Earlier this month I swapped my sweatshirt and trackies for somethings a bit smarter and made my way to the Teahouse Theatre for the first live Words Away salon in over two years! It was a wonderful feeling to step inside the cafe after so long. Vases of flowers dotted the room and conversation hummed over the clink of china tea cups. The stage was set with two large leather chairs in place but best of all was the welcome sight of the room filling with an audience of actual people. And what a great turn-out, with faces familiar and new, for our discussion on Revising and Editing with book doctor and creative writing teacher, Andrew Wille.

Andrew is a perennially popular guest at our events. His intuitive and mindful approaches to writing and creativity coupled with long editorial experience in the publishing industry are a huge draw. Tonight’s discussion was no exception. Some of the topics covered included a breakdown of the different types of editing, from structural and copy editing, to line editing and proof reading. It was useful to hear how a writer might use some of these stages to explore their manuscript through drafting.

Andrew also covered other craft terms like narrative content, narrative and prose style and voice to highlight ways to think about and develop your book. What really makes the reader tun the page, he said, was voice and style - voice being the vehicle that moves story forward. The natural speaking voice, he suggested, is a great way to to get your story down, at least during drafting and it can be modulated later. Experimenting with tone in your writing, just as in music, can change the emotional register of the piece. We discussed how to work with feedback and also touched on mindfulness, particularly how a mindful approach might be applied to writing and self editing. He also shared a couple of practical ideas to incorporate into your process ( discover more by following the links below to Andrew’s website)

The audience jumped in with loads of questions and after the talk lots of people stayed on for a drink and to mingle. It was great to be back! Thank you to everyone who was able to come along and especially to Andrew for an excellent discussion.

Please join me for our next salon, Tips From a Publisher, with Scott Pack on Monday 30th May at The Tea House Theatre, 7.30 - 9.3o pm. Tonight’s your chance to pick the brains of an industry legend! Scott Pack has twenty years of experience in the book world - first as head buyer for the Waterstones book chain, then as a publisher at Harper Collins, acquiring and editing many bestsellers and award-winning books. His brilliant book, Tips From a Publisher, is rammed with everything a writer needs to know about the industry (particularly the all important business end) as well as practical advice on writing and editing. I read the book during lockdown and recommend it - it’s full of straight talking advice, not least how to create the perfect submission and what to expect once you’ve published your book. Scott’s a wonderful speaker, well informed and with a great sense of humour. It promises to be a great session.

Hope to see you soon,

Kellie

Links & Refs

wille.org - for all your creative writing resources and book development needs

Susan Bell - The Artful Edit

Ronald B. Tobias - 20 Master Plots And How To Build Them

Natalie Goldberg - Writing Down The Bones

Alexander Chee - How to Unlearn Everything : when it comes to writing the “other” what questions are we not asking? - essay via Vulture magazine