Being Stewardly – Swanwick Day Three

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I decided yesterday morning, whilst eating breakfast, that I would skip some lessons that day. I really valued everything I learnt here last year, but, I found myself utterly exhausted and completely written out by the end if the week.

Soooooo, I had a fairly lazy morning. When I say lazy, I don’t mean laying on my bed knapping, I mean writing, real writing (fiction from my prompts) oh, and selling raffle tickets….no, that should be attempting to sell raffle tickets lol (one of my Stewardly duties).

Me and Jayne have managed to flog approx 280 tickets! 🙂

The prize? A free place at the school next year!!!! 🙂

Other Stewardly duties today have been to point a delegate in the direction of the Lake, give another some change, help a lady who was locked out of her accommodation block, and direct people to various classrooms and halls lol

I did go to Linda’s class, and we got some homework *gulp* I’m still trying to come up with a short story based on this lot 😉 Any ideas guys?

The last “class” of the day was Twitter vs Facebook with Della Galton and Peter Jones which was a lively debate on which social media network is best.

The result at the end when the audience voted? 16-16 lol….a complete draw!!!!!

We then discussed which was better for authors, and then the vote went 12 to Facebook, 21 to Twitter. What would you vote for?

The evening was spent trying to sell more raffle tickets and attending the Buskers night, arranged by Mark 🙂 Here are our “Buskers”

Falling into bed at 00.40….Zzzzzzzzzz

Day of Rest? – Swanwick Day Two

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

Ha ha ha, yeah right 😉

Up and ready to go at 7am yesterday morning, but it did give me the opportunity to do some writing on a bench outside in the morning sunshine 🙂

After breakfast it was off to my first course, which was Characterisation with Steve Hartley (the children’s author who was the speaker last night). A great session where Steve told us all about the Behaviour Model which is based on Carl Jung. If you follow the system it helps you focus on keeping your characters behaviour consistent throughout your novel. Very useful!!!!
I know this photo is gunna look really confusing but you need to know the whole system for it to make any sense.

After tea on the lawn it was off to the Short Story writing class with Linda Lewis who was as amusing and interesting as ever 🙂

I had my one to one with Linda where she critiqued a short story for me. She pointed out where I was going wrong and we discussed my thoughts about giving up short story writing. She’s given me a lot to think about, so I’ll wait til I get home before I make a decision and look into some of the advice Linda gave me.

After a roast beef lunch it was off to Show and Tell with Roz Southey which was an excellent workshop, but, I think I came out even more confused than when I went in! Lol. For me, it’s one of the hardest parts of writing 😦

In the evening, our speaker was Stephen Leo Davis the author and screenwriter. A very interesting man who told us about his experiences of writing for the TV and the film industry over the last 38 years. Two things he said that I took away from the talk….

1. There are no professional tips (ie shortcuts)
2. Learn how to control the fear of failure

My evening was rounded off by watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics in the bar

Do you struggle with show and tell or is it just me? 😉

And now…..I need sleep lol

Arriving at Swanwick -Day One

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

After leaving home at an ungodly hour this morning we made good time up the M1 and arrived bright eyed and bushey tailed (kind of) at The Hayes just before 12….where we were given our badges *snigger*

Yep, I’ll be acting as a Steward all week, helping the newbies 🙂 So far today I’ve had to sort out 2 people being locked out of their rooms and find a lady a TV….no mean feet I might add in a conference centre where there doesn’t appear to be any TV’s lol

Jayne and I were in charge of allocating rooms to people staying in the main house. It was good fun, but hard work as neither of us had ever stayed in that part of the centre!

Jayne being very efficient 🙂

Lunch was good, as was dinner, so I’d already had 2 desserts by the end of the day *gulp* 😉

After the Chairmans Welcome and dinner, it was on to the main speaker. Children’s author Steve Hartley who me and Jayne had already met when he arrived just after lunch. We couldn’t find his room number so at one stage we thought he would have to sleep in his car 😉 Nooooo, it wouldn’t have come to that 😉

His talk, entitled “Things I know now that I wish I knew then” was all about how it took him 15 years to get published. He gave us a list of rules:

1. Be professional
2. Polish your MS until it shines so much you need sunglasses to read it
3. Find your voice
4. Get lucky…do everything you can to increase your chances

An interesting exercise he suggested was to try to sum up your “voice” in a sentence. WOAH! I don’t even know where to start with that one, but I will try 🙂

His talk finished with fitting 11 of our audience into a huge pair of knickers….don’t ask! 😉

After that we found ourselves in the bar with Peter Jones and Della Galton discussing diets lol. Very appropriate after the food we’d put away today 😉

So then, it was room, fluffy slippers and a cup of tea 🙂 Which is exactly how I shall be starting this day 🙂

Could you describe your “voice” in a sentence?

I’m Off Again…..

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

This time, to Swanwick 🙂

As you read this I’ll be on my way up the motorway in the direction of Derby.

So the blogging schedule will be out the window for another week lol. Of course, I’ll be doing daily updates, but, yet again, I’ll be a bit behind with your blogs 😦

So what am I looking forward to?

Keeping Up Appearances with Steve Hartley How to keep your characters in character.

Short Story Success with Linda Lewis The main course I’m enrolled on.

Show Not Tell with Roz Southey

Getting an Agent with Meg Davis

Twitter or Facebook with Peter Jones & Della Galton

How to Write Romance with Sharon Kendrick

Historical Sagas with Tricia Kitchin

Writing Erotica with Della Galton

The evening speaker every night, walking round the lake at 6am in the morning, chatting to the other smokers in the smoking tent, the performances from the scriptwriters, the buskers night and catching up with people I haven’t seen for a year.

Last year, when I got home I had to go straight to bed, I was exhausted! So looking at this years programme I’m sure I’ll have to do the same again lol

Now where did I put that insect repellent?

Because We All Need Ideas

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I’ve been a huge fan of Linda Lewis since I met her and attended a workshop she ran at Swanwick last year. She’s a talented writer of fiction, writes a column for Writers Forum magazine, is entertaining as a tutor and on top of all that, she’s a lovely lady 🙂

So I was thrilled to discover she was publishing another writing guide.

I love this book. It’s the type of writing guide you will return to again and again and again. You will never have an excuse for having writers block with this one on your desk 😉

But don’t just take my word for it…..there’s an excellent interview with Linda here, at Female First and even more recommendations over at the Womag Blog.

The blurb on the back says:
This book aims to answer the BIG question. Where do writers get their ideas? Ideas are tricky things. They’re ephemeral. You can’t see them, or take hold of them. They’re also invisible, but like radio waves, they’re everywhere.

The truth is that ideas rain down on us, mostly when we aren’t expecting them. The problem that most people face is that they have very big umbrellas. Ideas simply bounce off them, without being noticed. So if you need to capture them, then this book is for you. It’s an insight into the ways and means, some simple, some straightforward, and others, downright devious, that writers use to generate ideas.

So if you often find yourself stuck for ideas I highly recommend you get this one….trust me, you won’t be disappointed 🙂

Have you got a favourite writing book/guide? One you find yourself always going back to? Would love to hear your recommendations….not sure my husband would agree, because I have a nasty feeling my Amazon Wishlist will be affected lol

How To Do Everything & Be Happy

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I met Peter Jones at Swanwick last year and bought his book How To Do Everything & Be Happy whilst I was there. I have to say, he is a great advert for his own advice. The whole week at Swanwick, I swear, I did not see that guy frown. He had a smile, constantly fixed to his face. I remember thinking ‘I wanna be like that!’ so I bought the book (can highly recommend it by the way) 🙂

So here I am 6 months later, I’ve read it, made a few lists, not stuck to them, and my Boxing Days (a term used in the book) have fallen by the wayside…….

So I decided to drag my friend Jayne along to one of Peters Workshops yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it!!!! 🙂

I’ve set some goals and when we go back next month he’s gunna ask me if I’ve actually done anything about them lol.

Yesterday’s prompt was about lies….what can I say, I struggled 😦

Hubby’s got the day off work today, which is nice, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be reading that pocket novel lol

Prompts…..Good or Bad?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

An update from a blog I subscribe to hit my inbox a couple of days ago from Courage to Create.

Now, it is a great post, well written, and obviously the authors opinion….but, then I read the comments…..everyone agrees with him, whereas I read it and was like *ahem* no way!!!!!

Sooooo, go read, What Moves You Most Right Now? and tell me what you think? Am I one lone voice among thousands who uses prompts and feels that she actually benefits from them?

I use prompts because I have a hectic life. I use them to get my brain working, for direction. Yes, I’d love to walk with nature and be inspired. Why does it matter that the destination you arrive at never looks like the original prompt?

If I sat at my table every morning and just asked myself “What moves me the most right now?” well, I would probably end up writing about the shopping, the fact that I’ve got to change the bed linen, how many baskets of clean washing have to go upstairs, and how much my psoriasis is killing me on my hand lol. I’m positive that the 6 weeks worth of stories I’ve come up with so far this year would never have been written if it wasn’t for using prompts *folds arms and stamps foot*

Ok, rant over, apologies for that 😉

And now……

It’s by Tad Hargrave…..I got it through a FB friend….made me chuckle and calmed me down from my rant lol

I spent most of yesterday editing and re-editing my short story called Eating Out. Initially it was a story about a husband and wife, but now I’ve changed that to mother and son, so that it will fit I with the competition Swanwick are running on the theme of A Sense Of Duty. I have to be honest, I prefer it as husband and wife, but, as my homework for The Write Place was to find a competition and write an entry, the Swanwick one is the one I want to try 🙂 If it doesn’t get anywhere I’ll revert back to husband and wife and submit it somewhere else lol 😉

Went to The Write Place class last night where we mainly looked at fillers and checked through magazines looking for writing opportunities…..really enjoyed it 🙂

My prompt yesterday about living as he did turned into a piece about a detective going into a guys rented room as the guy had been found murdered…..really enjoyed writing that one 🙂 Today’s prompt is counting his/her breaths which sounds interesting.

WOW! :)

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Vikki Thompson

I am so chuffed right now! I’ve just received a Kreativ Blogger Award thanks to Sandra Madeira

Thank you sooooo much Sandra :o) When I started this Blog I didn’t expect anyone to read my ramblings, so it’s nice to know that someone does, and actually enjoys it!!!!! 🙂

So, I will play the game 🙂

The Kreativ Blogger award rules are:

1. Share 10 things about yourself that readers may find interesting
2. Pass the award on to 6 other Bloggers. Be sure to leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

So here goes 😉

10 Things About Myself

1 I’ve only been writing since October 2010. Prior to that I hadn’t wrote any fiction since being at school, a gap of approx 20, ahem, years.
2 I’m a Face Book addict lol
3 I am a yo-yo dieter 😦
4 I attended Swanwick for the first time last year, and will definitely be going again this year, and probably for ever more lol
5 I am a BookCrosser
6 I’m a huge Oasis fan (the band not the drink lol)
7 Dom Perignon is my favourite champagne (expensive taste lol)
8 I work (occasionally) with my husband. We have our own printing business.
9 My favourite authors are Fay Weldon, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Haynes and Linda Gillard.
10 My daughter is a hairdresser (lucky me) 😉

Blogs I’m Nominating (in no particular order)

Quillers Place A great blog by Sally Quilford, a Pocket Novel author. Always something interesting to read on her blog 🙂

Curly Mum A blog by Beccah, who I met through Nanowrimo. I love hearing about her family life, the perils of a young mum trying to write.

Libro This blog is by a lady called Liz Broomfield who I’ve known for, ooooo, quite a few years 😉 She’s now a full time editor/proof reader and her blog is full of little snippets regarding grammar etc that all us writers really should already know about 🙂

Two Moons I haven’t been reading Jenny’s blog long, but, what I have seen so far is very entertaining.

Strangling My Muse I love Sandy Ackers blog 🙂 If I’m ever stuck for something to write about, this is the place to go!

The Writing Calendar Sally Quilford has put together a calendar of Writing Competitions…..a great resource :o)

That’s it! I would have nominated Sandra’s Place but we don’t want her to get too big headed now do we 😉

Edited to add…… Oh, go on then…..Sandra gets a nomination for the link above, so my list is actually 7 😉

Again, thank you Sandra, I feel very honoured 🙂