Join us for our April Read & Write Night where our exercise topic and discussion is Description- Behind the Door.
Whether you are a prose, poetry or non-fiction writer description is an important part of your readers enjoyment and understanding; but too much description can be off-putting. So our exercise this session is to go big, then scale back.
The members in-depth group will also be taking place.
Behind the door…
* 2018/19 membership renewals, or applications for new members
The NWC Committee decided that with the current and predicted weather- snow and freezing temperatures- the February Read & Write night should be cancelled.
Clare is a former winner of the Romantic Novelists Association’s Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers.
We’re delighted to preview the format for our Saturday afternoon session.
Introduction:
Brief introduction from Clare, about herself and her books, and the aims of the afternoon. Followed by a short time for you to get to know the writers sharing your table.
Topics for the afternoon:
First scene; how to get your main characters together; and sex scenes. Each of these will include writing prompts as well as discussion.
Plot and Structure discussions that feedback to all attendees; moving on to editing and the publication process.
No one will have to read their work out, but discussion will be encouraged.
By the end of the afternoon you will have three pieces of writing that you can take home and continue to develop.
The final half hour is a Q&A, followed by the opportunity for you to purchase Clare’s books and get them personally signed.
Sorry, advanced booking is now closed. But you can still pay on the day (until all places are filled).
The 5th NWC National Short Story Competition is open for entries from the 1st February to the 28th February.
This year’s theme is the Seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter- choose one.
This year we have made a few changes to the rules of entry, so please read the rules in the entry pack to check you’re eligible, before you submit your short story.
You may enter online, or by post.
Please don’t submit poems, chapbooks, or non-fiction under the guise of a short story.
Our judge this year is short story writer Fran Tracey; Fran worked as a professional librarian before becoming a full-time writer fifteen years ago, and writes regularly for Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly and other magazines both in the UK and internationally.
Her first published story appeared in ‘You’ magazine in South Africa. She has won and been runner up in a number of national writing competitions and her work has featured in numerous anthologies, the most recent being ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’, a charity anthology for ‘Make a Wish Foundation’ based upon the Ernest Hemmingway very short story.
We look forward to reading your stories this year…
Our February speaker meeting is Competitions: Do’s and Don’ts.
There are numerous writing competitions running every year, so how do you avoid scuppering your chance of being in contention when you do enter?
NWC Scribe editor Jill Walmsley, and Prose Secretary Carol Bevitt will be giving you a helping hand to get the most out of entering writing competitions; covering various topics including, rules, fees vs free, editing for maximum word counts, where to find competitions, and much more. There will be hand-outs to take away and a Q&A.
If you leave inspired then there’s still time to enter this year’s NWC National Short Story Competition. Download details from here.
Just to get you back in the writing zone we’re starting with our New Year Workshop.
Short story writer, Keith Havers will being leading a workshop on inspiration. Without it there would be no stories, so come along and find out how you can turn those light-bulb moments into the makings of a story.
Keith Havers has had numerous short stories published in the People’s Friend, and The Weekly News among others.
Writers Tell Lies – so how do you convince your reader?
Writing on a Saturday afternoon without distractions; what could be better? So come along to our city centre venue for up to four hours for our writing session, with practical exercises, the opportunity to share insights and gain advice.
Our session will suit writers of all abilities, and you don’t have to be an NWC member to take part- we welcome visitors to our Saturday afternoon events, as we do to our regular meetings.
