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What with fitting my writing around a full-time job and other commitments it’s often easy to lose sight of what I’ve achieved in the rush to move on to the next thing on my ‘to do’ list.
So I thought I’d take a moment to think back on 2011, and remember, what exactly was it that I did …
Finished first, second and (almost third) drafts of my WIP
During 2011 my WIP has gone from weirdly cheesy romantic suspense (first draft) to dark thriller (third draft).
Learned to love editing
When I first started revising my first draft in early 2011 editing felt like the most boring, tedious thing ever. Now, having seen how much the story has improved from the editing process, I’ve learned to love it.
Won the slogan competition for the first UK Festival of Romance
Rather than pen a few short stories as well as my WIP, I concentrated on just one piece of writing throughout 2011 – my novel. Entering this competition was a bit of fun one weekend. It was fabulous to win, and the tickets to the Festival of Romance were a great prize – what a fun event. http://festivalofromance.co.uk/
Learnt about the intriguing art of Speechwriting
There are many parallels between speechwriting and novel writing – story telling, metaphor to name a few. But whereas a novel is usually read, a speech is performed. This course taught me so much about the use of language and word selection to engage an audience (reader). http://www.bespokespeeches.com/
Met a group of lively, dedicated and all-round awesome writers at York Festival of Writing
The York Festival of Writing http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/events.html is a must for all those aspiring to publication – a huge, varied programme of lectures, panels and workshops plus the chance to meet agents and publishers both in formal ‘pitch’ sessions and informally in the bar. In 2011 I was lucky enough to be seated at ‘that’ table for the Festival Dinner and to meet the most wonderful group of aspiring writers …
… and, with them, became a founder-member of the Nomad Novelists Writing Group
So named due to our various locations around the globe – a great source of support, challenge and feedback as we all pursue our writing journeys. http://nomadnovelist.wordpress.com/category/nomad-novelists/
Got inspired by the honesty and insight of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman
In a humble and honest lecture at BAFTA, Charlie Kaufman spoke about his writing process and the highs and lows of writing for the screen. You can watch it here http://guru.bafta.org/charlie-kaufman-screenwriters-lecture-video
Read a lot of books!
New books by authors I’ve read before and new books from authors I hadn’t read before. I’ll be doing another post on this soon.
I wonder what 2012 has in store?
Related articles
- Charlie Kaufman BAFTA lecture [Part 1] (gointothestory.blcklst.com)
- Charlie Kaufman reveals his next film Frank or Francis will be a musical (guardian.co.uk)
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Tags: 2011, BAFTA, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Charlie Kaufman, Festival of Romance, Writers Workshop, Writing, Writing process, York Festival of Writing
You did a lot in 2011! I’m going to check out Nomad Novelists. Sounds right up my literary alley.