Storyslingers First Story Slam

After a rainy month of preparations and organisation, the sun finally shone on Shaftesbury for Storyslingers’ first ever Story Slam. Writers from all over Dorset came to Shaftesbury Arts Centre, some to compete, others to listen and network. The Rutter room was packed out, over spilling and babbling with excitement. We’d jazzed the room up with drapes of colourful fabric, projected Dan Morison’s mecha cowboys on a wall and set up our handmade bookstall, spread with the finest of local book art and writing.

We had Daniel Frisby as compere who slickly guided is through the evening. Our first reader was James Broomfield who read a quirky story set in rural Devon following a man seeking a brotherhood. He thinks he’s found it when he discovers a society of beard-trimming smokers. Yes, you read that right; beard smokers. James’ story was wonderfully crafted, sharply observed, original, funny and thought-provoking. The evening was most certainly off to a good start. The following readers didn’t let the quality drop. Each story was different, but all at an impressive professional standard.

I’m glad I didn’t have to judge these stories, they were all so unique and brilliant. Fortunately we had two exceptional judges, award-winning novelist Allie Spencer (four novels published with Arrow. http://www.alliespencer.com/) and flash fiction expert and columnist at What the Dickens Magazine, Gail Aldwin. (http://gailaldwin.wordpress.com) We enjoyed some amazing live music from the Wrongo Bongo Band while the judges got busy conferring. This four-piece band play an extraordinary variety of instruments, from a berimbau to a didgeridoo; “The Wrongo Bongo Band has to be the most entertaining group of whacky musicians we’ve ever heard” –Andy Hamilton. Mike’s didgeridoo solo comprised of him holding up signs with Australian animals inscribed upon them, and then ingeniously imitating their sounds through the didgeridoo. 

(this is a photo of the band taken from their facebook page, click here. 

While the band built an exotic vibe, we continued to sell our handmade books, met new writing friends and discussed all the amazing stories we’d heard so far. Then the judges returned and Gail Aldwin got up on stage to read her story Dusting Off the Memories (published in Dorset Voices anthology, Roving Press) , beautifully written and read. Next up was Jennifer K Oliver’s richly described Steampunk story, then my own reading of a story I’d read the week before at London’s Southbank Centre. Dan Frisby told a beautiful allegorical Hare and Tortoise style tale set in the foothills of a Japanese mountain. Mountains seemed to be the unofficial theme, with my story entitled Mount Analogue, and a quote from Rene Daumal’s novel of the same title featured in the programme. Finally, Hamish Sinclair was drawn from the Lucky Dip and read a beautifully lyrical story making wonderful use of language.

With the evening drawing in and all the stories told, the judges came up on stage and gave their feedback to the six competitors.  Both judges were impressed by the quality of writing and the diversity of subject matter. “Allie was a great person to deliberate with in finding the winner and runner-up, particularly as the standard of all the stories was very high. We finally agreed that James Broomfield’s story should win due to its extraordinary content (about a man trying to find his brotherhood in North Devon by experimenting with smoking beard trimmings).  Technically the writing was superb with a strong and unique voice.  Runner up came Andy Hamilton’s ‘Stage Fright’ a classic ugly duckling scenario told in a fresh way.” -  Gail Aldwin.

James won a beautiful set of correspondence cards printed by Bath-based fine stationers, Meticulous Ink. “Each card has been lovingly letterpress printed on an 1870 Model No.4 press using only the finest oil based inks. We use cotton papers from local paper mills here in Somerset and our hand lined deckle edge envelopes give these cards that extra special touch.” – Meticulous Ink. This prize was kindly donated by Meticulous Ink. You can buy their correspondence cards via etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MeticulousInk

Everyone was awarded with some amazing bookmarklets, made by our very own Jennifer K Oliver. The evening wrapped up with more music from the Wrongo Bongo Band, some networking and book buying.

Watch this space for the second slam, probably sometime in early 2013. 

Writing in Space (or, Creative Spaces), Part I

Where do you write? A while ago Book Chick City hosted a series of guest blogs called Where Stories Are Made, in which writers posted a short entry about their creative workspaces and their writing routines. These range from home offices to parks and coffee shops, and any other place writers feel inspired and comfortable, and most importantly—where they get stuff done.

Here at Storyslingers we thought we'd share a few of our own Creative Spaces on the blog.

Shaftesbury-based writer Becky Bye shares Old Wardour Castle:

Many people say that there is a time and a place for writing, and for me, no place is better than Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury in Wiltshire. A romantic ruin set in the Wiltshire landscape, the castle is a serene and beautiful spot in which my notebook has been filled on numerous occasions.

There is something intriguing and mysterious about writing in a location where so much history has taken place, and that I myself become part of history in those few moments; scribbling profusely in my notepad under a tree, or sat at the bottom of a spiral staircase. The mood of the castle shifts from day to day, which has a significant impact on my writing; some days the castle reveals its secrets, most of which I was never expecting to find, and which weave their way into my stories. On other days, the castle looks less inviting than usual, blending into the grey backdrop of a dreary English afternoon, and on such occasions the grandeur of the castle simply adds a unique elegance to my thoughts and ideas. No matter how bad a particular bout of writers block may be, there is no level of inspiration which cannot be released after just a few moments at Wardour Castle.

Dorchester-based author Gail Aldwin shares her study desktop:

I like writing somewhere quiet but I'm not sure what the best writing environment is, as I haven't experimented with this. Normally I work in the family study, a small, untidy room with a window which has a fabulous view over the water meadows to the north of Dorchester.

 I share the space with everyone except my daughter who prefers doing homework in her bedroom.  My husband and son play games on the desktop and I write on a notebook.  Sometimes we sit alongside each other but that's only possible when the headphones are in use. If I can't stand the distraction, I relocate to the kitchen table and work there.

Writer-in-denial Stephen Pellow talks about inner creative spaces:

Writing about something that doesn’t exist is something people who write do all the time. Being asked to write about something that probably should exist but doesn’t is proving to be problematic, though.

I don’t have a writing space. No nooks, crannies or cubby holes. No ready room. No secret garden. No stark whites, or muted earth tones and certainly nothing airy and spacious overlooking sweeping vistas. I write in my head, and with all the useless trivia I have retained over the years there’s certainly no room for a desk in there.  Sometimes that’s all I need, but it mostly comes down to having pen and paper and me, and that’s it. If I were to sit in a room at a desk and try and surround myself with inspiration – when I’m put against a clock, pressured even slightly to produce something – nothing happens. If I have to do it, I rarely want to.

So I always make sure I have ready access to a notepad and pen (or pencil) because I never know when, or where, I’m going to be pinched by creativeness!

*

We will be posting more Creative Spaces over the coming weeks, so do check back for updates.

Storyslingers Summer Story Slam Poster

We're thrilled to reveal the Storyslingers Summer Story Slam poster, designed by the super talented Dan Morison.

 We also now have a Facebook event set up for the Slam. If you're on FB, please do join, and spread the word!

More details about the Slam, including booking info, are available at the SAC website here. But book soon, before the slots fill up!

Miracle Marvel at Old Wardour Castle

One of our members, the fabulous Becky Bye, recently wrote a parody article about Old Wardour Castle where she's lucky enough to work, and since it gave me a chuckle I thought it worth asking if we could link to it from the Storyslingers blog. Becky was happy to share, so here is the aforementioned link: Miracle Marvel at Old Wardour Castle.

And an excerpt:

Visitors will be pleased to know that Old Wardour now boasts a wide range of miracle merchandise, including bottled miracle water from the castle well, and pilgrim patches, guaranteed to cure any ailments that you may have (not subject to liability), as well as a range of miracle medicines, with current BOGOF offers on selected items, such as genuine and authentic signed portraits of The Blessed Lady Blanche. (Items mentioned may alter from items actually sold.)

Additionally, there is now a wide range of miracle inspired snacks to refresh you after your long pilgrimage, such as ‘Holy Hotcakes,’ Miracle Mochas’ and ‘Oh My Lord Hot Chocolate.’ (Please do not enquire instore.)

Definitely worth checking out if you like a bit of tongue-in-cheek!

Announcing our first Short Story Slam, July 20th 2012!

Hi everyone. We have a very special announcement to make about something that's been in the works for a few weeks now. This morning we finalised the remaining deails, so we can officially invite you to the first:

Storyslingers Short Story Slam!

Friday 20th July, 2012.

The Rutter Room, Shaftesbury Arts Centre. 7pm start. The official SAC page is here.

Storyslingers is hosting Shaftesbury’s first ever Story Slam – THE summer event for emerging writers to showcase their work, and for audiences to engage in fresh local literature.

A story slam is a contest of words, like a poetry slam for prose writers. Each writer has approximately five minutes (or 780 words) to read their story in front of a cosy audience and a friendly panel of judges.

This is an open event, and any writer can register to participate, though please be aware that some content may be unsuitable for children. We have a 60-seat maximum capacity with 10-15 performance slots. If we have any slots free on the night you can register on the door.

There are no set themes—you can read anything you like, from contemporary to fantasy, literary to genre-based fiction. The only restriction is that it's your own work. And it doesn't end there: Stories can even have live musical accompaniment if you want. But please contact us in this case so we can sort out the technicalities beforehand.

If you'd rather not compete you can still read a story during the non-competitive readers’ slots. Just please make clear in advance whether you want to compete or not. If you plan to read out a story email Jennifer K. Oliver at joliverdesigns(at)gmail(dot)com to book a reading slot.

Winner(s) will receive a small prize! And everyone will receive a massive round of applause.

Non-writers please come along and hear fresh new writing from the best local authors. There will be handmade books, zines, bookmarks and postcards for sale – mostly limited edition prints/ books, or one-off Book Art pieces.

Tickets £5 (£4 for SAC members and under 18s).

Bar and coffee-making facilities available.

Frome Festival, July 2012

Frome Festival, taking place in July 2012, looks set to be a wide, interesting mixture of events, lectures and workshops, and a good place for creative types to do a spot of local networking. There are a lot of different things going on in the writing and publishing fields too, and it's worth checking out the line up if you're involved in the local lit scene.

Both me and Jennifer Bell are attending this year. I'll be going to the Dickens' London seminar, run by author Peter Clark, and Jennifer B is going to What Do Agents Look For In New Talent? run by Julia Churchill, and then we're both doing Editing Without Tears – A Workshop For Writers, run by writers Jane Elmor and Jill Harris.

They're also running a Short Story Competition for stories of any theme between 1000 and 2000 words, and it's not too late to enter. The judges are crime novelist Peter Lovesey and novelist Maria McCann. The winning story will receive £300,  second place £150, and third place £75. Stories that make it through to the longlist will also be recorded and broadcast over FromeFM, so if you've always wanted to hear your stories on the radio, this is definitely a competition you should consider!

We hope to see some of you there.

Happy Birthday!

It’s been exactly one year since Storyslingers formed. We met yesterday, brought WAAAY too much cake and goodies, and decorated the room in Muriel’s handmade bunting (amazingly crafted things of beauty) and Robbie’s birthday banner he designed (above) 

Simon bought delicious expensive cake from Waitrose, which rather trumped the sorry looking 80p sponge from Co-op

So what have we been up to during this formative first year? Here’s a round up of all the amazing things members have got up to:

1)       The first event I went to as an official Storyslinger was a Dorset Writer’s Network Marketing Your Writing Group workshop. I got loads of good ideas, some yet to be tried out.

2)       The group had our first book sale at Shaftesbury Arts Festival. We sold handmade books, bookmarks, postcards, Robbie designed some comedy cards, and we displayed publications that we’ve been in, edited or published (including Victor Canning books re-published by John Higgins).

3)       Robbie and I performed at Mere Literary Festival’s Open Mic event. I read a flash fiction and Robbie accompanied me playing backing guitar; I won a little prize. Then Robbie performed a comedy sketch that went down really well with the crowd.

4)       We had another handmade-book stall at the Mere Literary Festival.

5)       Playwright, Tony Benge came to Storyslinger HQ to lead a Writing for Performance workshop. We’re grateful to the DWN, who funded/ facilitated this workshop.

6)       John directed Beggar’s Bush, an excellent play written by Victor Canning, which went down very well, receiving good reviews and attended by at least one local celebrity.

7)       Confusingly, a new café opened up called Beggar’s Banquet (we kept calling it Beggar’s Bush!) Jennifer and I frequently met up there to talk writing and scrawl our famously slap-dash Storyslinger agendas.

8)       Simon and I visited London galleries, looking mostly at avant-garde art movements such as the Vorticists and the poetry of Ezra Pound. Inspired, we developed a Dada Poetry workshop, constructing crazy verse from random words cut out of books.

9)       Simon and I attended Bridport Open Book festival. We saw Greta Stoddart perform some poetry, and Joe Dunthorne read from Submarine, Wild Abandon and a few shorts. We sat behind PJ Harvey in the audience! Later in the festival we returned to hear our favourite author, Adam Marek, and other Bridport Prize winners talk about what the prize meant to their careers, their inspirations and writing processes. They each read excerpts from their books. Adam Marek read out a forthcoming short story, and I had a long chat with him about writing.

10)   We revived our Dada Poetry workshop for the Christmas party, this time Christmas-themed, to hilarious effect. We played a variety of literary and arts parlour games, such as literary exquisite corpse, and write-draw-write-draw.

11)   Jennifer Oliver and I gave a talk about on-line publishing as part of DWN’s Publishing Day in Dorchester.

12)   I read out a short story Intersection at a party, with a friend providing backing guitar.

13)   Colin submitted the first few chapters of his novel No More the Hero to a major competition run in conjunction with Good Housekeeping Magazine.  (and I undertook two funding bids for a literary project, both of which unsuccessful – but we’ve got to try these things. The process brought me in contact with local band Achilles, who are keen to work with us on a narrated song collaboration).

14)   Jennifer and I went on a research trip to Bath, Jennifer focused on her Steampunk novel (set in a re-imagined Victorian Bath), and me on my Arthurian novel (partially set in Post Roman Bath). We picked the brains of various historians on our visit to the museum at the Crescent.

15)   Robbie expanded his comedy organisation Cobedy to act as a network for other comedians and to market and promote the work of members (aka cobedians). 

16)   Jennifer Oliver, Beth, Becky and I went to Bath Literary festival, attending the Speculative Fiction workshop. This was an excellent opportunity for networking and meeting writers.

17)   I returned to Bath Literary Festival later in the week to attend a general writing workshop and met with writers on the Bath Spa MA and PhD.

18)   Jennifer was interviewed by the notebook publishing company Paperblanks. 

19)   John and Muriel attended Dorset Libraries Readers and Writers Day in Sturminster.

20)   Beth gave away 24 copies of Rebecca to mothers at Gillingham Primary School as part of World Book Night, inspiring them to take up reading and even form a book group. I gave away How I Live now to various people in various locations, and attended a World Book Night party hosted by Sherborne Literary Society.

21)   James and I attended a Bournemouth Festival of Words workshop on characterisation, which was good despite the fact we had to dredge up all sorts of significant personal history and air it to a room of people. Cathartic, maybe. 

22)   Simon and I attended a Bournemouth art school “happening” – sound art performance choked full of energy, and free beer.

Member’s literary achievements May 2011-May 2012:

I had a story Beached shortlisted for a competition, and then later accepted by Kasma SF, it is published here.

Jennifer K Oliver had her story Death Car Alley accepted by Jersey Devil Press, published here.

My story Intersection was published by British flash fiction ezine The Pygmy Giant.

Jo completed her MA in Creative Writing at Plymouth University with a Merit.

Jo had a two week internship with SFX magazine in Bath.

I won a bursary through The Free Reads scheme to have the beginning of my novel read by The Literary Consultancy.

Jennifer finished writing the first draft of her steampunk novel.

I was offered a place on Bath Spa’s Creative Writing MA.

Becky was offered a place on a Journalism course.

Muriel and I have had stories published in a forthcoming flash fiction anthology. Polishing the Air and Automorph by Muriel, and Trapped in Nomansland by me.

Muriel’s story Polishing the Air was short listed for the National Flash Fiction anthology.

Members have been proactive all year, with several ongoing projects and novels. Becky is an editor of Splendid Fred Magazine, Jennifer is working on a Steampunk novel and various short stories, Colin is writing his novel No More The Hero, I’m working on a few different novels, Robbie’s cobedy projects and films are growing and drawing in larger audiences, Beth is working on her urban fantasy novels, John has been bringing Victor Canning’s writing to new audiences, and many members have been writing some excellent short stories.

(Please inform me if I’ve missed anyone out and/or made any mistakes, I’m sure I have – I’m working from rusty memory.)

Wow! What a huge lot of stuff we’ve been doing. And I have a feeling that this next year is going to be even busier and more exciting, with new members, forthcoming events, writing conferences and literature festivals.

Poetry from Jesmond Arbour, world-class drunkard

Never let it be said that our Storyslingers writing prompts don't inspire moments of creative madness. This is a result of last Tuesday's meeting. The prompt was 'Scarecrow.'

The Scarecrow

by Jesmond Arbour

Bloody thing-

Stop looking at me!

I've only stopped for a second pee.

The third I shall save for Auntie Doris'

And maybe some more for the car park at Morrisons.

What's that man doing mummy? - a shrill voice cries

PISS OF YER LITTLE SHITE, OR I'LL SMITE YOUR EYES

Oh god, how simple life would be

As a Scarecrow - like this one in front of me.

So in I climb, into the clothes that were, once tied with string around the frame now bare.

The hat with straw sits atop my bonce while the allotment owner shouts:

What the jolly fuck do you think you're doing, sir?

You can also watch the author himself reading this poem:

Link to the video on YouTube in case the embedding breaks.

Mr Arbour (the author) wanted to add "Where did you get that?  I didn't write that.  You must be mad sir, this is the work of a deranged drunkard!"

Many thanks to Cobedy for providing the laughs! For more hilarious sketches, check out Cobedy's video channel here.

Author Interview at Paperblanks Blog

It’s no secret I’m slightly obsessed with Paperblanks notebooks, as I’ve Tweeted and blogged about them before. I recently picked up two new notebooks, their stunning “Midnight Gold” and “Indigo Sky Mares,” and after mentioning my purchases on Twitter I got into a micro-conversation with the good people at Paperblanks, which lead to an opportunity to take part in their bi-monthly “Featured Artist” segment.

Before I link to the interview, I should point you to their various ranges of notebooks (both lined and blank), guest books, day planners, and address books of all shapes, sizes and designs. It’s so hard picking a favourite design, and I talk more in the interview about the ones I tend to favour, but there are a couple I’ve got my eye on for my next Paperblanks spree—their Japanese Lacquer Boxes collection and the Mucha collection. They’re both so elegant and beautiful!

You can read the interview, in which I ramble about notebooks, creativity, and inspiration here. (There is also a pic of me looking all thoughtful and authorish.)

And the rest of their Featured Artist interviews can be found here.

Outlining Backwards

It's a totally different experience writing a novel compared to writing a short story. You have to get a special novel-head on to cope with the sheer magnitude of words and scenes, and to tie a longer plot together. Things are looser, in terms of how much you write, but sometimes that can work against you and you end up veering off your plot.

I was just thinking about how I'm writing my novel—or, more accurately, how I'm plotting my novel. Rather than work out a detailed outline before I began writing, like I did with the test-run novel I wrote in 2011, I let this one fly, with only the major plot points (my key milestones) in mind. Everything connecting those milestones unfolded as the story progressed. It's like carrying a torch along a night-road that has twists and turns: you can only see a restricted portion of the road ahead of you, and you can only reveal more of it by moving forwards. I've never written in this way before and it's been eye-opening and mind-boggling and an adrenaline rush of discovery so far.

My path is almost fully illuminated now, as I'm nearing the climax of the story and I know what needs to happen right at the end to round it off. And it's not until this point that I'm starting to write down my outline. Seems a bit of a backwards way to 'plan' a novel—planning it after the fact—but this method seems to be more about looking back at a map of the road recently walked, taking note of what I've uncovered along the way, and then considering which parts need to be shuffled around and which need to be discarded so it's the tightest, clearest, and most interesting route for readers.

I'm not entirely sure if this rumination has a definitive point to make, but I wanted to highlight it because it's one way of doing things. Like with most methods, it depends on the type of story you're telling, but don't ever worry about starting out without a clear outline in mind. Sometimes, a story will unfold on its own, and all you can do is write and have fun with it, and trust it to lead you to your goal.

And while we're all about writing processes, here are some links to other authors' blog posts on the subject:

Cat Rambo – Another Interminable Process Post.

Elizabeth Sogard – Outlining After You Write A Novel.

Paperback Writer – Novel Outlining 101.

Alicia Rasley – Outline Your Novel in 30 Minutes.

Randy Ingermanson - The Snowflake Method.