plans; we’ve decided on our business structures; we’ve set up our financial systems; we’ve even done a risk assessment (well, we have done that after last weeks’ posts, haven’t we?). We’re now going on to think about our support network — and we all need one of those.

Next week, we will look at the professional support structure and think a bit more about the experts we might need to consult in running our businesses. Today, we’re going to think about another aspect: our informal networks. If there is one memory of Winchester that is stronger than any other, it’s the sight and sound of hundreds of writers talking, swapping notes, and learning from each other.

Writing is a lonely business! We spend hours hunched over a notepad or a keyboard, often staring at acres of white space; and when the page or the screen is full of words, we look at them and wonder if they are any good or whether we’re wasting our time. At other times, with our business hats on, we stare at the spreadsheet, the cash book (or the carrier bag full of receipts) and try to work out what it all means (and why we’re doing it)? In most businesses, there would be other people we could talk to, performance standards to measure ourselves against, even rules and regulations we could follow. But, our business isn’t like that. And there will be times when it will all seem too difficult to carry on. But it’s our business! We can’t just stop doing it — or at least, we shouldn’t!

So we need a support network, and the best place to start looking for this is online. There are many established writing communities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ (and any other network we might be using). And the beauty of social media is that if we can’t find what we want — we set it up for ourselves. Whether we think we will get support from old college friends, from business people in our own town, or from someone across the world, it’s all possible via the internet. [In fact, I’ve been chatting, I mean talking business, with a friend in Australia just this morning.]

When I started my small business more than twenty years ago, the internet wasn’t available — at least not for ordinary people — so all our networking was done face to face. Even today, when we are all connected and online (some of us far more than we should be!), it’s still good to get out there and talk to people. A smiley face is no substitute for the real thing.

Remember we are business owners, and as such, some of our problems will be shared by people in totally different fields of work. Most towns have general business networks, whether they are called business guilds, chambers of commerce or something more fanciful. For example, I am a member of the wonderfully-named Ladies Do Latte, a group of 400+ business women across the South West of England. Networking groups provide the opportunity to pick the brains of people who will have the same business issues as us, even if their product or service is totally different. And of course, there is always the chance of picking up new projects while chatting to someone over breakfast or lunch.

Local writers’ groups are great for helping to improve our writing craft; for critiquing; and for finding like-minded people to share a stall at a book fair; collaborate on a writing project; or act as beta readers. But, there are many other opportunities for writers to get together, whether that’s via national organisations such as the Society of Women Writers and Journalists (SWWJ) and the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA) or more regionally-based ones such as the West Country Writers’ Association (WCWA). All these groups have meetings, which range from annually to monthly. The London Book Fair has traditionally been an industry event, focussed on the agents and publishers more than the authors. However, with the growth in indie publishing, this is becoming another useful place to meet people.

I started this post by talking about the Winchester Conference. There are a number of other such events running throughout the year and I’m going to finish by giving a plug for my particular favourite, the Writers' Summer School at Swanwick. This runs for a week during August, has been doing so for the past 65 years and has a dedicated ‘family’ of writers who attend each year, who are very welcoming to any ‘newbies’ and are always willing to help with problems anyone has, either with the craft of writing or with the business side. Of course, I might be biased, as I teach The Business of Writing at Swanwick each year, but if you are looking to spread or set up your informal face-to-face network, then a conference is a great way of doing it. I look forward to meeting some of you there.

Titantic Tweets and Furious Facebooking

Well, it’s been a strange day and a long one. It started with a (virtual) Welsh Male Voice Choir in ‘Lift Up Your Hearts’ and finished with Elvis and family going to see Oliver in Jean Sutton’s traditional Monday night quiz.

In between we learned from Meg Davis (and yes, I have checked that her name is spelt correctly) how to go about getting an agent — and what we can expect that agent to do for us once we have that magic contract. We learned about tricks that don’t work (so I might as well cancel the wine and chocolates); how some writers end up writing totally different books from the ones they are contracted to write; and why an animal narrator is not a good idea. But most of all, I learned that I need to go back home and get on with the writing — Meg advised strongly us against starting the search until the novel is complete.

As a Swanwick veteran (well, a five-yearer anyway), I now allow myself some time away from the formal timetable — the second biggest mistake of white badgers is trying to go to everything, every day, leading to lack of concentration, if not exhaustion by Tuesday! I took some time out this morning and revamped the Chudleigh Phoenix website for the 2013 short story competition that has just been launched. There are flyers in the information room and full details can be found here: http://www.chudleighphoenix.co.uk/2013comp.html.

The main event today has to be the Twitter vs. Facebook debate. Della Galton proposed that tweeting was the most effective form of social media while Peter Jones fought strongly in support of FB. Despite (or maybe because of) some strong lobbying on Della’s behalf by Jane Wenham Jones, it was a close run thing. Having settled the contentious question of secret ballot vs. show of hands, the first vote was a dead heat at sixteen each. In a move reminiscent of the factory audits I used to do in my previous day-job, ‘when you don’t like the answer, you change the question’. The second vote, on the question of which is the most useful to us as writers, the score was twenty-one to twelve in favour of Twitter. In the true spirit of the age, I provided a live commentary during the debate on both Twitter and Facebook for friends unable to be with us today (and anyone who forgot to in person). I went into the room expecting to vote for FB, but at the end of the session, I was completely convinced that Twitter was faster and easier to use.

Today’s Write About was led by Eileen West who set us the task of writing about the sea in a playful non-threatening way, but also with the inclusion of the word ‘Titanic’. There were some very creative interpretations of the word, both as a noun and as an adjective. As always, I was amazed by how much can be written in a short space of time — and by the huge number of variations around a single theme or trigger.

Oh, and if anyone's wondering: the biggest mistake of white badgers is to sit at the business end of the table at mealtimes. It's my theory that the queues outside the dining hall each day are not so much about getting a table with one's friends as getting a seat away from the serving spoons. Or is that only me?