This time last year I was regularly travelling to Bournemouth to attend CPD training in workshop facilitation offered by Lit Up! Writing. (You can find a post about the programme here.) The latest Lit Up! initiative sees the publication of poetry and prose by writers living in Dorset and beyond. The Beacon, Issue 1 is an ingenious anthology compiled to reflect the theme of performance. Act 1 includes work by fellow Wimborne Writing Group members Mary Bevan and Richard Green. My flash fiction ‘Graft’ appears at the end of Act 2, while Kim West (who also attended the Lit Up CPD training) has a poem in Act 3. Biographies for the writers appear under ‘curtain call’. It’s a pleasure to have my work included in such an innovative anthology. Well done to Ben Johnson for putting it together. Copies of the anthology can be purchased here.
Going it alone
You may remember I won a prize in 2012 to have a collection of my short fiction titled Four Buses printed. While it was lovely to win a competition, I didn’t realise what was involved in producing a print-ready pdf of the collection. I was fortunate to have the help of Julie Musk with the process but how do others approach the task of self-publishing?
The Dorset Writers’ Network drew upon the support of Helen Baggott to help in the production of a wonderful anthology of short stories titled This Little World. It occurred to me that others might be interested to know how Helen can support writers wishing to self-publish.
Helen Baggott, Copy-editor and Proofreader. Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and an Associate of The Society of Authors.
Helen edits and proofreads manuscripts, she also works with authors preparing their documents for self-publishing – as e-books and paperbacks. A lack of confidence in computer skills shouldn’t be the reason a writer can’t experience the thrill of seeing their work published.
She’s passionate about supporting indie authors and as a member of ALLi, she is able to pass on tips and hints that might not be easily accessible to anyone embarking on a self-publishing journey. ALLi is committed to raising the standard of self-published books.
She often half-jokes that no-one will come knocking on an author’s door, asking if they have a book to sell. Marketing is also part of the self-publishing journey and she is able to help with advice on that too. You can find Helen at www.helenbaggott.co.uk
Helen has done some work for me in proofreading a manuscript and she’s recently supported Sue Stephenson in putting together an e-book. Sue has seen a massive increase in the traffic to her blog where readers have been searching the archive to find posts of a story called Powerless – The Year The Lights Went Out. The story has proved so popular that Sue’s taken the step of self-publishing Powerless as an e-book. You can find out more about it here, or visit amazon to purchase a copy. It’s a wonderful story that imagines what it would be like to suddenly have to live without power. The characters show such resilience and resourcefulness – it’s a fresh and absorbing read.
Boxing Day Ambivalence
I’m always relieved when Christmas Day has past without any major falling-outs or disappointments. My children have got used to me being less than enthusiastic about the whole event so on Boxing Day we headed to the beach and had a blustery trudge along the shingle. With surprise, we found the Hive Cafe open and serving coffee and cakes. It was good to be amongst others who needed escape from the Christmas stir-crazy feeling. Perhaps my ambivalent attitude towards the holiday is not so unusual.
This Little World, an anthology by Dorset Writers
You may remember back in January, I wrote a post about creative writing workshops which were held in rural locations around Dorset to promote creative writing. (You can read the post here.) The workshops were offered by steering group members of the Dorset Writers’ Network and encouraged participants to submit a 500 word story, based in Dorset, for inclusion in an anthology. This Little World is the result of hard work by all those involved.
The stories in this anthology are by writers from 11-70 years. Each story is a real gem of no more than 500 words in length which celebrates the diversity of the county. The anthology is available in paperback through Amazon, click here for details. An ebook of the anthology will follow.
This Little World: workshops and publication launch
Please find details of a writers’ day in Dorchester with flyer and booking form below:
Story Slam, Bridport 2015
Organised by Frances Colville, the fourth Bridport story slam was another wonderful event. I was honoured to act as a judge alongside novelist Rosanna Ley and Nick Macy, manager of Waterstones, Bridport. Author Laura James was an excellent MC at the event.
Sixteen writers entered the story slam although owing to constraints of time, only twelve were able to read. Each writer shared an original story taking up to 5 minutes for the reading. We were impressed by the high quality delivery from all the writers, readings were offered to engage and entertain. The stories took us to places far and near as well as emotional journeys of recovery and love. There was much humour, too: from a chuckle to the laugh out loud variety.
Much of the writing was carefully crafted, giving hints and clues, making the stories textured. There was a wide range of genres including fantasy, sketches and letters. Some stories contained clever twists and characters from history and fairy tale were given new life. It was a very hard job for the judges to agree on the top three stories. Read the rest of this entry »
Dorchester Literary Festival
Victorian Gallery, Dorset County Museum
The first Dorchester Literary Festival runs from 23-25 October 2015 with events at Duke’s Auctioneers and the delightful Victorian Gallery in the Dorset County Museum. I’m a volunteer steward at Desert Island Books with Tracy Chevalier and I’m planning attend the session delivered by Dom Joly on Friday. You’ll also find me helping at the Young Peoples’ Story Slam on Saturday held at Dorchester Library.
If you’re able to attend any of these events, I look forward to seeing you.
Using sayings from around the world as a prompt for public speaking
Previously on this blog, I have written about my membership of a local public speaking group (you can read about the Casterbridge Speakers here). Last week, it was my turn to lead the table topics section of the agenda. Here members of the group are asked to give an impromptu talk on a non-specialist theme or topic for up to two-minutes. Some people love the challenge – others hate it. My role is to select topics in advance of the meeting which allow speakers to share stories or offer opinions. According to Toastmasters International, this role will help to improve my organisational, time management and facilitation skills.
In order to offer a non-threatening subject for a two-minute talk, I looked to issue 65 of Writing in Education for ideas. There, an article by Robert Paul Weston used Japanese sayings as guidance for writers. This got me thinking about using sayings from around the world as a prompt for a two-minute talk. After a little internet searching, I came up with these prompts:
Open Story Slam, Poole
Here are details of an exciting new story slam which is offered by the Dorset Writers’ Network as part of the Poole Festival of Words 2015.
Thrill and surprise the audience with your 500 word story (to be read within 5 minutes).
The finest writer will become Poole Festival of Words’ Story Slam Winner 2015.
Your judges: writers Michael O’Byrne, James Cole and Jennifer Bell.
Your MC: prize-winning poet Ben Johnson
POOLE MUSEUM,4 HIGH STREET, POOLE BH15 1BW
SATURDAY 25 JULY 7.00 – 9.30pm
Tickets £5.00 on the door for readers and audience
Register in advance by emailing gail@dorsetwritersnetwork.co.uk to give your name or turn up on the night. Ten names will be selected from a hat to fill the reading slots scheduled for the evening.
This event is of interest to readers and writers alike. You will be able to listen to a range of stories and experience something a little different.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Writing places: a new project
Thomas Hardy’s Cottage
The National Trust, Literature Works and the Poetry Archive have formed a new partnership to offer to offer a programme of events celebrating the literary heritage of the South West. The launch of the programme was held on 2 July (the birth date of Thomas Hardy) at Max Gate. As an invited guests, I toured the house, listened to Andrew Motion read from a forthcoming collection of poetry and found out more about the project. Five National Trust properties with strong literary connections, including Max Gate and Hardy’s Cottage, will have professional writers appointed to act as writers-in-residence. The purpose is to explore ‘the domestic lives of some of the country’s greatest writers, revealing how the houses and landscape that they loved inspired them to create their masterpieces, and how these places continue to be relevant today’. A programme of workshops and events will be developed so that writers and visitors can contribute to the project. Find out about developments as the programmes progress by visiting the Writing Places blog.
As a result of the launch, I’ve discovered it’s well worth visiting the Poetry Archive. I spent a delightful couple of hours listening to poets read from their work. By following a tour of the archive with Mark Grist and David Almond (there are many tours to choose from), I was introduced to new poetry, which I loved. The experience encouraged me to try my hand a writing a poem – the first one since school days!
