Inspiring Writing Conference

I returned last night from our annual Scottish Association of Writers weekend conference tired and inspired after all the chatting, eating and concentration. What a great weekend in the company of writers from all over Scotland, as well as an agent, a couple of publishers and plenty of professional authors as speakers, workshop leaders, or as some of the general delegates from all the various writing groups.

Westerwood Hotel

I've been attending for many years and never fail to be inspired by at least one of the workshops - daughter Victoria also goes. This year it was even more relaxing not to be adjudicating any of the competitions myself, which allowed me to enter a couple of different competitions from those I have in the past. I'd decided this would be the last time I entered any and was only seeking the written critique that every judge has to provide on all entries. So I was absolutely delighted to win third prize in both the Under 7s (picture book) story and the non-fiction book competition (first 15,000 words)! It lets me now consider whether or not to take these two ideas further.

Misty view form the car park

Two of the workshops I attended provided added inspiration and lots to think about. The first was Picture Books - what makes them different? This was run by well-published author, Linda Strachan, who did an excellent power-point presentation of all the different types of books available for the various ages of childhood. She emphasised how important it was to structure a story suitable for babies, toddlers and read-alone for instance and how the words work together with the illustrator's pictures.

Another workshop I found inspiring was Writing a Dramatic Monologue run by professional writer, Catherine Czerkawska who has written many plays for stage and radio as well as novels and short stories. It was particularly interesting to hear how writing a monologue can be very effective for fiction writers - or using short monologues to get to know your characters' voices. Although I've watched one of Catherine's plays and heard another on radio, I was completely absorbed in her advice and short excerpts, one of which was very powerful and emotional as it was about the Chernobyl disaster. I wasn't surprised to hear some of the audience had been in tears when it was performed on stage!

Coffee Break!

The hotel itself is a few miles north of Glasgow and they do us proud - fabulous rooms, facilities and food. Their pastry chef provided scones with jam and cream one afternoon during our quick coffee break and little chocolate brownies yesterday morning, as well as a variety of non-alcoholic cocktails! We were all surprised on Saturday afternoon to find a wrapped bar of rocky road chocolate in each of the rooms. These little touches enhanced the enjoyment of the whole weekend.

The SAW committee also made a special effort on the Saturday evening by arranging a Gala Dinner for us, complete with Candelabra on each table! Our president, Marc, mentioned Hogwarts in his welcome before dinner was served. We'd been encouraged to glam up that evening, so I did. Any excuse for a little bit of glamour and drama!

Victoria and me at the candlelit dinner

Now it's back to reality and catching up on all the things I left behind, including another competition to judge. But we're all inspired to get on with our writing and each conference encourages new writers to try all the wonderful ways in which to use words. Roll on next year!

Rosemary

Scottish Association of Writers

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was going to the Scottish Association of Writers annual weekend conference and how it was usually inspiring. Well this year was every bit as interesting and enjoyable.

Our current venue is the very good Westerwood Hotel just north of Glasgow, which provides everything we could want in good food and hotel facilities, especially for a conference. A highlight on the Saturday is the delicious mini pastries and muffins provided at the morning tea/coffee break and delicate little cakes at our afternoon break!

Friday Dessert!

This year, we had excellent speakers, adjudicators and workshops ranging from some of the elements necessary for short stories with Shirley Blair from The People's Friend, lots of great advice on the self-publishing business from Linda Gillard, traditional publishing and how to write a good letter to agents and publishers from Allan Guthrie, and studying story structure with Alexandra Sokoloff. This was only a selection of what was on offer in between the competition adjudications.

Alexandra Sokoloff

One of my favourite workshops was the one on structure with Alexandra, who is not only a novelist but was also a screen writer in Hollywood for many years. As a film fan, I really enjoyed the way in which she discussed several films as an illustration on how to use the three-act structure in story plots, highlighting this on a whiteboard. She was also our keynote after-dinner speaker on Saturday evening and held us captivated by her own story and the lessons she learned to apply to her writing along the way. If you're interested in reading more about her and receiving her tips, you can sign up to Alexandra Sokoloff's website.

Needless to say, part of the pleasure of the weekend is meeting up with old friends and new from all over Scotland and we only stop talking when having to listen to the speakers! It's a wonderful way for writers to get together and we always go home inspired for another year.  There is usually friendly rivalry between the writing groups to see who can win the most trophies, but everyone who enters any of the competitions receives a written critique from the relevant adjudicator. The Association is open to affiliated writing groups from anywhere in Scotland and individuals who don't have a group can join the Writers' Umbrella as a postal member. You can contact the secretary of the SAW through their website if you want details.

Maybe see you next year at the conference!
Rosemary