The Chichester Writing Festival - Part Five

The final session at the Chichester Writing Festival was Kate Mosse chatting with the amazing Francesca Simon of Horrid Henry fame...without any further intro my notes...

Be aware that arbitrary decisions will come back to haunt you – 50 books

Writes one Horrid Henry per year; easy to become formulaic if in a rush

Based on 2 sides of everybody, comic extremes, tension

Good memory for emotion in childhood

What would Henry do in an ordinary situation?

He’s locked in a battle and will never grow up

Moody Margaret is her favourite

18 million copies

She writes by asking herself questions – for the Chessman it was why are they so miserable

Actual naming of a character sparked the story

4 random people embarking on a quest – who knows why

Not a planner – needs to know what they are doing and why

What do they want – until that’s answered the books has no energy- doesn’t need to know anything else

It’s the momentum

Question then answer

A story is as long as it needs to be - always can cut

Setting & time

She had not run out of ideas but fears not writing well

She hopes that she’s learned she can make a bad first draft (they are always bad) better – trusting that now

Of course you get stuck – you’re a writer

Sets a low word count, 500, which she knows she can achieve

A terrible 12k is better than a perfect 0

Professionals finish books

I took heart from that last comment as that was one of my biggest fears when I began writing fiction again - could I finish a book? Yes, I can and have now done it several times....

All in all I can't recommend the festival enough...I met and chatted with so many lovely people-just brilliant!

Chichester Writing Festival - Part Three

As I mentioned yesterday I was nervous...I was going to be on a panel with three other writers - Shelley Harris, Adele Parks and Jane Sanderson and with Greg Mosse entitled Fiction-True- Because I Say So. Yesterday's post gave you the gist of the panel on non-fiction and I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about our panel except that it well received...and people were surprised at how supportive we all were of each other...

Just after lunch we had a panel on What They Want. The panellists were Felicity Bryant-agent, Jon Wood - publishing director at Orion and Stewart Ferris - co-founder of Summersdale Publishing and author. I took only a few notes and quite frankly they aren't much use to me or anyone except the stats from Orion that Jon quoted...

20% of all sales at Orion are from ebooks and it's higher in the SciFi at about 40-50%...he also commented that he doesn't just 'buy' a book but the author (not sure I phrased that correctly but I hope you can get the idea)

There were two great sessions in the afternoon but I was too drained to write notes...again appologies.

However a glass of wine or two and a meal I was able to take notes for Kate Mosse's wonderful interview with Joanna Trollope...after  an exhausting day I doubt these are very reliable but here they are...

KM – The writers who are benevolent last – they love people

JT...

Story is how we do things – very keen on it

You can be far too young to write but never too old

Nothing new about the human condition – she had something to say to her generation – she has a voice

Her earliest novel wasn’t brave enough – didn’t push it far enough…The Choir

She listens to the world – what are the zietgiests, chronic eavesdropper

She starts with the story idea then characters…comes in a patchwork of characteristics…roams through the press for names until something fits

Plots the first 25k then plots the end – but then lets the rest develop organically

More of a notice rather than a writer, not a stylist, good on a good day, internal process – a journey that will last

The spectacles through which we see the world – are words – where we feel most at hom

Writing is about humanity

She wrote the first novel on a full tank of fuel but the doesn’t have the accumulated rocket fuel – a responsibility to the readers, more skill and assurance

Believe a degree of vulnerability and anxiety is vital

Conscious of creative engineering to make characters different and reflective of her own reactions

How do you feel about being too young to write? I tend agree but on Sunday one of the writers was just 27...maybe it depends on what you are writing and who for????

Chichester Writing Festival - Part Two

So Saturday arrived, day two of the Chichester Writing Festival, and to say I was a bit nervous would be the truth and it is reflected in my notes...they are not as comprehensive...apologies

The first session of the morning was on non-fiction and the panel...

Claire Winyard – director of TV drama and documentary

Can’t create anything good out of bad fiction

Commercial constraints are good, pressure is good

Brian Viner – journalist, TV critic and author of comic non-fiction

It’s all in the editing

Phil Hewitt - arts editor and non-fiction author

The skill isn’t in doing it fast but in keeping going 

Can't attribute the comment below but they came out of the discussion...

You as author are best bested to publicized your book

The story has a universal appeal

-the power of the characters, not the setting

-emotional power

-universal story

Help the author think big

The other big issue that came out this session was that somehow non-fiction was perceived as less than fiction. I confess this question took me by surprise because in my own head I thought it was the other way around....but the comment 'it reads like fiction' was used to demonstrate that fiction was held above....

What do you think...is non-fiction the second class citizen?

The Chichester Writing Festival - Part One

Well, I'm back to reality and Dubai after a fabulous weekend at the Chichester Writing Festival in amazing West Dean! This, excuse me while I do a small happy dance, was my second literary festival.... I'm still not used to this idea that people might want to listen to what I have to say.

Before I share some of my notes (because how could I attend a festival and not be the usually geeky me???) I want to say say a huge thanks to Greg Mosse who puts this amazing festival together in this glorious location. Greg is the moderator for all the session bar the main evening ones where his wife the amazing writer Kate Mosse conducts the interviews. Both of them do brilliant jobs...

Now while on the flight back yesterday when I hit a stuck point, unfortunately a frequent occurrence at the moment with August Rock, I wrote up my notes...

Today I'll share the ones from Kate's chat with crime writer Mark Billingham...as with all these posts - these are just my notes and are imperfect....

Kate Mosse Interview with Mark Billingham

-Novel is performance- you’re trying to entertain the reader

- he gives a book 50 pages

-changed course – 3 books in they were starting  to get samey

- less is more; less violence now he’s a better writer

-doesn’t do the work for the reader – just nudge the reader

- harder to make readers care – that’s the most important – then you have tension

- small images that count- the shoes in the road not the bomb blast

- what the violence does to people – not the violence itseld

- research less & less , you need to get things right, you learn what you need to know, don’t crow bar the info into the book

- Social Media – displacement like looking out the window, uses Twitter more than FB

- want to do everything in dialogue because of his background in TV….live or die on the strength of dialogue

-doesn’t write everyday-only if you have another job; most of ‘the job’ happens when not at the keyboard

-he writes without a plan like driving into the fog...kinda like you know where you are going but can only see as far as the headlights

- you sit down and go to work making things up

- LUCK