January 2021

The Winner 2020

Congratulations (yet again!) to Martin

Derek’s Turn at Writers’ Circle

(Any resemblance to real people is mostly accidental and unintended)

Derek was looking forward to his work being praised at Writer’s Circle. He’d deleted all the adverbs that had been tauntingly plaguing him recently.

As always, the group had received the work two weeks ago and had been studying it for minutes before the session. Derek was struggling to get through Agatha’s second paragraph: one sentence with ten clauses and no more enjoyable than stomach flu.

‘Anything particular you’d like feedback on?’ He asked delayingly, to buy time. Fortunately her answer was as long-winded as her writing and he skim read the whole piece while she failed to concisely say ‘no’.

‘I wasn’t sure your Quaker Minister hero would knife an old lady in the heart.’ He added, while thinking ‘unless he’d met you.’ Conversation turned to which branch of Christianity would most likely produce an in-character granny-murdering minister hero, before Matthew returned to the murder saying it was the best bit.

Attention turned to Derek. Agatha smiled, Cheshire catishly.

‘I made a few notes.’ She said, handing over his work, reddened with corrections. ‘I mean, I know it’s only first draft…’

‘Yes, first draft.’ He said. The Cow! He’d been honing it for months.

She continued, ‘You often use words in the wrong concept.’

He read it anew, red ink highlighting clear mistakes:

Chapter 2.

Flavio suddenly lost his tempter, shiting and testiculating wildly…

Derek considered pretending that shiting and testiculating were quirky character traits of Flavio but just couldn’t imagine what testiculating was. The circle had many suggestions.

MEMBERS’ MUSINGS

FROM JUNE

The present crisis which has worsened over Christmas and New year has reminded me of the poem by Louise Haskins – ‘I said to the man at the gate of the year…’ which as you know was read by King George VIth on Christmas day 1939. This also brought to my mind a framed print of Holman Hunt’s ‘The Light of the World’ that hung on my bedroom wall as a child.

Also please encourage any ‘non zoomers’ that if I can do it anyone can!!!

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”
May that Almighty hand guide and uphold us all.

FROM JAYNE

I’m not sure if you and other HWC members are aware of the amazing catalogue of free OU writing courses available to anyone. Registration is simple and it’s all online and modules downloadable. You can chose your level and course duration.

There are a host of creative writing elements to chose from the introductory levels such as ‘Start Writing Fiction, Character and Stories; to an Intermediate level ‘Approaching Prose Fiction’ and the Advanced with ‘Creative Writing and Critical Reading’.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

FROM SARAH

Resources for Writers – New Writing South

The Creative Bridge – The Creative Campus

The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize

Book Reviews

‘Lanny’ by Max Porter

Max Porter is an extraordinary writer, he takes everything you learnt in Creative Writing courses and throws it out the window. His first book was ‘Grief is the Thing with Feathers’ in which the main character was Crow from the poem by Ted Hughes. I have to say that although it won awards and accolades, I found it rather difficult and odd.

His second book, ‘Lanny’, felt more accessible and has more of a story. It is set in a rural village within commuting distance of London, but beset with superstition and gossip. When a young boy, Lanny, goes missing all hell breaks loose in the village. Not least amongst the characters is a mythic, somewhat dishevelled sort of green man, called Dead Papa Toothwort, who has haunted the village and caused mischief for generations. The writing, even the physical layout, is unusual, but the story is compelling. It seems very current and yet with deep roots in the past. I would certainly recommend it as the story is good with a nice twist, and the style is interesting although challenging at times.

Maggie.

‘Everything I know about parties, dates, friends, jobs, life, love.’ Dolly Alderton

This was a fantastic read, at times heartbreaking and funny in equal measure, but never self-indulgent. Because it was autobiographical, I really felt I got to know Dolly: warts and all. Honest and self-deprecating this is a journey of self-discovery that I really empathised with, through its stories of friendship, love and loss and the necessity of this, at times, fraught journey in order to find yourself. I would recommend this book for adult readers and young adult readers, particularly those who struggle with mental health issues. Dolly talks frankly about her time in therapy and it’s clear that the tools she learned really supported her current level of self-awareness and contentment.

Lesley

The Ice Daughters
by D.E.White

A naked frozen man, hair spiked with ice crystals and with the number two written on his chest, is found arranged in a macabre tableau on a doorstep opposite a smouldering factory. The owner of the house is missing, her two young children have slept through the abduction and their mother’s frantic calls for help to the emergency services. An absolute corker of a first chapter in this pacy and gripping tale of crime with chilling references to the Nazi Hypothermia experiments conducted at Dachau in 1943.

Filled with intrigue and stark detail, Daisy’s descriptions fill the reader with a creeping dread at the visual imagery portrayed: “The chess pieces … glittered menacingly, faceless and angular against the backdrop of the red front door.”

Daisy’s characters were crafted well and no element was missed out, so each stood independent and believable, 100% recommended.

Lesley

Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens

A phenomenal and beautifully written story of a young girl whose mother reluctantly walks away from her young family, after enduring years of abuse, broken promises and hardship from the family’s cheating, alcoholic father.

Kya Clark, just out of infancy, has to learn how to survive and to raise herself against the beautiful and wild background of North Carolina’s marsh country; with no sympathy or help from its town’s deeply prejudiced residents.

When Barkley Cove’s favourite star quarterback and the town’s most popular boy, Chase Andrews, is found dead at the base of the fire tower, Kya is immediately the key suspect. The town have been aware for years of the rumours surrounding Chase and Kya, but with no obvious clues they will struggle to prove the guilt of the ‘Marsh Girl’.

This novel follows Kya’s almost feral quest for survival through her desperate quest for love and acceptance by the resistant townsfolk. Eventually, realisation that she can only rely on herself and the beautiful backdrop of the marsh and the gulls she befriends, Kya learns independence.

While I was buying this book, from my local Waterstones, someone called in to thank the manager for recommending this book. She said, it was one of her favourite books of 2020, I agree with her.

Lesley

Author Showcase

Greed, arrogance and determination drive Robert Devereux, 2^nd Earl of Essex, in his quest for Elizabeth I’s throne. He is The Queen’s favourite and has fought wars in her name – or has he?

As William Shakespeare builds his Globe Theatre and forges his place in the palace court, it appears he too will unwittingly be drawn into the combined schemes of Devereux and the unstoppable forces of Spain and Ireland. Can a playwright without wealth, inheritance, or title, foil Essex’s treasonous plans and save The Queen and his reputation.

Masterplayer uncovers the guile which runs rampant in court and bleeds onto London’s streets, culminating in a final showdown at Westminster. One that will result in death – but whose?

Mathew’s blurb for Masterplayer represents the final stages towards publishing Author’s Pen’s second book. This novel is a historical fiction story that Mathew has worked on for more than four years.

It’s a completely different genre from Mathew’s preferred genres: Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and came about as the result of a chance meeting with a lady called Ginny Monroe. She had written a screen play called Masterplayer and asked if Mathew thought he could write the novel.

Mathew rose to the challenge and found that historical story writing had similarities with fantasy writing, both Fantasy and History, in this instance, included: dragons, castles, kings, wars etc. It was really just the source material that changed.

reed, arrogance and determination drive Robert Devereux, 2^nd Earl of Essex, in his quest for Elizabeth I’s throne. He is The Queen’s favourite and has fought wars in her name – or has he?

Masterplayer uncovers the guile which runs rampant in court and bleeds onto London’s streets, culminating in a final showdown at Westminster. One that will result in death – but whose?

One of the questions that Author’s Pen had to consider, and which may resonate with other authors, was to do with pen names. Mathew was already established as a fantasy author and this book may well be his only foray into historical fiction writing, so should he consider a different pen-name? Particularly, bearing in mind the subject matter and genre?

After much heart-felt discussion, we felt that Mathew had worked so hard on Masterplayer that he deserved the personal recognition for his labours.

Prior to writing Masterplayer, Mathew would simply get an idea and begin to write, his plotting style was essentially that of a ‘pantser’. Fictionalising known facts meant that a different writing style was necessary. Historical fiction requires that certain events must happen. It was necessary to put them on a timeline and use them as beats to the story. The rest was then structured around them.

His research began at the end of the story. With no knowledge of Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, and in particular of Richard Devereux: 2nd Earl of Essex. Mathew wrote the last scene first, then set about the start, the rest then began to fall in order. It was difficult to keep the story in chronological order as some old documents had different dates in them. Additionally, ‘quieter’ years were condensed down to maintain pace. He had to create a couple of characters for convenience of plot mechanics too.

It was through this that Mathew was able to include some details of Horsham’s illustrious connections to Elizabethan England, with the creation of his character: Marie, Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth and a central character in his plot

Having completed Masterplayer, Mathew has gone back to his creative writing MA studies and his current WIP towards his MA qualification is a fast-paced Sci-fi.

You can read more of Mathew’s work here.

Mathew, please contact: authorspen@outlook.com

Masterplayer will be published by Author’s Pen in March 2021. To pre-order your copy, please email: authorspen@outlook.com

Why I Started Writing

It was in the late 1970s. I was a full time mother, my choice, but I still missed the companionship of colleagues and the mental stimulus that going to work brings. Our children were still little but I began to teach in Sunday school at the church we attended. Whilst doing my preparation one day I read that the organisation, which published the teaching guides we used, was advertising for writers. I applied.

My test assignment arrived just before we were due to set off on our family holiday. ‘Take it with you,’ my husband said. ‘I’ll look after the kids, while you take time to write’. I sent my writing to the publishers, Scripture Union, and received a reply that I had the feel for this kind of writing and they wanted to take me on. I felt affirmed and valued, in a way which you will understand if you have spent several years at home as a full time parent. And I found that I enjoyed the writing process. I contributed happily for two years. I then went back to full time teaching and subsequently trained as a teacher of the deaf.

During my teaching career I had articles published in the local press, in professional magazines and journals and co-wrote a chapter in a book on Deaf Education.

The idea of writing for pleasure came when I left my last full time teacher of the deaf post. I determined to write about the previous five years which had been important and remarkable in many ways. The resulting manuscript was rejected by various publishers and then, as often happens, life intervened. For several years other things consumed my time and energy: caring for grandchildren, running baby signing classes and coping with my husband’s health issues and repeated surgeries. Throughout though, I wrote a daily journal.

When we moved to Horsham, almost two years ago, my ambition was to do a creative writing course. I did that, starting in September 2019 with the lovely Lesley. As part of putting into practice lessons learned on the course, I began to rewrite the book, in 1000 word chunks! And received favourable feedback. Now I’m here with some of my fellow students in the Horsham Writers Circle, very happy to be with others who enjoy the writing process and will spur me on to finish the memoir I started in 2002.

Jackie

Writing Tips

Some years ago I went on a creative writing course which lasted just for a morning, but was hugely helpful. It was run by Ruth Brandt, a published author, who runs many courses and has a website (www.ruthbrandt.co.uk) and a facebook page (Creativity, inspiration and muses).

The point of the course I attended was to use photographs as a starting point for some short pieces of writing. Ruth had brought along a random selection of photos cut from magazines – they were totally unrelated and I think we all felt that we would struggle to get started. However, having been given one photo each, and the deadline of 15 minutes hence, we had no choice but to get cracking!

Focussing completely on the photograph forced me to ‘jump right in’. I subconsciously asked questions of the man in my photo (why was he there? What was he doing? What will happen after this moment?), and writing from first ideas rather than honing thoughts into a more considered piece gave me a sense of freedom. It made me realise how much I usually think about the eventual reader before I write – having that 15 minute work window was perfect – it gave me no time to do anything but go with my initial thoughts about the picture.

None of us wrote more than a paragraph, but the discussions we had about each piece were very telling – we discovered that sharing the photos before sharing the pieces of writing allowed the listeners to get into the zone, and some of us found that we had mutual visual references (from films for example) with the writer, whilst others would have taken a completely different path had that photograph been their inspiration.

I started a notebook after taking the course, where I picked up a picture at random every couple of days and wrote for 15 minutes – it was a great way of breaking the writing ice, and I can recommend it!

Tracey

People Watching: Creating Character

Following on from last month’s blog, I wanted to continue to discuss the value of people watching, and too the value of inner reflection.

While you’re looking around the café and trying to work out who to look at, begin by focussing on your own behaviour, what are you doing?: blowing on your coffee, wiping your mouth with your napkin? Is there any noise that makes it difficult to hear, or to focus? Is the noise loud, or merely distracting? Why? Look at how you are you holding your cup? What does this convey about your mood, character, or how you want to be perceived in this situation?

Now look at the individual(s) you’re focussing on. What characteristics best sum up the person you’re watching? Which are the ones you would focus on in a line-up? Character description should only focus in on the characteristics that make the individual distinctive and unique. Look again, are there any characteristics that give some indication of personality or mood? Additionally, what about social group? How are they trying to fit in. Or, stand out? It could be a brooch, deliberately laddered tights, a peaky blinders cap, the way they’ve tied their scarf, something in their hair, or the way they’ve styled it – have they done something that appears deliberately conscious, or artfully/artlessly unconscious? If there is something that deliberately ties them to something, or to some social group, what does that tell you about their character or personality?

See if you can discover their mood from their body language, are they relaxed? Or, bunched up with everything crossed? How much space are they taking up at their table – what might this tell you about them? Have they got any ticks? A constantly flicking leg, are they drumming their fingers on the table, playing with their hair, checking their appearance. Look at the person or group they’re with, try and read the emotional interplay between them – is this likely to be their usual behaviour? Or, does it relate to the conversation they’re having? Look at their facial expressions; what clues does this give you? How close are they sitting to each other? Are they leaning towards each other? Are they heavily engaged in their conversation? Or is one, or both, of them distracted? Is the conversation relaxed? Or, heated?

See if another table is having a different type of conversation? Contrast the two types of behaviour – what marks the conversations out as being different?

What you’re doing here is learning all about how to use show and tell effectively in your writing. For example, you can ‘tell’ your reader that your couple are having a heated discussion, maybe you might use some dialogue, and possibly some punctuation to add weight to your dialogue. But think about how much this tells your reader about character and how much more effective it would be to show your characters having this heated discussion; using what you’ve learned about body language and action. For example:

Simon leaned forwards, his body rigid and shoulders hunched towards his ears. He jabbed a finger towards Maggie, his coffee slopped over the rim of his cup as the table jarred. He didn’t notice, but Maggie clearly had, she leaned back, her eyes went to the coffee pooling on the table before returning anxiously to his face.

You can tell from this that Simon is the aggressor, he’s full of pent-up anger and is the one leaning forwards; determined to get his point across and ignorant of his spilled coffee because he is so incensed. Maggie, contrastingly, is leaning away from Simon; trying to put distance between them? Maybe, to give herself that fight or flight space? Either that, or she’s surprised by the sudden outburst? Additionally, she’s seen the spilled coffee but realises that she won’t help the situation by mentioning it now.

You’ll notice too – there’s no dialogue here, but the dialogue you add will simply have weight added to it by the actions and body language of the individuals. There’s no need to tag the dialogue. By weaving this action into the dialogue you’ve created a dynamic scene, which adds weight and depth to the conversation they’re having. Both dialogue, action and body language will help to develop the reader’s knowledge of character.

Essentially, developing character in this way means you don’t have to work half as hard as you would if you were telling and tagging your way through your story.

Happy writing.

Lesley