Scottish Association of Writers Conference 2017

I'm just back from another wonderful weekend conference at the excellent Westerwood Hotel north of Glasgow. I've been going to the Scottish Association of Writers conferences for many years and actually won my first competition there way back when. This then led to my first publication in My Weekly since it was their editor at that time who had chosen my story as winner!

with members of my writing group

This year was as enjoyable as ever. Part of the pleasure is meeting up with writing friends from all over Scotland and each year we add new friends to the mix. It is still very competition led which allows members to enter different categories for which they receive a written critique - most valuable when adjudicators have taken time to offer constructive suggestions.

Although I've adjudicated a few times in the past, I was more than happy to relax and enjoy the weekend without entering, or judging, or running a workshop. However, I was even more delighted to support my talented daughter, Victoria, who was a competition judge for the first time. She was also first on after dinner on the Friday evening! She needn't have worried as she was every bit as professional and helpful as anyone else I've ever heard.

Victoria's workshop

Another highlight of the conference is the provision of workshops which run all day Saturday and Sunday morning. There is usually something for everyone and this year I spent Saturday at the following (after the remainder of the adjudications): Learning from Mistakes as Novelists from Michael Malone, The Pot of Gold in Poetry from Alison Craig and Writing Historical Fiction from J David Simons - I picked up a few gems from all three workshops.

On the Sunday morning, it was Victoria's turn and she assured me she didn't mind me attending hers - I couldn't resist the subject: Inspiration Everywhere. And it truly was inspirational as many of the attendees told me afterwards. She's experienced in delivering workshops to secondary pupils but this was her first to adults and I'm certain it won't be her last! We all came away with excellent ideas on how to creatively use what we see and how to build a story.

Of course the weekend is also about the eating and chatting and this year we were honoured to have Helen Lederer as our after-dinner speaker on the Saturday evening. Helen also kindly adjudicated the drama competition and she is as funny, engaging and approachable in real life as she is on screen or in print. Victoria managed to get a photo - it was Helen who suggested a selfie together!

It's back to reality today but I'll take a few days to absorb all I learned and enjoyed, as well as follow up any opportunities that were shared amongst us. Roll on next year!

Rosemary