SOMETHING OF INTEREST

Creative Writing Workshops

In association with Wasafiri and The Open University, these workshops offer the chance to be tutored by two bestselling writers and be inspired by the South Asian objects forming part of the British Museum / BBC Radio 4 series, A History of the Worlds in 100 Objects.

FICTION WRITING: Romesh Gunesekera
This tutored workshop with prize-winning Sri Lankan-born writer Romesh Gunesekera offers a great chance for new writers to learn how to write and become equipped with the tools needed to develop further.
Session time: 10.30am-1.30pm £20 (limited places)

POETRY WRITING: Moniza Alvi
In this tutored poetry workshop with celebrated Pakistan-born poet Moniza Alvi, develop your technique and confidence in the fundamentals of form and imagery.
Session time: 2pm-5pm £20 (limited places)

To book places, please phone +44 (0)20 7323 8181 or visit the Ticket Desk in the Great Court at the British Museum

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

LITERARY QUIZ.

To be held at the St John's Church Centre. Amherst Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9LG.

On Wednesday 13 October at 8pm.

Bring your friends along. Teams of two. Open to members and non members.

Prize for the winning team.

INVITING YOU TO WRITE

To be held at the St John's Church Centre, Amherst Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9LG

On Wednesday 10 November at 8pm.

Bring along your fiction piece using one of the following prompts.

REMEMBERANCE REBELLION REFLECTIONS

On the night stories will be read out by either yourself or someone else. There will be an anonymous vote. The piece with the most votes wins prize.

Open to members and non members. Bring along your friends.

For more details or book a place Call Karen 07976112438

Penguin

Don't know where to sub your manuscript and synopsis - why not consider Penguin. They are accepting unsolicted manuscripts until the end of October.

For more information follow the link.

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/aboutus/#question11

What are you waiting for?

WHY WE WRITE

When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen. But if you have not a pen, I suppose you must scratch any way you can. ~Samuel Lover, Handy Andy, 1842

So often, as writers, we can be heard to bemoan the agonies of writing. The blank page, writer’s block, and procrastination, to name but a few. The non writer must be rather baffled as to why we do it. We are compelled to write but often it is the last thing we get around to doing. Our frustrations can be noisy, our blood and sweat, real. So we can hardly blame those, that aren’t driven to write, for wondering what it’s all about.

For me it is the thrill of creating. Of bringing into existence, characters, places and plots. I enjoy getting lost in another world, entirely of my own making. Worlds far removed from my own. I love getting to know my characters, to imagine what they would feel, what they would do, or how they would react in certain situations. I like to immerse myself in their internal battles, their external struggles and follow the path they weave to a satisfying resolution.

With each carefully selected word, each perfectly structured sentence and each paragraph loaded with conflict/ emotion/ description – we create and we breathe life into our ideas.

So what is it that makes you want to write? What inspires you? Are you a reluctant writer or a passionate one? Feel free to leave your comments.

I would like to set you a challenge. Above is a photo. Write a, 75 word, story or monologue and post it in the comments. It will be interesting to see what you all come up with.

New Year Resolutions

The children are back in school, the holiday season is over and the nights are drawing in. The leaves are beginning to turn and Autumn in just around the corner but that doesn't mean that we should let our aspirations, in terms of our writing, wither and die.

It is like the new year, a time to re group, take stock of where we are and what we hope to achieve over the long winter months. After the winter of 2009, it is a great temptation to hibernate, to don our fluffy slippers, turn the heating up and buy in copious jars of hot chocolate. But STOP - don't curl up on the sofa and lose yourself in the TV. For the long dark nights are an ideal time to put pen to paper, fingers to the keyboard and lose yourself in your writing.

Imagine the new year having achieved your goals, having work ready to submit to that publisher or even better, that publishing deal. What a positive way to start 2011. There is no one going to make it happen but YOU.

What a crime it would be to let all that creativity, all that talent, dry up like the crisp autumn leaves.

So make those resolutions early and invest the time. It is often said that as writers we are compelled to write and yet often it is the last thing on our rotas. My advice is to look at your diary, set out your writing time and let the rest of your life work around it. Even if it means getting up with the dawn chorus.

Quote of the Week

It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write. ~Sinclair Lewis

Don't be discouraged, don't be distracted, stay focused and WRITE.