Swanwick 2017 - Monday: Cold Showers on Standby

Writing Intimate Scenes

My initial plan for the Monday had been to have the afternoon off in order to work on my writing. However, I later decided it might be a laugh to attend a course on Writing Intimate Scenes hosted by Liz Hurst. After all, one of my protagonists is the archetypal rake - perhaps I could pick up some interesting advice. I'm still young. Now's a good time as any.

The first session involved some basic tips about using the senses in such a scene, but there was plenty to laugh at too - discussing The Guardian's Bad Sex Awards and making a list of slang terms for...the members. No stuffy Victorian values here. This was followed after the break with a look at "alternative relationships" (i.e. not monogamous) and existing taboos. This culminated in a writing challenge in which a character is putting on a show for someone monitoring them via a hidden camera - with the rule that no nudity is permitted. The results were interesting and hilarious.

Anyway, one cold shower later, there was a busy evening ahead - a prose open mic night and a Wild West-themed fancy dress disco. Now, I'd signed up for the prose open mic with a performance piece I'd previously written for a "story cafe" at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. This time around it was to an audience three times the size (dressed as a cowboy), but I'm told that I nailed it. I'd say the overall experience was like some advert I saw once. I think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bJAhIwC_8M

Have Pen - Will Travel

I'm also told it was a pretty wild night, and that my line dancing needs some serious work.