The Cirencester Writers' Group

I mentioned last October that, after the Cheltenham Literature Festival, I was setting up my own Writers' Group. I thought I'd take some time to put down the two common pitfalls of writers groups - both of which I've tried to avoid in my own.

Pitfall one: amateur hour

Let's face it, nearly everyone has plans to write a novel at some point. We all fancy ourselves as expert graspers of the English language (is 'graspers' a word? Oh well) and believe that we have something to say that will thrill everyone else. However, most people with such a dream fall at the first hurdle, which is to put anything down in writing. A goodly number fall at the second hurdle, which is to put anything down in writing that is readable. Then, nearly all the rest fall at the third hurdle, which is to put anything down in writing that is publishable.

People who are going to fall at hurdles two or three are those who tend to attend writers' groups. I have, however, met a woman who wanted to join my group, despite telling me that she was an artist and had no plans to be a writer...she just liked 'creative people'. Oddball. Anyhoo, I wanted to find those people who were on the way to the finish line, rather than those who were never going to make it past hurdle two or three. After all, if I want to make it, I want advice and support from people who are likely to make it themselves.

So, when I asked people to join my writers' group, I specified that it must be for people who are serious about their writing. Only those who were intent on reaching that finish line of publication were invited.

Pitfall two: style wars

I want to write commercial fiction. I see no shame in this. Why on earth should I? Wouldn't all writers want their work to be read and appreciated widely? Well, no. Unfortunately not. Many writers (even published ones, but I've personally found many unpublished ones to be worse about this) think that the sign of good writing is that nine-tenths of the population have no idea what they're rabbiting on about. Not me. The last thing I wanted for my writers' group was a wannabe writer looking down their nose at the rest of us while we groped our way through their muddy prose, informing us that we didn't have the intellect to understand.

So, when I asked people to join my writers' group, I specified that it was for people who wanted to write commercial fiction. And, by commercial fiction, I meant anything that sells well.

The story so far...

So far, it's gone really well. I started off with fourteen names and email addresses at the Cheltenham Festival, and ended up with seven people turning up regularly.

Like all groups who gather, we tend to wander off into chat when the opportunity presents itself, but I feel like I've learnt so much from each of the people who've joined. We each share our work and invite comments, and I've found that I put time and effort into the feedback I give as well. One of our number has even secured an agent! (yes, I admit, I'm madly envious, but it just spurs me onwards!)

And, you never know, perhaps in a few years, a publisher or agent somewhere might wonder about how it came to be that so many new authors hail from around the Cirencester area...

The RNA and the future

I've just returned from one day at the Romantic Novelists Association's (RNA) annual conference. With a three-month-old baby it was always going to be a struggle to get there, but I made it for the Saturday (thanks to a week of diligent pumping...tmi?...and a very supportive husband who willingly hung out in Caerleon with the baby, bringing her to me at lunch for her midday feed and juggling bottles and hot water for the interim ones).

It was well worth the effort. Not only did I get to rub shoulders with some impressive authors, agents and editors, but I also attended various workshops that helped get me back thinking about how to make my book 'the' one for publication.

Earlier this year, I submitted my novel (currently titled Sister Swap, previously More to Life, previously the Sisterly Conspiracy, previously the Golden Rule...can you tell I have trouble choosing titles?) to the RNA's New Writers Scheme. For the bargain price of £103, you get membership to the RNA and a full critique of your entire manuscript. Although the feedback is anonymous, you are guaranteed to be read by someone who knows what they're talking about. I received about four pages of written feedback plus comments all over my first three chapters. Excellent. I have been rewriting it in the odd minutes my baby sleeps but have since come to the conclusion that I need something more...

And that's a hook. A really good, grabbing hook that means any agent or editor who looks at my cover letter not only goes 'hmm...' but 'wow'. So far, I am sorry to say that this has not been the case.

I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with my book. I think it's quite funny, interesting and light. But it's not a first novel. Not yet, anyway. So, I have to decide whether to rehaul it (current options include shelving an entire character, and hence a third of the book) or starting over.

I have a lot to think about, but I'm determined to remain positive. After all, if I can come up with a good enough hook and a new book, perhaps Sister Swap can be my second novel...? :)

The Cheltenham Literature Festival 2010

The past few months have brought with them a lull in my writing and hence also in this blog. After being unable to go days without scrabbling for my laptop, a form of writer's block descended upon me alongside nausea, exhaustion and some fairly intense mood swings.

Noone ever told me that writer's block was one of the symptoms of pregnancy.

So, to kick-start my writing and celebrate the onset of the second trimester, I bought tickets to the Cheltenham Literary Festival. I'd been a year or two ago and really enjoyed the workshop I went to but, as I was living in London at the time, I'd been limited to just the one. This year, being conveniently located just down the road in Cirencester, I booked myself into no less than five workshops.

I have to give the people who run that festival their dues. Everything was run like a well-oiled, yet personable, machine. My tickets (costing just £20 per workshop, which seems very cheap to me) arrived weeks in advance and were pinned happily on my noticeboard. As the day for the first workshop neared, I pulled them down and re-read through what I'd signed up for.

Writing Convincing Dialogue, with Jacob Ross.

Setting the Scene, with Helen Cross.

Writing a Good Plot, with Owen Sheers.

Writing Convincing Characters, with Trezza Azzorpardi.

and

Writing Romantic Fiction, with Katie Fforde.

The funny thing about writers leading workshops is that it's a stretch for most of them. People who are skilled at sitting in a room and composing beautiful or interesting sentences aren't necessarily going to be those who are the best at engaging with a room full of people. But, I have to say that I was really impressed with all of these writers and the care they took to give feedback and encourage the writing of others.

Of course, it's not so easy for us in the room, either. I must admit to a momentary envy that flickers when I see someone who has achieved success in writing, especially if they seem young. Irrational? Certainly. Writing may be competitive to get into but once you're through that first gate, it's hardly a blood sport. I suppose I'd be better off sabotaging the writing efforts of those trying to get representation...

Joking.

A couple of presenters stood out for me. Coming out on top was Katie Fforde, who despite confessing to being quite a shy person naturally, led a funny, constructive and oh-so-encouraging workshop on the final day. Perhaps my favourite moment was when she said that writing takes perseverence and talent, and probably more of the former. None of us really know if we have talent until an agent takes an interest. Perseverence I can do.

Another notable workshop for me was Setting the Scene, with Helen Cross. It is perhaps unfair in one sense to highlight this workshop as we had the benefit of just eight attendees (compared with up to 30 at Katie Fforde's). This gave us all the opportunity to write and get feedback individually (many of the workshops had us writing in pairs or groups, which is a nightmare of negotiation and dissatisfaction in my view). Helen also won my affection forever by reading the first few pages of my as-yet-unsuccessful second novel and giving me some feedback. I'd given myself three chapters to get into the action, but she said I need to move even faster. Good to know, and something I'll be working on in the coming weeks.

One final end result of the festival has been my initiation of a new writers' group for people focussed on commercial fiction - ie, getting published, getting bought and getting read. Hopefully this will also contribute to keeping my fictional motor running and getting those fingers tapping over the next few months.

Fantabulous Feedback

Shortly before my birthday in April this year I finished my second novel. I feel pretty good about it - it's definitely better than my last attempt and I really do love my characters (in the kind of scary way like they're my friends and we hang out together...sad but true).

The thing is, I did this a year ago. I finished my first book, gave it to my husband and sister to read and was told it was great. I then sent it out to all and sundry without the merest nibble. Having finished the second I've gone back to the first and can agree that yes, it's not very good at all. But why didn't anyone tell me?

One of the blogs I read is named 'the elephant in the room' - referring to the fact that lots of people can't actually write. But how are we supposed to know if we can't? Agents sure aren't going to tell us - only the most dedicated amongst them send anything more than insipid responses that provide absolutely no guidance as to what the problem was. Friends and family tend to just say 'oh, it's fantastic' - or worse, 'I'm sure it's fantastic', which is about as far from helpful as is possible to be.

What is this hypersensitive beast, the wannabe writer? The oddest thing about this world of the not-published is that, if you make it through to being published, you need to develop just about the thickest skin known to mankind. You need to handle having your year's work torn apart, mocked, criticised...even compared unfavourably with every author you've always sneered at yourself. Writing means exposing your heart and soul to the world and waiting for everyone to spit on them. So why protect the unpublished writer from the realities of the realm they dream of entering?

Personally, I'd rather know as soon as possible if I'm utterly hopeless. That way I'll keep my writing to myself and will stop spending half my time dreaming about having my words printed in an actual book by an actual publisher. Why can't agents just print out a slip saying 'Badly written - no chance of publication. Give up while you've still got a day job'...or, as the case may be, simply 'boring'? It would hurt, but at least it would be a sharp blow rather than the painfully slow chipping at your confidence that comes from those meaningless slips of photocopied paper saying 'it's not for me'.

Anyway, my new book, which is currently entitled 'The Sisterly Conspiracy' needed some harsh and uncensored feedback before I sent it out to agents. However, I know that my friends and family love me and don't want to hurt me, so how do I get their true opinions?

I started with my husband, who doesn't hold back. He read it, made loads of great comments and generally proved himself to be a pretty outstandingly perfect man by reading chick lit and (saying, at least) that he enjoyed it.

I then chose six people - three friends, my two sisters and my aunt - to get their views. I asked them to send all feedback through my husband so that it could be anonymous and they could be as harsh and critical as they liked.

Anyhoo, the feedback has come back and, while I expected it to be useful, I've been really stunned at just how useful it has been. In this one process I have learnt more about my writing than ever before. Interestingly, none of my friends sent any feedback (or read the book at all, it seems). My two sisters and my aunt read it and sent loads.

So...what have I learnt?
- I can’t seem to keep my finger on time passing - whether in the book or in characters' ages.
- I use the word 'seriously' way too much. Seriously.
- I’m a little over fond of commas.
- I use too many adverbs when writing speech (I noted, truthfully.)
- I would have sworn black and blue that it was St Suplice, not St Sulpice in Paris – I’ve always mispronounced it!
- While I know how to spell 'dyed' and 'tyre' my brain doesn't compute this when I'm in the midst of a writing binge. In those cases it is 'died' and 'tired'. Embarrassing but true, and perhaps a little Freudian?

And...not only was the feedback I received detailed and useful, it was also a fascinating insight into the different minds of my family members.

One person was an absolute guru on punctuation...another calculated that time had passed incorrectly (ie sunflowers blooming in April, trips stretching between 9 weeks to 6 months)...another gave advice about characters. Almost all the errors picked up by each had been missed by the rest, showing the value of multiple feedback.

Whether they like it or not, my aunt and two sisters have just been nominated to read every book I produce from now on.

Lucky them.

The very first nibble

It's been a long time since I've written here, mainly because I've been suffering the effects of my wedding. Or two weddings, to be exact, as I had one in the UK and one in Australia. Not to be recommended. The major effect of all this fussing has been that I haven't had the time or headspace to sit down and concentrate on writing, editing or coming up with new ideas for absolutely ages. Each time I did, worries about invites, menus, photographers, decorations and family issues popped into my head. Perhaps I should have started writing about weddings instead, but I'm not really into the horror genre...

Anyway, the first good news came through a month or so ago, when I found out I'd won a Highly Commended place in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. It's a 600 word story - a real lesson in brevity for me - and I'd felt quite hopeful about it so it was wonderful to hear some good news at last. £100 isn't bad either, and has gone towards paying off one third of my beautiful little Samsung NC10 laptop that I'd bought in the first throes of ambition.

The winning stories are read aloud by actors and broadcast on various radio stations around the Commonwealth. I was a bit disappointed by the person who'd read mine - firstly because she'd mispronounced my name (it's Fel-iss-ee-a, not Fel-eesh-a), and secondly because she delivered the final three words like the punchline to a joke, rather than as the poignant, wry observation that was intended.

Ah well.

In a rather less auspicious success, I also succeeded in winning one of those 'true confession' online magazine spots, which thankfully will not have my name attached to it. But it's AUD$200, so another third of that laptop has been paid off. Ok, so it's hardly the upper echalons of literary success, but it's all practice, right?

And the final good news is that I finished the latest edit of my second book last Sunday. Of course, that just means I have to start all over again, but I was quite relieved to see that it's hovering nicely around the 100,000 word mark without any artificial interference from me. I was concerned for a while there that it was going to keep going up and up and up. But no. So all is well. The editing process has taken me about two to three times as long as the writing process did, and I'm still a way off. I find it hard to stay focussed on editing and it doesn't give me the creative buzz I get from writing something new, but I really want to finish the book before the end of the year, so the proximity of nose to grindstone must remain close.

A few months ago, I received my first actual constructive feedback from an agent. Alice Lutyens from Curtis Brown took the time to send me some suggestions and gave me the real reason why she didn't want to take the book on rather than the usual meaningless drivel you get from most agents which is far more focussed on aiming not to offend than being honest. Ok, so Alice's comments weren't what I had hoped for - she found my writing style plodding and overdescriptive, rather than sparky and fresh, but at least she told me. Noone else has bothered to. The really interesting part about her response is that I would have thought the opposite. I rarely describe scenes, focus a lot on dialogue and felt like the book was a little fast moving. So, to hear from a professional that she thought just the opposite tells me something. At the moment I've put that book away and will come back to it and see what I think about it when I start the process of sending the new one out. I'm sure that my writing will have improved through the practice of writing the second book, and no doubt I'll cringe with embarassment about the quality of the first, but I wouldn't have known what to look for if she hadn't bothered to reply. Give a cheer for constructive feedback, hey?