Category: Writing

Ellen de Vries and I will be running another free writing workshop on November 23rd.

As with our previous workshop, the aim is to produce stories based on photographs, then share them with the other attendees. Each round of the workshop is done to a time-limit, which varies between fifteen minutes and two. The event might sound imposing, everyone produced work interesting and complete work, even in the two minute round. One of the previous attendees, Tom Hume, has posted about  his experience of the event.

The event starts at 7pm on November 23rd and will again be at The Skiff, 49 Cheltenham Place, Brighton BN1 4AB. If you'd like to join in then turn up on the night or mail me

Tonight I hosted a flash fiction workshop at the Skiff with Ellen de Vries as part of Write Club. The evening was something of an experiment, but it seems to have worked very well.

The night was divided into four rounds. In each round we projected a creative commons photo from flickr on a screen. Everyone in the group then wrote a story inspired by the photo. Afterwards each person took turns to read what they'd written. Apologies were banned – you read what you wrote and let it stand or fall on its merits. In the first round people spent fifteen minutes writing; after that came rounds of ten, five and finally two minutes.

I'd expected the finished work to be scrappy, sometimes left unfinished when the time expired. I also expected a few squibs, where the story hadn't worked and there was no time left to salvage anything. I thought it would be interesting to acknowledge the part played by dissatisfaction and failure in the creative process.

For me, the biggest surprise of the evening was how good the work was. I heard 35 stories (one person arrived after the first round) and each of them was strong and more-or-less complete. Any of them could be developed into a complete piece, given time and polishing. I'd expected the evening to produce some interesting lessons about writing; instead it produced some exciting and entertaining work that I loved listening to.

We're definitely going to do another session soon. Tonight has been the most fun I've had writing in ages. And, to quote Mr. Hume: "first rule of write club was: you don't make any fight club references when talking about write club". Mercifully, I kept to that rule.

The picture below is from exmosis, and was the image used in the 10-minute round:

Hello!

I'm going to be running a writing workshop on October 26th with Ellen de Vries as part of Brighton writing group Write Club. To quote the announcement:

Monday 26th October, 7-9 pm
at The Skiff. 49 Cheltenham Place, Brighton BN1 4AB
Not for the faint hearted.

Challenge yourself. This writing workshop will put you on the spot – you have no choice – you have to write a poem or short story for a set amount of time, and you HAVE TO perform it.

We’ll be writing for 20 mins, then 10 mins, then 5 mins, and performing our work at each stage. Yes we’re scared too. Who knows what will happen? Its an exercise in writing with adrenaline and driving out those pesky whiny inner critics for an evening. Join us 🙂

I'm not a big fan of workshops as a means of critique but I think they can be an excellent environment for sparking creativity and generating ideas – some of my most satisfying stories started as workshop pieces. Writing with a limited time available, knowing you're going to read it out loud when the time limit is up, can be a massive spur to imagination.

The workshop will be, in part, an experiment, but I think it will be a lot of fun too. If you'd like to join in then turn up on the night or mail me

In a late addition to the bill, I'm reading at Short Fuse tomorrow. The theme for the night is Tainted Love, and I'll be reading my story 'LIBRARYS'. It's probably my favourite of all the stories I've written, and describes a relationship with a woman who has too many books. 'LIBRARYS' is also very critical about books and the place they have in our lives. It was published in Penumbra a few years back and I read it live for the first time in June. I'm quite pleased with how it worked and I'm looking forward to reading it again.

I'm not sure who else is reading, but the night is headlined by Bridget O'Connor. The night takes place tomorrow at the Brighton Komedia Studio Bar and starts at 8pm. Entry is £8. It would be lovely to see you there!

I'm also reading at Sparks in the Three and Ten this Tuesday – I will add more details about that soon.

I'm a little late posting this, as I've had a very busy couple of weeks. (I'm writing a post about some of the things I've done, but who knows when that will appear?). During the whirlwind my new post was published on literaturenetwork.org. This one touches on ideas, mathematics, plagiarism and magic:

Writers are often asked where they get their ideas. Their answers are sometimes glib – Harlan Ellison once replied “Poughkeepsie” and Neil Gaiman used to suggest ‘from the Idea-of-the-Month Club,’ or ‘a little ideas shop in Bognor Regis’. My favourite reply is one I’ve heard attributed to Arthur Miller: “If I knew, I would go there more often.” Wouldn’t it be something to visit the place ideas come from?

Please click through and read the full thing. I'd be very interested in knowing what people make of this one as it took in some strange topics.

I'm very excited that I've been asked to read at the next Glue Gun '91. The theme for the night is 'Glue Velvet' and it will be themed around the films of David Lynch. The night contains 'strobe lighting and scenes of violence'! 'It begins with a clown and ends with a spider'.

I will be reading a new story, set in Brighton, that will unsettle and disturb. You must come along! The night starts at 8:30pm and is completely and utterly free.

My next reading is going to be part of the Melbourne Arts Festival in the village of Melbourne. I am going to be reading some of my stories which will then be followed by a performance from poet Les Barker. The event starts at 7:30pm in Melbourne Public Hall. Tickets cost £7 – they can be booked in advance, so get in touch if you want details.

My new post on literaturenetwork.org is now live: Big Game Hunting in the Bookshop. It's about the disappearing world of the secondhand bookshop and is unashamedly nostalgic. Writing it has put me in the mood for spending a weekend exploring Brighton's secondhand bookshops. Anyone up for an expedition next weekend?

"I love buying things on-line. No matter how strange or obscure the item I want, there always seems to be someone selling it. The most interesting thing I’ve bought recently is a mid-nineties guide to British second hand book shops. This book, by the mysterious Driffield, is long out of date: most of the shops listed that I remember from 15 years back are no more. The guide would likely be little use in navigating present-day second hand bookshops (although I sometimes day-dream about trying)."

I'm a bad person: I meant to post a month or so back about the new issue of Penumbra magazine, which includes a story of mine called 'Easter Rains'. Here's the opening:

"Ghost songs. They’d been drinking beer, kind of bored, when someone mentioned this radio station out in the woods that broadcast to no-one. Some guy had a radio transmitter and broadcast his favourite songs, not caring if anyone listened or not. A passing car might pick it up, if anyone actually drove out that way.

So they’d gone into the country, turning the dial until they found a station that was playing the Sid Vicious version of My Way. They pulled over and sat on the bonnet drinking beer. Song followed song with no adverts or idents, mostly cheesy rock, each record becoming something more in the moment. And he often thought he’d never have felt like he did now if making music meant as much to him as transmitting it had to that man."

Easter Rains recounts the last few days in the life of Kurt Cobain. I was a huge Nirvana fan at the time Cobain died and have read most of the biographies published since his death. What fascinates me is how the story has changed over the years. Initially the books recounted a doomed love affair between Kurt and Courtney but some later volumes have taken a more cynical turn

Listening to Doll Parts again recently ('yeah, they really want you, but I do too'') brought back the freshness, the innocence of those early accounts. I miss the story of Kurt and Courtney how it was originally, two lost people who found in each other the missing parts of themselves. Whether or not the later accounts are more accurate, for me the earlier books told the better story.

I wrote Easter Rains in Coventry last summer. It's closely based on factual accounts of the hours preceding Cobain's suicide, most notably the Cross biography and Everett True's stunning work, Nirvana: the True story. But, as you'll find if you read it, I tinkered with the end a little.

As mentioned above, Easter Rains can be found in the new issue of Penumbra. Copies can be bought from the Penumbra website for £4.95 which includes P&P. Thanks to Alex and Elle at Penumbra for publishing the story; and to Rosy and Ian for their feedback on the earlier drafts.

My new post is up on literaturenetwork.org: Let's have a golden age:

"Every year 1,300 creative writers qualify from British universities. Every year. Think how much raw talent that represents. Thousands upon thousands of people capable of crafting their experiences, hopes and fantasies into decent prose and poetry. So where are they? Where are all the little magazines, spoken word nights, pamphlets and small presses? There are some out there, but not enough to reflect the work of 1,300 additional writers a year. It’s an artistic version of the Fermi paradox: if they’re out there how come we don’t see them?"

One of the things I've enjoyed most about writing for the literature network is exploring different aspects of the explosion in creative writing. In this post I'm considering the huge potential of the huge number of people studying creative writing. Please have a read and add a comment. Thank you!