We had a lovely evening with Sarah who is a very positive and engaging speaker.

I have attached some notes covering the main points. My husband took the notes for me and I can't read his handwriting and neither can he but here is my best guess at what was covered. If anyone wants further details, fear not - I have ordered Sarah's book, 'How to Write a Blockbuster' for our library, so we can fill in any gaps that I might have left!

Ideas

Have an open mind to ideas – they can come from books, tv, news...

DON’T necessarily ‘write what you know’ – why not make things up??

There *must* be feelings...love, hate, ambition...

Think, ‘what will make the reader turn the page?’

Make sure that the emotions are ‘truthful’ i.e. believable. Think of how you felt when you were angry, upset etc & translate the feelings to the character’s situation.

Stories

Must be page-turning.

There must be events taking place & compelling characters.

If readers don’t care about the characters, they won’t keep reading.

You must know your characters inside out.

There are supposed to be only 7 different stories...but every writers’ take on them can be different.

Story and Plot

The king died and the queen died – this is a story

The king died and then the queen died of a broken heart – this is a plot

The story can be written in the 1st or 3rd person, the story can start at the middle...or the beginning...or the end – or weave in & out courtesy of flashbacks.

Whose story is it? From which character’s point of view is it being told? Or are you the all-seeing narrator? Or does the point of view swap between characters?

Getting Started

Sit down for 20 mins a day & write – or at least, THINK about writing.

Do it regularly & reward yourself for having done it.

Show, don’t tell. Let characters show the reader what they are like through their speech & actions, rather than saying, X was bad tempered.

Each chapter should contain one key scene.

Make sure that speech does not contain anachronisms – i.e. colloquialisms derived from events which haven’t happened yet.

Don’t get it right – get it written! You can do your rewrite once you’ve finished!

Making Progress

Decide whether the story is 1st/3rd person.

Is it a tragedy/comedy etc.

Find your own voice.

It can be helpful to know the end as it can act as a grappling iron, drawing you onwards.

Do your research if necessary, as it makes the story rounded and believable...but you don’t necessarily have to cram it all in.

It can be helpful to write the numbers 1 to 20 (chapter numbers) then write briefly what happens in each chapter, or even note down one key scene for each.

If you’re stuck, it can be helpful to concentrate just on the scene you’re currently working on, and not look further ahead.

Getting Published

A synopsis should read like the blurb on the back of a paperback, giving the flavour of the book.