London Festival of Writing

Having spent the weekend at the London Festival of Writing, Jack and I returned on Sunday evening, exhausted and with heads ready to explode with all we had seen, heard and read.

Now it’s time to reflect on what lessons I took away from the weekend.

London Festival of Writing

The weekend was organised and staged by Jericho Writers, the online writer’s support group, and was attended by some 320 writers from across the globe (we sat next to the delightful Ramona from Oklahoma at Saturday night’s gala dinner). The two days consisted of a series of seminars, panel discussions, ‘meet the experts’ sessions and one-to-one meetings with literary agents to receive feedback on your current W.I.P (work in progress).

One of the most rewarding aspects of attending the weekend was being surrounded by so many people whose focus was entirely on writing.

The participants were at various stages of their writing careers; some were still struggling to finish a first draft and had doubts about whether or not they had the talent and the tenacity to take them to fruition. Some, like me and Jack, had a draft manuscript and were looking for pointers as to how agent-ready their draft is and/or if it’s a marketable concept. And some already had agent representation or books published and were looking for advice on the next step.

What they all had in common was a love of the written word and the world of books. I learned a great deal just from talking to so many other authors on the same journey.

What I learned

There are innumerable small things that I learned and many more still to be recollected but the big stuff that I have come away from the weekend with falls into two categories: general and specific.

In general, I learned a surprising amount about writing techniques and grammar. Having been educated in an old-fashioned convent where grammar was considered next to Godliness, I have always thought of myself as a grammar pedant but there were things I was not consciously aware of and that I now suspect I may have got wrong. I may for example, have sometimes got the wrong noun for my ‘dangling modifier’, and I am definitely guilty of overusing ‘weakening qualifiers’ (oops, there goes another one).

There was one term which I had never heard of but that is so important it was allocated its own workshop: psychic distance.

When Jack and I both signed up for the London Festival of Writing, we decided to split up our attendance at workshops in order to maximise what we came away with. I opted for Psychic Distance because Jack had already chosen The World Needs Your Novel, and I had no interest in the third alternative of How To Write A Love Story That Readers Are Obsessed With. I had no idea what psychic distance was and honestly thought it might be something to do with the supernatural.

What I discovered was that psychic distance is one of the most powerful tools at a writer’s disposal and can provide answers to all sorts of tricky questions surrounding your use of POV (point of view).

One surprising thing I learned from the festival was that sensitivity readers are actually a good thing. Before the festival, the mere mention of sensitivity reader would have me rolling my eyes and pursing my lips, but the very informative Davina Bhanabhai showed me otherwise. I learned that, contrary to my firmly held belief, sensitivity readers are not there to tear my work apart, reach for their heart pills and declare me a fascist, they actually help ensure I get my facts right and don’t unintentionally harm either a section of society or myself.

What London Festival of Writing taught me about my draft novel

For most people attending, the one-to-one sessions with literary agents were the highlight of the event. Most came away with useful pointers, some came away with requests for full manuscripts to be sent and one or two came away in tears. Needless to say, I was every bit as nervous as everyone else. I’ll give more detail about the whole experience of meeting a literary agent in another blog but there were four major learning points I came away with that will move me forward.

The biggest shock I got was hearing that trilogies are a hard sell. The publishing world is awash with new authors, very few of whom ever get published and those that do may only ever publish one book. Asking a publisher to invest in more than one book for a complete unknown is a BIG ask. I was advised to ensure that my first book could stand alone and maybe leave the door open for a sequel.

Having already grappled endlessly with writing endings in trilogies, I now need to go back to the writing board for a serious rethink.

My opening chapter has niggled me because I worried that it doesn’t have enough impact. Having hummed and hawed over it endlessly, I got an unequivocal, take it out or shift it because your second chapter is way more impactful. Done.

Thirdly, I was asked the question, what is at the heart of your novel? What are you trying to say? And I had to think about that. I’ve become embroiled in recounting historical events and have neglected the storytelling side. I need to think hard about what it is I’m trying to say, and then say it.

Finally, I was asked how many POVs I have in my book. Interestingly, I immediately replied two but when I came away I realised it was four. Even with two, I might want to think about whether that’s distracting the reader from my main protagonist and the heart of my story. With four, I risk diluting reader buy-in even further.

I have much to think about, but I also have fresh energy and enthusiasm with which to do it. I came away from the event filled with admiration for the skill and knowledge of the Jericho Writers tutors and feeling like I had made many new writing friends.