SWANWICK WRITERS’ SUMMER SCHOOL – a Chair’s View

I have just recently returned from Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. 

https://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk

It’s a summer school, residential, full board, where writers can participate in many aspects of a learning programme, be entertained with evening after-dinner speakers and quizzes, open mics and musical evenings. 

We have around 200 delegates per year, and it’s a great place to meet writers and discuss the many, many aspects of writing. This was my 7th year, and I have just stepped down from 2 years as Chair.

It all happens at the Hayes Conference Centre, in Derbyshire.

https://www.cct.org.uk/the-hayes/the-hayes-conference-centre

It’s a cracking location.

So, how did this year’s School go? Pretty well, I think. We had a great committee leading up to the School, and our hard-working Secretary Sharon Payne and Treasurer Sally Warr were central to the smooth running of the organisation for the delegates.

I took the opportunity to visit a couple of courses – “The Road to Self-Publishing Success” by force of nature for self-publishing Lizzie Chantree, and “AI and Writers – Should we Worry?” from Martin Lake. Both are items of interest to me. Much of the rest of the time was making sure last-minute glitches were avoided / fixed, supporting the other members of the committee, and gleaning feedback from delegates.

It was a great time – hard work, but worth it. There is a certain magic about the place, a feeling of community, in that we are all writers. Many of us are following different paths, many of us have different destinations, but we are all writers.

The committee arrive on Friday, a full day before the delegates. There’s a lot of work to do to preparing the School. Signs to make, many items to liaise with The Hayes about, certain things which need clarifying. It’s different every year, but it needs to be done.

On the Friday, we pick up boxes of room keys which have been programmed by The Hayes (over 200 of them!) and we need to print name badges and match them up, which is an incredibly fiddly and time-consuming operation. We always feel there must be a more efficient way, but as yet, we haven’t found it!

Early Saturday afternoon, we get the reception volunteers – those lovely people who sit in one of four locations around the site, and welcome delegates with their information packs at the ready. Nearly all the time, this works fine. There are always those delegates who haven’t received or haven’t read their email which tells them which reception is for them. So there’s a bit of human signposting required, always with good humour and WITHOUT  asking “WHY DIDN’T YOU READ YOUR EMAIL???”

And then there are those who haven’t been allocated the room they requested. We always try hard to ensure they are happy with their allocation, but sometimes we need to work with The Hayes, who are BRILLIANT, in reallocating some rooms.

It was our 75th Anniversary! Our secretary, Sharon, had reproduced the very first programme from 1949, and a booklet with a great timeline of significant events over the years – from the use of the Hayes as a prisoner of war camp, up to date. The Hayes had donated an amazing celebration cake (including a gluten-free one), the King had sent us a wonderful message of congratulation, we had the Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire, Mrs. Elizabeth Fothergill CBE to cut our cake, and share our special anniversary dinner in the dining hall. We had pinned some reflections from tutors past on the walls of the Main Conference Hall, and we had bought and donated a celebration bench, which was assembled and installed in the labyrinth, near to the chapel. Our programme had a lovely diamond emblem on the cover, which was matched by the icing on the cake! Thanks to everyone who contributed to the special celebration events! 

One of the Chair’s roles is to stand on the stage and make little speeches. A Welcome Speech on the first day, a short speech at the first timer’s reception, introductions to all of the guest after-dinner speakers, running the AGM (essential, because all delegates are members of the charitable organisation, and therefore must be included in a number of votes). I also MC’d the prizegiving ceremony on the last evening, which was great fun.

I’m not a natural on the stage, as last year’s School showed. I get flustered easily. Delivering courses and workshops to people has never been an issue, but speeches at Swanwick always seemed like an artistic performance to me. So in preparation for this year, I wrote out my speeches in advance. There were a few items which wouldn’t be known until the School was underway, but at least I knew my scripts were in place, including the introductions to the evening speakers.

Another of the Chair’s roles is to book evening speakers. Despite our own preferences, it’s important to get a speakers from a broad spread of the writing sphere. We had 4 slots available, and I know we needed a scriptwriter, a poet, a novelist plus one other (sounds like the opening to a bad joke).

My role on the committee of the Frinton Literary Festival <<  https://www.frintonliteraryfestival.co.uk/  >> allowed me access to a number of speakers, which usually results in one or two bookings for Swanwick. This year, I invited Adele Parks to speak, as she went down really well in Frinton. Lesley Kara is a personal friend from Frinton when we both lived in the area. The scriptwriter Julian Unthank contacted me directly, interested in returning. I watched an evening speaker session from him a couple of years ago, and he was engaging and funny, and provided an interesting insight into scriptwriting. This year, he had a particular insight which I thought would go well. And finally, Luke Wright was a personal recommendation through a friend of a Swanwicker. 

On Saturday evening, we hosted Adele Parks <<https://www.adeleparks.com/ >> and her husband Jim, who conducted an interview. I think it worked really well, and a tiny frisson of marital relationship came through. Adele was awarded an MBE for her services to literacy in the New Year’s Honours list in 2022.

On Sunday evening, we entertained Lesley Kara <<  https://www.lesleykara.com/ >>. Lesley and I used to be in the same local writing group, from 2015 – around 2019, so I wanted to try to show that the road to writing success (if becoming a multi-million Sunday Times bestseller is your measure of success) can come to all of us. I thought it might be interesting for the audience to hear what it was like at the pinnacle of the book industry. Lesley is a great speaker, and answered my occasionally slightly intrusive questions with honesty.

Unfortunately, Julian Unthank  <<  https://vhassociates.co.uk/writer/julian-unthank/ >>, who we’d booked for Tuesday evening, needed to cancel at the last minute as he was suffering Covid-like symptoms. We like to try to cover all aspects of writing from our after dinner speakers, and Julian is a superb screenwriter, with a host of credits such as Queens of Mystery, Doc Martin, New Tricks and The Bill, and has spoken to us before with a very entertaining and dynamic event. I hope you recover soon, Julian.

Our final speaker of the week was Luke Wright <<  https://www.lukewright.co.uk/ >> His approach to poetry is fresh and exciting. His performance skills have been honed over many years of professional gigs and support acts. He is the regular warm-up guy for John Cooper Clarke. He’s a theatre maker and broadcaster, and visited us after another successful set of sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe <<  https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/luke-wright-joy >> Suffice it to say that he held us, the audience, in the palm of his hand for an hour. Spellbinding!

Away from official events, I was able to chat to a number of delegates – some old friends for several years, some I’d met once or twice, and some I met for the first time. I always enjoy speaking to delegates quietly, and away from the events, as I feel I’m like to get a honest opinion about the week, how it is going, what they’re enjoying and what they’re not. This is really valuable. 

During one of the discussions, someone asked about marketing information. I referred to a couple of websites I’ve used in the past when researching marketing advice.

The first was Kindle Boards << https://www.kboards.com/  >> 

Alas, like a number of websites, Amazon didn’t like the use of “Kindle” in the name, so they needed to change it. This is a great discussion board, especially in the Writers’ Café section <<  https://www.kboards.com/forums/writers-cafe.60/  >>. This was where the ‘big hitters’ used to hang out during the ‘goldrush’ of self-publishing, in 2010 – 2014. Suddenly, there were devices where reading ebooks became a genuine possibility (and a pleasurable experience), and when Amazon first began using Print On Demand. For those who don’t know, PoD is based on a machine which takes in paper at one end, feeds your manuscript and cover data in the side, and out pops a book at the other end. There are no print runs. If someone wants one copy of your book, they will print one copy. Magic!

Anyway, one recent discussion concerned the use of Google Ads for books, which is fascinating. Real world data from real authors.

<<  https://www.kboards.com/threads/has-anyone-tried-google-ads-for-books.339604/ >>

And another resource I have used is K-Lytics <<  https://k-lytics.com/   >>, which uses software to interrogate the Amazon store software, and despite Amazon’s continued desire to hide *actual* sales figures manages to create data and charts to indicate both the sales volume and competition for a number of categories and sub-categories. They also do a monthly general report, showing trends for ebooks and print books generally, and in specific categories.

Some people were kind enough to ask about my own books. My fiction is listed at:

<<  https://gerald-hornsby.com/fiction-books/  >>

and in particular, my latest novel, the first in a new series

<<  https://gerald-hornsby.com/last-orders/  >>

My non-fiction books for authors can be found at:

<<  https://gerald-hornsby.com/non-fiction-books/  >>

and I had a discussion with someone about writing novels efficiently, and how I can write up to 4 novels per year. And I have a book!

<<  https://gerald-hornsby.com/the-efficient-novelist/  >>

So, to sum up: another great Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, I think just about everyone went home happy, and were looking forward to Swanwick 2025.

As am I!

No, it’s not an April Fool joke. This really is my 2nd novel in the Jerry Sanders Investigations series, and my 6th novel overall (4 written under my pseudonym Jack Warwick).

Please check it out. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

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mybook.to/BodyInTheHut (universal Amazon product link)

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091CZSLBQ
Print UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091F5PZ36/

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Hut-Sanders-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B091CZSLBQ/
Print US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091F5PZ36/

I’ve been thinking a lot about story construction for months and months. I’ve tried various structures – 3-Act; 8-Part; 12 pillars; multi-layer 10 key scene; snowflake. All of them sort of work, in that they help me keep focussed on the story, what the key, underlying theme is, and help me keep an even pace throughout the story. But is this good for my writing? Is it taking the creativity out of it?

I’m an engineer. I was born into an engineering family, my father was an engineer, both of my older brothers were engineers. We rode cycles we built from parts that we rescued from a tip; we all worked on our own cars, fixing them when they went wrong; we all went into engineering as soon as we left school at sixteen. And, although I moved from mechanical engineering into electronics and industrial computer control, engineering has stayed with me all of my life.

And it influences me, even now, at just over 60 years old. I prefer function to form: that’s not to say that I don’t appreciate form. I love art, I love photography, and, of course, I love writing. But when you have a ‘thing’, an item, that needs to perform a function, it’s that which takes priority with me, and form comes second.

So let’s look at writing. A piece of writing, especially a novel, has both function and form. It needs to function for the reader, give them entertainment or enlightenment. It needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It needs to have proper characters, a plot that makes sense and draws the reader in. Also it needs to have sentences, have proper grammatical construction, and needs words to be spelled (spelt?) properly.

However, a novel isn’t a paint-by-numbers kit. It needs to have form, and art, it needs to communicate ideas, through the authors use of words. It should convey feelings, it should paint a picture for the reader, just by using words. If you can weave theme into it and voice and style, so much the better. Above all, it should be a compelling story, taking the reader on a journey.

I love C.S. Lakin’s book, The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction because it likens the novel structure to that of a house – having four main corner pillars, with another eight pillars to keep up the roof. There are lots more building / writing analogies, but the whole idea is one I can get behind.

So, for me, there needs to be a strong, logical structure (the FUNCTION) underpinning the complete story, onto which your artistic creative techniques can weave the FORM, the characters, the plot, and the themes.

As you may or may not know, I don’t do New Year Resolutions. I don’t like the binary, succeed / fail result that they cause. Most of life isn’t digital – it’s analog, so in that way, my 2017 targets will be just that – targets. Things to aim for, ideals.

First of all, let’s look back at last years’s targets, and see which have been smart targets and have been achieved, and which were ludicrous (in hindsight).

2016 TARGETS

1) Write one short story a week for the Bradbury Challenge – SUCCESS!

2) Complete the 100kwords100days challenge – FAIL! Err … not quite a success. 64,000 words is pretty good, though. I failed the second one, too – massively.

3) Complete edits on previously-written novels – FAIL! Hahaha – obviously a stupid thing to attempt. Who would edit some old stuff when you can write a whole load of new rubbish? My pile of pre-written ‘stuff’ approaches a million and a half words.

4) Self-publish two collections of shorts – for halloween and Christmas – FAIL! I didn’t get enough content written for that.

5) Write one blog post a week – FAIL! I’m just useless, aren’t I?

6) Write book and story reviews on the blog – FAIL! I wrote some reviews, but didn’t bother to post them. Even more useless.

7) Be more active on Goodreads – FAIL! I didn’t quite get into the habit of checking in there.

So, one success and 6 failures. Not bad, for me. But in the summary of last year’s targets, I said I wanted it to be the most productive year yet, and I think I achieved that.

2017 TARGETS

1) Write one short story a week for the Bradbury Challenge 2017. I can definitely do this. I have far too many ideas for me to stop writing them now.

2) Complete the 100kwords100days challenge. I can do this, too. I’ve already started in practice mode, and I’m currently at 1,044 words a day for the past 12 days. I want to use the challenge to finish off book one of the cozy series, complete book 2, and write book 3. And then to move onto the bigger novel ideas I have.

3) Novels. Yes, well, I don’t have a good record of success completing and editing novels. I’ve written about five or six, but not been satisfied by them, and have moved onto other stories I want to tell. I need to look at this habit, and decide if it’s something I want to continue, or do something about. I have a high-concept political conspiracy idea. I’m at the early stages of planning, but it’s something I really want to do – using fiction to help encourage social change. High-minded? Maybe.

Apart from that, and keeping up to date with the podcasts, the writing groups and the book clubs, I want 2017 to be a year of PUBLISHING! Yes, I’m driven to actually get stuff out there this year. I know I’ve said this before, but this time, I mean it. Probably. And Maya Goode (from the podcasts) is determined to get me to submit a short story to a literary publication. I’m fighting shy, because that would mean someone judging my work, which as we all know, is not a good thing. But I don’t think I’m going to get away without doing this. Maya can be very persuasive.

It’s strange, looking back. 2016 was an interesting year, away from writing – we had the EU referendum, and the USA elections, both of which returned surprising, not to say, unexpected, results. Both results could see huge changes in what happens in both the UK and the USA in the coming months and years The binary voting system (voting for just one option or another) had created a huge fallout, with a lot of animosity on both sides toward the other. Strange times.

2016 also saw the passing of a number of heroes, including David Bowie, Prince, Mohamed Ali, Robert Vaughn and Alan Rickman. Just before the end of the year, Carrie Fisher died after a heart attack, and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died a day later. Very sad.  2016 was a year of change.

Looking back on last New Year, it’s interesting to read my review of 2015 and my look ahead to 2016.

https://gerald-hornsby.com/blog/2015/12/29/2015-what-was-that-all-about-then/

https://gerald-hornsby.com/blog/2015/12/31/welcome-2016/

1) NaNoWriMo

Yes, I ‘won’ it again, my 12^th win in 13 attempts. For this year, I wrote one-and-a-bit short novels in the Cozy Mystery genre. I fancied trying something different for a change. I was pleased with how it came out, writing without much of a plan but trying to keep to my “Eight Part Novel Structure” (stolen from various other sources). After NaNo, I continued with book 2 and want to get book 3 well underway, if not drafted, before I go back and edit the others.

2) Literary Roadhouse  http://www.literaryroadhouse.com/

I continued my podcasting with the LRH gang. That’s the weekly literary short story podcast, the monthly book club, and new for 2016, the weekly Bradbury Challenge, where we committed to write at least one short story a week. Some of us (ahem) managed to do it, while others didn’t, but it was, nonetheless, a good challenge with plenty of accountability on a week-by-week basis. I’m not sure if we’ll repeat it for 2017, but I’d like to, maybe with a monthly podcast.

3) Word count

Over 200,000 words on novels, short stories, blog posts and writing-related non-fiction. Pretty good for one year. There were over 50,000 words in the rewrite (still, as yet, incomplete) of Death In Print. There were over 50,000 words in the Coffee Shop Mystery series. Nearly 50,000 words on short stories of one form or another. 15,000 on a collection of short stories called Archetypes. Over 6,000 on something called Dark Money, which I can’t remember now 😉

4) Writing groups

In supporting a local writer, I unwittingly joined another local writing group. So that’s one in St. Osyth, one in Harwich and one in Frinton. I like writing groups, me. They are each very unique, and I get something different from each of them.

5) Reading groups

Apart from the Literary Roadhouse monthly book club and the Pub Book Club, there were no additions to my reading accountability anxiety. Thank goodness. Too much pressure.

SUMMARY

It’s been a good year. I’ve read a lot of books, most of them pretty good, a couple that were brilliant – the Man Booker prize-winning The Sellout by Paul Beatty and the surprisingly no-prize-winning-yet White Light by Vanessa Garcia. Both stunning books in their own way. I’ve written a lot of short fiction (over 60 pieces). I’ve rewritten a previous novel and written getting on for two small novels. That’s a pretty good year.