Swanwick Day 6 – #Swanwick65

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

What can I say about last nights speaker, Curtis Jobling?That guy has so much energy it wore me out just listening to him!

If you’re into YA and fantasy you have got to check out his Wereworld series of books, but, if you just like to be tickled, perhaps Curious Cow is more up your street 😉

Today has been a lovely day….the last part of my novel writing course with Alexa, dregs party on the lawn, tea with friends and some writing 🙂

Jayne, Lorraine & Maddie.

Dregs party.

Me and Rae.

Curtis drew some of his characters which were auctioned off to raise funds for the school.

And then to top everything off tonight’s speaker was Deborah Moggach who was fabulous!

One thing Deborah did say was that she has to have a title for a novel before she starts, because she feels that it focuses her. I totally agree! Do you like to have a title before you start?

Right, I’m off to bed….early start tomorrow….back to reality! 🙂

Swanwick Day 1 #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 2 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 3 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 4 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 5 – #Swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
For you lovely guys and gals at Swanwick (pprune.org)

Swanwick Day 2 – #swanwick65

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

Firstly, I must apologise for being so behind in replying to your comments. I’ve got a couple of free hours on Tuesday so will catch up then.

I was up early, as ever this morning, so I sat on a bench with my cup of tea and did some writing 🙂

My first session this morning was with James Moran (can you tell I’ve got the iPad working now lol) and was a session on Screenwriting. So many people have said to me I should consider writing scripts, but I’m scared shitless! 😉 James makes it sound so easy. His class was very informative, and he’s a man after my own heart, believing that, when you’re writing don’t look back over what you’ve written, get to the end before you start editing!

After a short break for tea it was off to a class in Literary Fiction with Alexa Radcliffe-Hart where we did a fantastic exercise that stemmed from a prompt we were given. I ended up creating a character who was paralysed in a hospital.

Lunch (roast beef of course!) and then more Screenwriting followed by a workshop with the lovely Marion Hough entitled Promoting Your Work. Ok, so I’m not published, but I still found it interesting! I didn’t realise Waterstones (here in the UK) will take your self published books but take 40% of the sale price as a fee. Worth it or not I wonder?

A FaceBook party on the lawn was the highlight of the day…putting faces to names was wonderful 🙂

Fish and chips for dinner and then a talk by Syd Moore who was absolutely fascinating as she explained her inspiration for her books and gave us background info on her research. I love the idea of taking a real life event and fictionalising it.

Right, I’m off to the Buskers night in a sec….it goes on until 12.30, but I’m not too sure I’ll make it to the end 😉

Swanwick Day 5 – #Swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 2 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 6 – #Swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 3 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 4 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 1 #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)

Swanwick Day 1 #swanwick65

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

Road trip went well and we arrived at The Hayes Conference center in brilliant sunshine, so had lunch on a bench by the lake (who knew that ducks don’t like Tuna Melt?).

Got my room key, unpacked and spent the rest of the afternoon doing my stewarding bit on reception.

Then it was off to the White Badge reception. The thing i love (or one of the many) about Swanwick is how special they make newbies feel. Managed to put faces to a couple of names id seen on FaceBook then it was off to the welcome speech, then dinner, then the guest speaker.

I was really looking forward to hearing James Moran speak, as im a bit of a Dr Who fan, and he really didn’t disappoint! 🙂

He was really informative and funny. I made loads of notes. But the one thing he said that really hit home was….Stop Making Excuses! If you say you don’t have time to write, don’t, give up then and let somebody else have a go. Harsh? Yeah, but when you consider he was working full time, 9-5 and he was still able to write, well, you either make time, or you don’t….your choice! If you want to write, you’ll find the time….simple!

I think thats a very good point…i will never moan again 🙂

Back in my room now chilling, as it all kicks off tomorrow good and proper 😉

I seem to have a problem with my iPad, it wont connect to the internet *sobs* So thank goodness for my phone! 🙂

Swanwick Day 6 – #Swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 4 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 2 – #swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
Swanwick Day 5 – #Swanwick65 (the-view-outside.com)
I’m Off To Swanwick! (the-view-outside.com)

I’m Off To Swanwick!

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Vikki Thompson

I’m packed (well nearly) and ready to go. Yep, it’s that time of year again where I go off to The Writers Summer School for a week 🙂 This will be my 3rd year at Swanwick and the programme looks as action packed as ever!

Highlights from the programme that I’m looking forward to this year are:

Screenwriting with James Moran who’s written episodes of Dr Who
Fashioning Fiction from Fact with Syd Moore author of The Drowning Pool & Witch Hunt
How to Write a Self Help Book with Felicity Margolis
Talk from Deborah Moggach writer of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The plays put on by the other students and the busking night.
Plus meeting up with friends I haven’t seen for a year!

I’m a big believer in every writer attending conferences, courses, workshops and summer schools. Last year I wrote a post for Sue Howe’s blog, where I tried to persuade her to join me at Swanwick. If you want to join me for 6 days of writing fun (and 6 evenings spent in the bar!) you’ll have to be quick…..it starts tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll be doing me Steward bit, checking people in as they arrive 🙂

If that all seems too much you can attend as a day visitor or stay for 1 or 2 nights.

Right, gotta dash, need to finish packing. I’ll be posting daily about what I’ve been up to but apologies in advance if I get even more behind with blog reading….I usually fall into bed every night exhausted 😉

Have you ever attended a Writers Summer School? I’d love to hear your experiences 🙂