Image Credits:-
Many thanks to Jen Wilson, Penny Blackburn, Val Penny, Keith Hinchy, and June Webber for images from Swanwick. Other images from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, were taken by yours truly, Allison Symes. Other images created in Book Brush using my photos.
When this post goes out, I will be back home, having recently enjoyed another lovely week at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is based at The Hayes, Derbyshire. This week sees me immersed in the world of writing, which is just one of many reasons I adore going. It is also the place from where the only German prisoner of war from World War Two successfully escaped and fled back to Germany.
On the writing front, delegates are free to choose which courses and workshops they go to and there is a wide range of topics to choose from too. There is something to suit everyone, no matter where they are at in their writing journeys.
There are four part and two part courses to choose from, as well as the one hour workshops, plus I find I always learn something useful, as well as enjoying being entertained, by the after dinner guest speakers, who are all renowned in their fields.
In between the courses and workshops, there is a lot of networking and friendship building going on, helped along no end with plentiful supplies of tea and coffee and those delights from the bar when it’s open!
Then there is the wonderful Book Room which is open for most of the week we’re there. Many authors have their books there, including me. The one thing we all hope for? Brisk sales!
The 75th Swanwick Anniversary
This year was a special one for the Summer School given it was its 75th anniversary. It is the oldest residential writing school in the UK and believed to be the oldest in the world too. As well as the usual programme all delegates received in their Welcome Packs on arrival, there was a delightful surprise. We were given a copy of the first programme for the school from 1949. It was a fascinating historical read.
The idea of the summer school in the first place was to bring various writing circles from across the country together in one annual jamboree. The school has succeeded in that magnificently. Back in 1949 there was even time for coach excursions and rambles. The week began from Monday to Sunday.
These days the school runs from a Saturday to a Friday. No time for trips out either given there is a packed programme (though Tuesday afternoons are left free so anyone with transport available could take themselves out to explore the area).
Oh and for the first school, ration books had to be brought along and delegates had to bring their own linen and towels. Neither of these are still required!
On the Thursday, there was a glorious cake cut by the Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire, which many of us enjoyed later in the evening. The picture below shows some of us happily celebrating the anniversary!
Swanwick Course: Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge – Allison Symes
This was my two part course held on the Thursday. Having a long slot meant I could fit in editing exercises to my course. It helps so much to know why you’re editing and it will directly have an impact on how you do so. My exercises reflected this and went down well. There was a good turn out too.
Editing has played a major part in my writing life which wasn’t something I’d anticipated when starting out. What I’ve found, with my competition judge’s hat on, is it is easy to tell how much or how little editing has been done on a piece before it was submitted. This is an area where all authors can do much to help improve their chances and my course shared tips and thoughts here.
I’ve also been on the receiving end of book doctor reports (as they were known back in the day) and was able to talk about my experiences of those, as well as that of finding myself on both sides of the editing fence in 2020. I was being edited for Tripping the Flash Fantastic at the same time I was editing someone else. It was an interesting time to say the least.
I can and do see editing from several angles then including as a copy editor for Writers’ Narrative and writing my weekly column here. There are editing aspects to writing for online magazines too. All of these thoughts came into my course and I was glad to share tips I’ve found useful when editing my own work and that of others.
My Swanwick Writing Week – August 2024
Sunday
On the Sunday morning, I ran a Lift Up Your Pens session, which is a pre-breakfast writing session. I was looking at different ways of using numbers in stories. There are more than you might think and using numbers at all encourages you to think outside of the box. I suggested using numbers as times, parts of addresses where the action of the stories occurs, and as money. There are more ways to use numbers in fiction but I only had half an hour here!
I then went on to part one of Vivien Brown’s Short Story specialist course. Later I went to Twist in the Tale hosted by Val Penny which was on before and after lunch. Both of these topics are right up my writing street of course. But one of the lovely things about creative writing is there is always something you can learn which can help you improve your craft further. Now that is a great thing indeed!
Many thanks to Val Penny for the shout-out as part of her course. I was pleased to confirm for flash fiction you can only have the one twist because you don’t have the word count room for more. I find twists in flash fiction have a more powerful impact as the limited word count means there is nothing to dilute those twists. Also there is no room left to put anything in which could dilute those twists!
I also put my name in the Open Prose Mic Night box. Flash fiction works so well for this. I can give audiences three or four complete stories in the allotted time (five minutes usually) and I don’t over-run. That alone goes down well with the organisers and the audience!
Monday
Many thanks to Jen Wilson for taking the shots of me at the Lift Up Your Pens session yesterday. It was a joy and privilege to lead the Lift Up Your Hearts session this morning, a short devotional session for all denominations.
I was back at Vivien Brown’s Short Story course this morning and then went on to Road to Self-Publishing Success led by Lizzie Chantree. Both were packed full with useful information.
Later I went to Anthologies and Creative Collaborations led by Jen Wilson and Alex Inskip, which was an interesting look at putting anthologies together (the view from the other side of the desk if you like).
There is so much choice here. It is one of the strengths of Swanwick and you choose how many or how few of those courses you attend. Mind you, I swear you can feel the creativity in the air! The gardens are as lovely as ever, as are the lakes, and I’ve found it refreshing to take walks around the latter at break times. I have never seen the fish so busy in those lakes as I have done this year (though I found out later in the week the fish had just been fed. This explains a lot!).
I was also glad to have caught up with Linda Payne – she and I were the Bridge House Publishing contingent for this year! I was also glad to have caught up with Susan Pope and Vikki Thompson (of the Mermaids writing group. I’ve given a couple of talks for them on Zoom but it was so nice to see the ladies again in person. Again, this is another huge strength to Swanwick).
Tuesday
I enjoyed the sessions on The Write Mindset (Sarah Harlow) and Powerful Public Speaking for Writers (Simon Hall). There is always plenty to learn from sessions like these. Sometimes it is just reassuring to know you are on the right lines! On Tuesday afternoons there is spare time (which is done deliberately) where I caught up with some of my writing.
Later I took part in the Open Prose Mic Night. It does make a great advert for what flash fiction can be. I read from my books (Calling the Doctor and Time for Some Peace, which I used as the trailers for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic). I also read one of my contributions from The Best of CafeLit 13 and two pieces from my stories on Friday Flash Fiction and still came in at under five minutes!
I also took part in the general knowledge quiz last night – the team came 5th out of 8 though the placings between 5th and 2nd were very tight. Might pay to brush up for next year!
It was nice to have a chat with fellow Bridge House authors, Linda Payne and June Webber, today. Always good to wave the flag for a lovely publisher.
Wednesday
It was another wonderful day at Swanwick though I was glad the temperature cooled somewhat.
Had a fabulous time at the third part of Vivien Brown’s Short Story course. I had great fun killing off one of the characters we had to create on Monday as part of the homework exercise that was set. I do believe in killing my fictional darlings!
Then I was off to SpellBound Books and their talk on Pitch to a Publisher. I finished the afternoon with a Show Don’t Tell workshop led by Shona Gilchrist, the topic is always useful. This looked at characters from a theatrical point of view but it was so helpful. I do see my characters as “cast” in my stories so this approach worked well for me.
After the Open Prose Mic Night yesterday, I was also pleased to be asked for some advice on flash fiction this morning, as well as, later, being complimented on my stories. Thank you to those concerned. Feedback like this is invaluable because most of the time writers are working away on their own of course.
Thursday
This is the last full day and none of us ever believe just how quickly we get to this point! I was pleased to share how flash fiction writing has helped my editing skills as part of the two section Editing course I ran at Swanwick today. Hope I have persuaded some of the joys of editing too! I have found editing elicits a Marmite response in writers – they either love it or hate it. I hope I’ve persuaded some to see the positive sides to editing.
I was also glad to get together for fellow Association of Christian Writers members for a group photo today which was taken on Val Penny’s phone by a staff member of The Hayes. They do go out of their way to help their guests.
The evening saw delegates enjoy a splendid celebration dinner plus later on a slice of the fabulous 75th anniversary cake. Nobody goes hungry at Swanwick! Plus prizes are given out for the winners of the Page to Stage event. This is where, prior to the school, delegates can send in short scripts. The best seven are picked to be put on at the school itself. Volunteers are sought for the acting and directing sides of this.
On the last night, the prizes, known as the Swannies, are given out for best drama, best actor in a drama, best comedy, and best actor in a comedy. Everyone has a voting slip but it is always hard to choose. I was delighted to be asked to present one of the prizes. (It will be the nearest I get to any kind of red carpet event – and there was no red carpet in the Swanwick hall! – but it was fun to do).
There is also a raffle with many splendid prizes. Tickets are on sale for that up until Thursday afternoon. Many cheers go up when the winners are picked. I was also pleased to be asked to sign copies of my books on the last day too. This is always special for authors.
Conclusion
Swanwick is so much fun. Given writers spend most of their time alone writing away, it is wonderful when we can all get together. This is so appreciated by us all. Also appreciated were the receptions for people new to Swanwick this year and for the volunteers (see picture for the latter below). Naturally, I am already looking forward to Swanwick 2025!
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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