Creative Writing Newsletter May 2015

UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE
Creative Writing Newsletter
May
2015
Subject adviser:
University of the Third Age
Marcia Humphries
2, Seawinds,
Rest Bay Close,
Porthcawl CF36 3UN
[email protected]
The Third Age Trust
The Old Municipal Buildings
19, East Street
Bromley
Kent, BR1 1QE
Tel: 020 8466 6139
Www.u3a.org.uk
B
y the time you read this, election fever should be over & we may have a glimpse of
things to come. Whatever your views, there will be a lot of material for writing in
the days ahead. Put yourself in the place of those affected. How does the new MP
feel arriving in the Commons? What of the veteran MP no longer in office?
You will find in these pages articles by Biddy Vousden (whose father Charles Davey was
my inspirational English teacher) & Dinah Jefferies. Both have produced first novels at
age 60+. Each of them says an advantage is the amount of life experience you have
stored up by that age. So it’s never too late.
Crime novelist Pauline Rowson is a regular contributor to the Newsletter. Her DI Horton
marine crime series has recently been optioned by a leading TV production company. If
you’ve been reading her books you will know they would make excellent viewing. See Pauline’s article on page 4. To book her for your U3A see page 5.
This edition includes news from Carlisle group, sent by Dorothy Ford. She mentions limericks. I mentioned them to my group & limerick fever broke out; addictive & worth trying as a fun writing session for your group. A poor thing but mine own appears on page 6.
Change of contact details ?
Please let me know if your postal, or e-mail address changes, or you no longer wish
to receive Newsletters. I will alert National Office, who distribute them.
Emails with attachments are the simplest way to collect Newsletter entries.
PLEASE find someone willing to copy your work and email it to me if you have no
access to a computer. It saves the process of copy-typing,
If you write a letter that needs a reply, please remember to enclose s.a.e.
Marcia
May 2015
Page 2
Newsletter
January’s Newsletter contained an article by Mary Pilfold-Allan, Cambridge U3A. It drew this response.
Liz Sullivan
Thorpe Bay U3A
Congratulations to Mary Pilfold-Allan on making a success of self publishing. She is quite
right
to say it is a labour of love, but the sense of achievement & pride is priceless, not to mention the
joy of the journey.
Ten years ago, I wrote my autobiography…..a baby born to an unmarried teenager before the last
War. With the help of the amazing Maggie Smith, I published it myself.
I set about placing my book in as many shops as possible. These included WH Smith & Waterstones. Having had limited success, I looked for other outlets. I decided to follow the route of
promoting my book by speaking at groups like the WI, Probus, Townswomen’s Guild and of course
U3A. This proved to be a very successful move.
I have since put the book on Kindle, where it is still available. Written under my maiden name,
it is Unravelling the Threads, by Leila Merriman.
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In the last Newsletter, Peter Read wrote about taking opportunities to perform your poetry.
The following article describes how prose pieces may be performed.
RobertSmith
Stroud U3A
Have you heard your work performed by an actor? Authors do not always deliver
their work to best advantage and my answer has been to recruit story-tellers
from an amateur dramatic society. They improve my words dramatically, provide
male or female voices and they can hold an accent! With their help, I’ve heard
my stories in village halls, gardens, churches and even stately homes, providing
shows for local groups or charities which can be fundraisers. The actors
appreciate the chance to perform without the costs of venue, stage and
scenery. They find a story telling session hones their skills & provides an outlet
for those who don’t have a part in the current production.
Our stories are from 100 to 2,000 words; plots established quickly, preferably
with a twist at the end. I try to write so that an actor can ‘take on’ the
character and avoid overlong sentences and obscure words. A typical show
consists of 10-12 items which might be romantic, moving or hilarious. The more
experienced actors insist on learning the script & performiing in character.
Others prefer to have the words to hand. We end with something nicely naughty
(never blue) to send the audience home with a smile. It really is a delight to
hear your own work read well.
A collection of pieces “Limited Company - Limited Only by Your Imagination” is
available. For details contact [email protected]
May 2015
Page 3
Newsletter
Last year, one of my school friends produced her first novel & sent me a copy. Aimed at
teenagers, this time-slip story concerns 2 girls living in the same Lincolnshire house, one
now, the other at the time of the Pilgrim Fathers. I asked Biddy to write for the
Newsletter on how the book came about.
Marcia
The Turning Circle – a novel for young adults
Biddy Vousden
My father died in 1993. That year I took my grieving mother, my infant son and my 15-year old
daughter, who was in the throes of an angry and rebellious adolescence, back to where I grew
up in Lincolnshire. We shared a room, all four of us, in a B&B in Boston and used that as a base
to revisit places that had been part of my parents’ life together. My mother was losing her
sight to macular degeneration, my son was still breast-feeding and my daughter wore Doc
Martin’s with the laces undone and an army camouflage jacket, and distressed my mother (and
me) by spitting in the gutter as she slouched down the street. The two middle children, being
unproblematic, had gone with my husband to visit his parents in Germany. It wasn’t the most
obvious channel for the creative genius to begin its work. But it was there in Boston Guildhall
Museum, visiting the tiny stone cells of some of some of those who were captured while trying
to escape religious persecution in the 17th century, that The Turning Circle began to take
shape, although it was a good few years before I started to write it.
It was a labour of love. I’m fascinated by the past and I love books that allow me to
recreate a past time in my imagination. Writing about a particular period in history in such
detail enabled me to feel absorbed in that time, almost as if I has been there. It’s an
exhausting process and emerging from each extended period of writing felt like coming back
to the present from the past. Into the story I fed my own childhood experiences of moving to
a new area and changing schools, my love of the natural world, especially plants and herbal
lore, my Quakerism and knowledge of folklore, my own childhood in rural Lincolnshire and
many other things besides. The research I carried out, visiting relevant historical sites,
reading the history of the time and delving into the background of key historical figures, as
well as conjuring up memories and revisiting the area in which I grew up, has been an
enthralling part of the process.
Anyone who has had an editor read through their work and ask them to change things will
recognise the sense of personal affront I felt when the first person dared to criticise things.
The first instinct is to resist; how can an editor know better than you what you want to get
across? We put so much of ourselves into our writing. Everything you are, that has made you
who you are, feeds into what you write. Everything you have ever learnt is a bank of
knowledge from which you can pull out random facts or sets of facts. The story, the sequence
of events, is the backbone of the novel but what fills it out, puts flesh on the bones, is your
individual set of knowledge and experiences. That’s what makes it distinctively you, your own,
personal voice, and that’s why altering it according to an editor’s whim seems like a betrayal.
However, in the end someone else’s perspective is salutary; a sculptor’s chisel refining the
rough-hewn first attempt. I am eternally grateful to all those who have helped me to revise
and edit my first published book into a pleasing final shape and one of which I can feel proud.
My next book, Mark My Footsteps, is also set in the 17th. Century, but a bit later, and is set in
a different part of the country so the backdrop is limestone, rivers and caves instead of flat
fenlands. I started researching it while I was still writing The Turning Circle and some of it is
already written. I’m happily getting sucked into this new journey in time and place and looking
forward to an extended period of writing in the summer.
The Turning Circle by Biddy Vousden, Dancing Deer Press 2014
ISBN: 9780992891404, £6.99
May 2015
Page 4
Introducing a New Hero on the block
Newsletter
Pauline Rowson
Number 12 in Pauline’s DI Andy Horton detective series, Fatal Catch, will be published
in September. Silent Running, the first in a new crime series introducing former marine commando,
Art Marvik was published by Severn House on 31 March.
What prompted you to create a new hero? Half way through writing the first in the
new series featuring former Royal Marine Commando, Special Boat Services Officer, Art
Marvik I asked myself that question, especially as I was getting withdrawal symptoms
from not being with Andy Horton. But as Silent Running progressed & the story took
shape, I began to understand my new character & became immersed in his troubled
world. I wanted a character who was not bound by the official rules of the law, but who
was nevertheless on the right side of it. Silent Running also had to have all the hallmarks
of my brand – a troubled hero, the sea & lots of action. So already the stage was set, enter Art Marvik.
But is he flawed like DI Andy Horton? Of course it’s not all roses for Marvik. Injuries
have forced him to leave the marines. He thought he’d be able to adjust & carve out a
new career, but his first job as a private maritime security operative goes wrong. The
luxury motor cruiser he was detailed to guard gets attacked by pirates in the Indian
Ocean & Marvik finds himself with a bullet in his shoulder & the boat’s owner killed. He’d
failed on his first mission in civilian life, & Silent Running opens with him reeling.
How did you research the novel? I read a great deal about the Royal Marines’ ethos
& training, drew on my time as a serviceman’s wife & consulted my husband over his experiences as an RAF Police Officer. I spoke to those who could help me & visited locations
where Silent Running is set, including the marinas along the South Coast.
Where did the name Art Marvik spring from? I thought long & hard about a name.
I wanted something edgy which describes him. I like the character Bruce Willis plays in
Mercury Rising; he’s called Art, & the name fitted, (although the 2 characters look completely different). I decided to make Marvik’s mother Finnish & his father English. He
takes his mother’s name.
What’s Art Marvik’s backstory? Every character has to have a back story; they
don’t spring afresh on the page. Andy Horton tries to unravel the mystery surrounding
his mother’s disappearance when he was 10. Marvik has dismissed his parents’ death while
they were undertaking one of their marine archaeological expeditions as an accident. He,
like Horton, was abandoned by his parents but whereas Horton was consigned to children’s homes & foster homes in Portsmouth, Marvik was sent to an elite & expensive
boarding school at age 11. He grew up feeling his parents loved their quest for aquatic
treasures more than him. After their death, when he was 17, he joined the marines & put
his parents, their life & wealth behind him. Langton, the psychiatrist who treated him after a head injury incurred during combat, said Marvik was running away from his emotions. Maybe he was, but as far as Marvik is concerned he will continue running; the past
is the past, except he finds the past has a nasty habit of catching up with you.
So what happens in Silent Running? Adrift after leaving the marines & smarting
from his first failed civilian mission, Marvik seeks refuge in a remote cottage on the Isle
of Wight. A visit from a former girlfriend & a missing computer scientist changes everything. In a race against time, Marvik is sucked into a dangerous assignment & a web of
deceit that need all his skills, & those of his friend, former Marine Special Forces Communicator, Shaun Strathen, to get to the truth. Their mission is to stop a ruthless killer
before he kills again.
May 2015
Page 5
Newsletter
NEWS FROM THE GROUPS
Carlisle U3A
Dorothy Ford
We currently have 8 members,
though feel we could take more. Our first assignment was ”The Reunion”, which brought stories
of school/work/family get-togethers, both fact & fiction. In November , it was for a descriptive
piece with no plot & little dialogue. For January we had to establish characters by dialogue. Each
month we also write a shorter piece, usually a limerick.
Ashington & District
Norma Talbert
Our group started in March 201 4 with 9 members, all of whom still attend. I set a topic each month & despite misgivings, members turn up
next time with pieces to read (for feedback if wanted). We use The Creative Writing Handbook
supplemented by &Writing for Dummies.
Hinckley U3A
John Whitehead We have 1 3 members, with an average attendance of 8 at our monthly meetings. We share work written on a monthly topic. I have just
taken over from the late Stan Barrett, I plan to invite local published authors as occasional
speakers & to explore formats such as play writing.
Newent (Gloucestershire) Geoff Garfield
In December we presented some of our work
to our U3A general meeting. At our March group meeting we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary
with a cake, then taking Anniversaries as our theme, we produced a range of pieces from Magna
Carta to today. We are about to produce a book of our work (2 items each) which group member
Ken Clements has kindly agreed to collate & print.
Witney U3A
Janet Glanville
Originally we mainly wrote family history but
have developed into more creative writing. We 7 meet once a month in the home of one of our
members. We do all our writing at home & when we meet together, share what we have written &
try to give encouraging feedback. Subjects may be a title, a first or last line, a picture that
sparks a story or a series of words that have to be included. We try to keep to a 1500 word limit. For the 30th anniversary of Witney U3A, we gathered 30 of our stories into a book for publication. Committee members willingly acted as proof readers, dealt with content pages & acknowledgements & the cover. As I write this the book is at the printers.
Dulwich Writers Workshop
Andrew Malecki
Ever envied Alice following the white rabbit? Our group of 7 jumped down the creative writing rabbit hole with ideas of proud recitals of
our efforts, perceptive comments & encouragement. All these are provided by our inspiring leader, Maggie Smith. What we did not expect was that from our pens would emerge characters,
voices and tales that make dodo, gryphon & the Mad Hatter seem tame. We gain insights into the
technical aspects of writing - plot, character, point of view, the difficulties and possible approaches. As confidence grows our voices are stronger, individual, recognizable. Unlike Alice’s,
this adventure is no dream. More is to come.
SPEAKERS & STUDY DAY LEADERS
Pauline Rowson (see interview page 4 ) is a regular speaker at U3A groups. You may confidently recommend her to your committee as a speaker at main meetings where she can talk about
her life as a crime writer. She would also be ideal as a speaker at Study Days and can be contacted about any of this via her website: www.rowmark.co.uk The website is worth a look ( you
can also sign up for her free newsletter) even if you don’t want to contact her quite yet. She
also has a You Tube Channel showing videos of her interviews and talks. http://www.youtube.com/
paulinerowson13You can follow her on Twitter and she has a Facebook page.
Peter Read, is a poet, playwright & ghostwriter. He has done some work with U3A , notably performing his one man show about Dylan Thomas, which for 2 years running received 5 star
reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe. Having lectured on Creative Writing at Swansea University,&
worked with many less formal groups, Peter is happy to help on study days, or to speak at U3A
meetings. He can help with the process of writing for pleasure, or indeed for money. He also offers a one to one mentoring service for writers. Having known him for some years I can say that
he is personable, approachable & his style is encouraging. Should your U3A wish to contact him
it’s [email protected]
May 2015
Page 6
Newsletter
POETRY
Retired doctor, Louise Henly of Wolverhampton U3A, has sent me a copy of her
beautifully presented book, Poems at the end of the Rainbow.
Illustrated throughout with her own line drawings, 14 of the poems deal with
books. Louise manages to reduce Gulliver’s Travels to a page, Pride and Prejudice
to 2 and Don Quixote to 28 lines. This is a challenge your group could take up! She
writes………..
Since childhood, I’ve been interested in poetry, and remember poems from my
schooldays, over sixty years ago. I started writing poems when I joined a poetry appreciation group, at first imitating the styles and forms of poets we were studying. I found
poems seemed to spring almost readymade from inside me and some of these, with minor adjustments, are included in the book. I decided to illustrate the poems with line
drawings, to give added interest to the page.
I generally start writing a poem on odd pieces of scrap paper, decide on the rhyme
scheme and metre and then type the first version and print it. From then on the computer is invaluable for making alterations, and I print new versions as the poem progresses. I generally keep these by the bedside… and lie awake, trying to think of just
the right word…
I find it difficult to compose free verse; rhymes seem inevitably to intrude! Rhyming
seems to come naturally. Rhyming couplets are perfect for humorous verse. I often use
the same rhyme throughout a poem, but my poems are very varied and come in different
shapes and sizes.
Generally people seem more comfortable to accept poems that have rhyme and a definite metre. I want people to enjoy my poems, and not struggle to understand them and I
like to have a wry twist at the end to raise a smile.
I now write regularly, inspiration coming from odd words and phrases that crop up in
conversation or from novels or from the U3A Creative writing group. Also I write poems specifically for friends, perhaps as ‘thankyou’ letters, or to commemorate a special
occasion. Some of these are in the book.
Louise Henly, Wolverhampton.
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Our regular poetry columnist, Peter Read, will be back in the September issue.
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As Maggie’s no longer Adviser,
Her name cropping-up may surprise her.
Page two says amazing,
Page five’s again praising,
Then on page eight we advertise her.
May 2015
Page 7
One of the best novels I read last year was
Newsletter
The Separation, by Dinah Jefferies,
who in her sixties is a newly published author. Set during the Malayan emergency, it is an
exploration of love & loss. Lydia, the mother, comes home to find her house empty & her
daughters gone, with no idea they’ve been taken to England by their father. Dinah says
she never expected to become a writer. In this article she tells us about it. Marcia.
One thing about writing later in life is that you have so much experience to
bring to it. I’ve been au pair to an Italian Countess, lived with a rock band in a
commune, been mother, grandmother, painter, worked in education, theatre &
broadcasting. During all those roles & experiences I read avidly & scribbled
bits of my own, but never dreamed of being published.
In 2008, I had time on my hands. I wrote a novel & found that I loved writing.
But when I sent it out, rejections meant I needed a thicker skin. That was my
apprenticeship, though the learning never stops, which is one of the reasons
being a writer is the best job in the world. The experience forced me to find
out what I really loved to write about, & I found my own voice. My second novel,
The Separation, was based on my childhood in Malaya, & drew on the profound
sadness of losing my son. This book came from my heart & soul, as well as my
brain. That gave it life & it attracted an agent; one of the best things that ever
happened to me. I had little idea about publishers, but my book was accepted by
Penguin & by five other countries within days of the agent’s submission.
So my advice is, it is never too late, but write from the heart, even if you feel
exposed. Keep writing day after day, even when it’s terrible & you think you
can’t. As someone said, You can always edit terrible writing. You can’t edit a
blank page.
Dinah’s next book, The Tea Planter’s Wife, is a seductive love story that
also explores the tragic consequences of racism. It will be published by
Penguin on August 27th and is set in Sri Lanka during the 1920s and 1930s
when it was Ceylon.
May 2015
Page 8
Newsletter
Useful information
U.3.A STUDY DAY
RECORDING, WRITING, PUBLISHING
MEMORIES
.
Sources: Included in postal deliveries of Third
Age Matters.
U3A Online Writing Courses: see U3A website.
THURSDAY 1 October 2015 - 10.30
(for 11) – 4.p.m
U3A Resource Centre: Materials to borrow free
of charge, apart from return postage. email:
[email protected]
THE LIBRARY, CANADA WATER,
LONDON SE16
Handbook for U3A Creative Writing Groups—
from start-up to the finished product.
£2.50 (inc p. p) from National Office (address P1)
Speakers:
Peter Cox: author of 'Growing Up in
London 1930-1960,’ based on interviews
with U3A members, to be published this
summer.
Maggie Smith: former Creative Writing
Adviser, whose memoir ‘Arriving Where I
Started’ will be published this summer.
Barbara Bond, U3A Oral History Adviser.
Greg Watts:
An author with experience of marketing.
Also taking part will be U3A member
Malcolm Cowper, author of Derbyshire’s
Unsung Heroes, from memories of local
people’s experiences in World War II.
The fee* will include a sandwich lunch.
To register an interest, contact Peter
Cox by email at [email protected].
*not yet set but no more than £10.
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USEFUL FORMULA
2nd draft = 1st draft minus 10%
Stephen King
SignpostsEdited by Tom Holloway, sent monthly
(email only) by the U3A Internetwork Group UK
and U3AOnline Australia to any U3A member.To
receive Signposts, email Tom [email protected]
BOOKS
Back to Creative Writing School, by Bridget
Whelan, is like an informal chat with an expert. It
shows you the basics & makes you feel you can
write. If you Google the author’s name, you find
her website & can sign up for her free Newsletter…..full of ideas. Bridget has kindly given me permission to reproduce relevant items in forthcoming
Newsletters.
Wannabe a Writer by Jane Wenham-Jones.
Chatty style & full of humour, but this author really knows her subject. The book is packed with
sound , practical advice, delivered in a way that
makes the book itself a good read.
ARTICES for Next Issue
Please send items, however
brief such as group news; comments, ideas;
useful websites, magazines, books, competitions; anything you think worth sharing.
TO: [email protected]
Deadline for next edition is
21st August but don’t wait until then.
Send items to me as you write them please.