Write on track!

A slightly rushed post - just finished work and preparing for tomorrow's teaching but...

Today our Edge Hill writing students (and therefore me too!) were privileged to have a 3 hour workshop with the author Toby Litt. He worked with us on dialogue, and I found it most useful. The first exercise he gave us was to write down on a piece of scrap paper, everything that is "pissing you off" at this moment. Write with venom. Get it all down. And then, rip it up and throw it away. What a great idea! I think I'll start every writing session with that little gem from now on - a way to eradicate any distractions and prepare mentally for a positive writing day.

We also quizzed him about his writing life - how he worked, his thoughts on writing, and so on. He was a most knowledgeable and accessible speaker, very open and honest about his experiences, and I came away feeling truly inspired, safe with the new knowledge that the fact that I don't know what I'm doing is a positive thing! That the writing is about discovery - going on a journey that excites the writer as much as it does the reader. He advised us not to worry about the market, to just write whatever it is that we can write best.

He also had some interesting tips on writing the first draft - that getting it all down before editing is the best way to write an 'even' novel in terms of its voice and construction. He talked about writing in double spacing, leaving large margins, and thereby giving yourself room for corrections, an assumption that means you give yourself the space to write material that will be improved, crossed out, re-written. It was very liberating as I normally write longhand and don't leave room for corrections, instead re-writing the entire page over and over again.

So a whopping great thank you to Toby. I am drafting again with a new found sense of freedom. And what a lovely man!!! If you get the chance to see him, I can highly recommend him!