Ceiling at the Octagon Library, Queen Mary University of London |
I've just returned from my third Romantic Novelists' Association Conference at Queen Mary University of London. Writers' conferences certainly help with topping up the writing inspiration, because being surrounded by successful authors, and industry professionals makes you feel part of that world. Seeing friends who write is also wonderful, and we always have so much to talk about during our kitchen parties over Prosecco and crisps.
This was the first conference I've attended as a writer and a Freelance Social Media Manager, and I was grateful to see so many talks on book marketing in the programme.
I tweeted during the conference from both of my Twitter
accounts using #RNAConf15 (do take a look at this hashtag to find out more about the conference, and
to see photos), using @neetswriter for personal and writing tweets, and @neetsmarketing for tweets on the
marketing talks. This post will be about my experience as a writer and my neetsmarketing post will cover three fantastic marketing talks by: Hazel Gaynor, Kate Harrison
and Alison Baverstock.
Julie Cohen on ‘The Art of the
Rewrite’:
Julie Cohen’s reputation as an amazing creative writing teacher precedes her, and thankfully I
managed to get up on Sunday, grab a fry-up to soak
up the two-day hangover; and make it to her talk on time. Julie was witty and
inspiring, and she engaged a lecture theatre packed with flagging delegates for the whole hour, by cracking jokes, and with clear, concise explanations of how to go about rewriting a novel.
Advice from Julie:
Write your first
draft as quickly as possible. Then celebrate (preferably with Champagne)!
She said, it’s important to celebrate every writing achievement, because as a
writer you will fail a lot, so you need to celebrate every single success.
Make a list of
revision points, and leave the manuscript for a few days at least, if
possible. Revisit the revision points and make more. Julie never shows anyone
her first draft, but says if you do, show it to the right person (someone who
is honest, and 100% positive), cry and rant if necessary (but not on the
internet), then make more revision points.
Make Macro and Micro
revisions. Macro revisions are about story structure, characters, plotting,
pacing, beginning and ending, consistency and continuity. Julie said it’s worth
working on the beginning and ending separately because the beginning ‘hooks
your readers in’ and the ending is ‘what sells your next book’. Micro revisions
are more about show and tell, realistic dialogue, accurate and evocative
description, strong verbs, grammar, punctuation, spelling, repetition, research
points and R.U.E. (‘Resist the Urge to Explain’). Julie doesn’t do research too
early, and highlighted the need to avoid ‘info dump’.
When it comes to
planning and editing, Julie prints out her manuscript and works with paper,
Post-it notes, scissors, and coloured pens. She cuts pieces out of her
manuscript with scissors and throws them away, then sticks it all back
together. She uses real calendars for her timeline with Post-it notes, so she
can move them around; and she uses Post-it notes for planning on the back of a
whiteboard (she writes on the front) or on paper because they can be moved,
they’re colour-coded and they can be thrown away easily.
I enjoyed Julie's talk, and would love to attend one of her courses.
Emma Darwin on ‘The Writer’s Voices-how
to keep readers reading’:
I attended one of Emma’s creative writing courses a few years ago, and it was great to hear her speak again. Her ‘This Itch of Writing’ blog is
excellent, and you’ll find everything mentioned in her talk under the tool kit section; including a detailed explanation of 'Psychic Distance'. Emma's blog is well
worth a peruse when you have a moment for advice on creative writing. I can’t wait to read her ‘how to’ book on historical fiction, which comes out in the autumn.
Added later: Emma has now written a post with links to everything she mentioned at #RNAConf15:
Added later: Emma has now written a post with links to everything she mentioned at #RNAConf15:
Charlotte Betts on ‘Weaving the
Tapestry of Time’:
My novel is set during the eighteenth century, and I am a big fan of Charlotte Betts’ writing. I especially enjoyed The Apothecary's Daughter (which I mention in another post here), and must download ‘The Chateau on the
Lake’ for my summer holiday reading. In this workshop, Charlotte ran through ways to do research and talked about how to transport your reader to another time by using the senses. She recommended visiting the location of your novel if you can, and then to sit there and mentally block out anything modern. Ask yourself what you can see and hear, feel the stone on the walls, then log it all in a notebook and return to those notes when you write scenes set in that place.
We had to write a character profile for someone
from an illustration Charlotte provided of a courtyard in Delft, or from some information on the Battle of Hastings. Then we had five minutes to write a
short scene from that character’s point of view at a pivotal moment in their
life, a useful exercise. I find writing exercises set to a timer bring out something I didn't know was there, and I must do them more often.
During Charlotte's talk, I learnt that you need to be careful
with flora and fauna, because many flowers have been brought from overseas and
they may not have existed in the period you are writing in. A lady in the class
said she kept a list of flora and fauna, with which season they appear in-a
great idea! We also talked about religion, and how in a historical novel you
cannot avoid referring to religion in some way.
Thank you to Jenny Barden, Jan Jones and Elaine Everest for
a fabulous conference! I have lots of notes to inspire me. And here is my post from last year, also a fabulous weekend: 'Why go to a writing conference?'
And I’m very excited to tell you that I shall be going to
Italy this summer, driving there with my family, through France and Switzerland, along the Aosta Valley, to Lake Garda,
and we’ll spend a day in Venice, the setting for my work in progress. I'll certainly be doing what Charlotte Betts recommended when I get there. This will be special, because my family used to drive to Italy every year when I was a child. I cannot
wait, and shall return with lots of photos. Here’s one for now, and more pics of Italy can be found on my Pinterest boards.
My two posts on the marketing talks are now ready:
Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part I covers the fabulous talk on 'Promotion Commotion' by Hazel Gaynor.
Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part II covers the talks by Alison Baverstock and Kate Harrison.
Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part I covers the fabulous talk on 'Promotion Commotion' by Hazel Gaynor.
Book Marketing from #RNAConf15, Part II covers the talks by Alison Baverstock and Kate Harrison.