A Sense of Place 4 - 'Nets' by Philippa Hawley

Travel writing can be a short diversion or part of a long journey. The resulting pieces can be short or extended, resembling either flash fiction or a longer short story. Travelling may give rise to an article or even result in a book.

    For example, Bill Bryson, well known for his ‘Notes from a Small Island’, started off as a newspaper column writer, before writing ‘A Walk in the Woods’. This was about walking the Appalachian Trail with his friend and was, in 2015, made into a film. Another who used travel for inspiration was Chris Stewart, with ‘Driving over Lemons’, descibed as an optimist in Andalucia.

    As a student, one of the first travel writing books I became aware of was Eric Newby’s ‘A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush’. Written in 1958 this adventure, told with British humour, captured many a young person’s imagination over the following decades.

    Sometimes however our aims are less ambitious. It’s great to record our travels, and maybe use a diary to detail the sequence of events. Alongside that, it can be interesting to focus in on one small thing – a meal, a sight, or a character you met. This might ‘show’ the feelings you experienced while away from home, rather than ‘telling’ the reader every step you took. It might also keep your memories alive.

    This is the approach I took in entering a recent travel competition, which asked for a 50-100 word travel highlight. My 94 word piece called ‘Nets’ can be seen here. Re-reading it, I am immediately taken back to the beautiful Monte Isola, on Lake Iseo in Northern Italy. Have a look at the published story:

http://www.fd81.net/freds-blog/nets-by-philippa-hawley

Another 'Sense of Place' story

God! Help me stay alive, among this deadly love, 
by Philippa Hawley

Written following a trip to Berlin, this piece has been submitted for Fred's Blog travel competition, which closes on 31 July 2016. The story includes the idea of flanerie, from the French noun flaneur (usually with a circonflexe accent over the a), meaning 'stroller', 'lounger', 'saunterer', or 'loafer'. Flanerie refers to the act of strolling, with all its accompanying associations.
       The submission has been published on Fred's Blog, and Robert Fear has kindly allowed me to post it on our wivenhoewriters blog. It is another piece of my 'Sense of Place' writing, some of which you may have seen already. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Here is the link to Fred's Blog and Fred's Diary 1981.
fd81.net

Writing Festivals. Are they worth it? by Sue Dawes

I’ve just returned from the Festival of Writing (FOW15) which is held annually in York and run by 'The Writer’s Workshop’. The extended weekend was part of the prize for the ‘Criminal Minds’ Competition.

Details

The weekend ran from the 4th September to the 6th and was fully catered. The food was excellent and although the accommodation was basic (halls of residence), it was sufficient, and all rooms had an ensuite.

A festival for introverts

I arrived late at the festival- navigation is not my specialty- but I didn’t feel as intimidated as I imagined I would, walking into the packed lecture hall. I found the seminars and workshops at the festival very useful (and plentiful) even though by the end of the weekend I had information overload. I learnt some new self-editing techniques, the actual process of submission and I met some agents. I think this is the biggest draw of writing festivals, especially for writers who don't 'know' people in the industry. It’s the possibility that you might be ‘discovered’.

An opportunity to get noticed

The Festival of Writing runs competitions throughout the weekend (I can't comment on whether other festivals do this), and if you're inclined to enter them, have the guts to stand up on stage and read your work out, you can really stamp your mark on an agent’s memory. We were introduced to a handful of published authors, signed up after winning some of these competitions (first chapter, best pitch etc.)

Was it worth it?

Attending the festival has certainly made me feel more confident about the submissions process. Now that I know Agents get roughly 4000 manuscripts a year, and have to squeeze reading them in with their day-to-day work, I feel less anxious about waiting. If they don’t respond immediately to you, it might have nothing to do with your writing but rather timing. Agents are only people, flawed like the rest of us and they have ‘bad’ days too.

Conclusion

I came away from the festival with new friends, a few pounds to lose (the food really was good!) and the feeling that anything is possible (with hard work, and flexibility). Writing can be a lonely life, but if nothing else, these festivals prove that you are never actually alone.

In praise of writing groups by Philippa Hawley

I was recently at a drinks party in a village some miles away. It was a lovely gathering of people, all friends of our hosts, but mostly strangers to each other.

You know the form:

‘How do you know Jack and Jill? Are you local? What do you do?’

    I considered my reply options:

‘I’m a retired doctor.’

‘I’m a writer.’

‘I’m a retired doctor and now I write.’

That last one seemed to work. We could either talk about medicine or about writing. Despite the press coverage of a struggling NHS, writing seemed to win in the small talk wars over a glass of Prosecco.

One chap in particular drew me into greater discussion with more searching questions. He was a landscape gardener who a few of years ago had done the same ‘Start Writing Fiction’ module with the OU that I had taken in 2011. He had hardly written since, even though he’d enjoyed the course very much and I asked him why not. He replied that although he had lots of time to think whilst working, he had little time to write, and didn’t really know how continue without the tutor to guide him. He was approaching retirement and felt now was his opportunity to write more, but he needed some stimulation.

I found myself prattling on about writing magazines and short story competitions as a source of inspiration and encouragement. I suggested he wrote little and often to keep in practice even if no-one ever read his words. I told him these were the things that kept me going, along with joining a local writing class and working alongside other would-be writers, who gave support and gentle critique as I built my confidence.

I told him the other thing that can help is to find a writing group consisting of people you trust – people whose opinion you value, who will share their work with you as well as listen to yours, and where any criticism given is constructive. In the discussion with my landscape gardener I acknowledged that writing can be an isolating pastime. Most non-writers are not interested in the minutiae of your writing world, whereas a fellow writer will understand and enjoy sharing thoughts, ideas and problems too. They will tolerate your moments of self-obsessed analysis or times of lack of confidence and self-doubt, just so long as you return the favour. The controlled environment of a well run writing group allows this to happen. I do hope he finds such a group.