Once again, it's that wonderful time of year. No, not Christmas, but it can feel like Christmas (especially at the times you don't know what day it is). I'm of course talking about my annual visit to the Writers' Summer School at Swanwick. This has been my eighth visit to the school, and my third visit as a member of the committee which organises it. One of my roles in the months leading up to the school is processing applications for the "TopWrite" scheme which offers subsidised places for 18-30 year-olds starting out in the writing world. Much bigger than this was the technical side of things, which involved a lot of running around to switch on screens and microphones in the conference rooms. That was hard work.
Like every year, the school hosts a wide variety of fascinating courses. These include "Specialist Courses", which comprise four sessions spread over the week; "Short Courses", which comprise two sessions taught on the same day (with lunchtime between them); and single session "Workshops".
Being on tech meant not always being able to attend the courses I was interested in, since I give first dibs to my volunteers as to where they want to be. I remember being told on my visit "don't try to attend everything because you'll tire yourself out by Tuesday". Boy is that true. Not only was I in charge of tech, I was also running my own course, gave a one-to-one session on writing action, and sold a few copies of The Lady's Favour.
For the specialist course this year, I attended the first two sessions of "The Secrets of Storytelling" by Simon Hall. There were some truly interesting pointers, including the use of senses in writing and how to show not tell. There was even a segment which involved looking at the story in the song "Escape". I do like Piña Coladas. Getting caught in the rain...not so much. Unfortunately, I had to miss the latter half so I could get a bit of quiet time and make some preparations for other parts of the school (including my own course).
Sunday's short course was "Talking Taboos" with Liz Hurst. The first session was dedicated to writing sex scenes, which is something I don't really do, but was nonetheless insightful. The second session looked at swearing, including when and where to use them to great effect and the law of diminishing returns. I don't really use that much swearing in my prose. Kestrel might use "bloody" or "arse" from time to time, but nothing more severe than that. My poetry is a bit more potty-mouthed though. This was followed by a workshop on "Secrets of the Psychological Thriller" with Lesley Kara. While that's not my usual genre, it was nonetheless fascinating.
On Monday, I attended "Writing Fillers" with Maggie Cobbett (pictured above with my book). That provided some interesting pointers on where to submit photos or letters to magazines, and could be an avenue that's worth looking into (I haven't done any ghostwriting since pausing my Fiverr gig last October). The workshop that afternoon was "Find Your Historical Fiction Voice" with Fiona Forsyth. Historical fiction is one of my main genres, and I got some great pointers about avoiding use of slang or explaining terminology in narrative.
On Wednesday, I ran my own short course on writing content for Table-Top Roleplaying Games. Being a rather niche area of writing, I didn't get many attendees, but that nonetheless helped create a comfortable environment to bounce ideas. In fact, I've since started working on an adventure in my comic fantasy setting called "The Curse of Faltitek", which got brainstormed as part of a group exercise. After a particularly stressful evening with that side of things, I found a sense of catharsis in that.
In addition to courses, there was a fantastic array of evening events. These included a poetry open mic on the Sunday night, which I was on hand for and read one of my own works. There was a campfire singalong on Monday night where I sang a couple of pirate songs from memory, and enjoyed some marshmallows. There was also a fancy dress evening on the Wednesday with the theme "Diamonds are Forever", complete with a disco. I didn't do much dancing this year; it was too hot and I picked up a few blisters on my feet. But I had a pleasant evening in the bar.
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| Agent 0075, Licensed to Quill |
As this was the school's diamond jubilee, there was a special celebration dinner preceded by a cake cutting ceremony with a speech from the Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire. This ceremony included an announcement of members for next year's committee from a vote held at the school's Annual General Meeting. I had run for chair at next year's school, but was unsuccessful. However, I am still on the committee, so I can keep the mics running for another year.
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| Insert Portal reference here |
Despite the stresses of the technical side, this year's Swanwick was still an enjoyable experience. People enjoyed my course, I sold half of my stock in the book shop, and I made a lot of new friends. It was great to be approached by people who said they had voted for me in the election, enjoyed my performances, or showing appreciation for my running around. Tech is a big job, and often regarded as a thankless task, but it was great to see that proven wrong.
I'm certainly looking forward to returning next year, although I will have to step down as a committee member afterwards. If my finances hold out, I'm sure I'll be able to attend in Swanwick 2026. Might even get some writing done.
Happy writing.
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