I’m at the North Cornwall with my writing friends, the Lyme Four (yes we know we’re actually three, but it’s a long story) We have been coming here for probably five years now, and each fest is different and each is wonderful in different ways. We are, as I mentioned yesterday staying in a lodge at a wooded holiday park, and right now we’re sitting there, snug and warm, listening to the rain pattering on the roof, and writing.
Although the fest started yesterday, today has been the first day for us. I was involved in two workshops and a talk/audience with a published author. T workshop he first was ‘How to Write a Mystery’ from Stephanie Merritt –
the author of 13 books, including the bestselling Elizabethan historical crime series written as SJ Parris, which has sold over a million copies in the UK. Her new novel, Traitor’s Legacy, is the first in a new historical series featuring the spy Sophia de Wolfe.
To be honest, I haven’t yet read anything from Stephanie, but after her workshop this morning which I really enjoyed and found interesting and really helpful, no doubt I will soon be deep in ‘Heresy’, the first in her Giordiano Bruno books. As I have also written a mystery series, about Thomas Radwinter, a very different person from sixteenth century Giordiano, I appreciated her views and advice a great deal.
The second workshop was ‘Writing Memoir’ with Tiffany Murray. I was intrigued by the preview:
Do you want to write your story, or a family story in some form? This workshop will help you access your stories, think about them, and craft them into a narrative…. this session with novelist and memoirist Dr Tiffany Murray will open up your creativity.
The first exercise which she gave us was to write about our first name. Lois is a family name, my great grandma was Lois, and strangely (because of the similarity of name) she married a Tasmanian man called Louis. I scribbled something, not very interesting, mentioning that my nick-names have been predictably Lo, Loki, Loco.
The second exercise was to start with ‘I Am’, and I’m afraid I was somewhat fanciful, starting with something about my relationship with the sea. I had an idea but somehow couldn’t quite catch hold of it, so it was rather unsatisfactory. The next piece I jotted down was better in a sense – at least the content might become something if I juggle it and play with it, which I might do at some point. Lastly I was writing on safe ground – swimming in my childhood, and I managed to recapture (I hope) something of the part it played in my life.
By this time, I think we were all in the swing of Tiffany’s workshop exercises, and the very last task was to start with “I come from”. Although far from perfect in any way, suddenly my mind cleared of clutter (quite an achievement) and the words flowed. The result needs a lot of work – and probably some declaiming out loud before I knock it into something which properly reflects what I was trying to say, but I was quite pleased at the time, and just as pleased now.
An excellent and enjoyable morning – and then in the afternoon, Vaseem Khan – about whom my thoughts will appear in a later post, meanwhile, I thoroughly recommend his books:
Lois Elsden 