Must Characters Change?

Margaret Barnes

This week, CWC member, Margaret Barnes, uses the main character from her series of legal thrillers to test the theory that a character must change over the course of a novel.

“Most literary agents and editors tell writers their protagonist must change over the course of the story. I have asked myself whether that is a valid assumption to make. Does a character have to go on some kind of personal journey which alters them?

How’s It Been For You So Far?

Jean Grimsey

This week, CWC member Jean Grimsey reflects on the strange situation we’re in at the moment, and how it’s affected her writing.

“Author? That’s a misnomer for a start – I am writing this under false pretences as I don’t think I can claim to be an author at the moment. Lockdown has put paid to that. Words do not flow, with a few exceptions.

News Round-Up

On the last weekend of June, we bring you a round-up of local writerly news:  a reminder about getting your PLR registrations up to date; a short story competition; a collection of flash fiction including pieces by two CWC members; and an invitation to a local author’s virtual book launch.

Ian Dreams of Midsummer

This week we hear from a newcomer to Chudleigh Writers, Ian Riddle, who tells us about the writing and marketing of his debut novel, Midsummer Dreams.

“I’ve come to writing rather late in life, having taken up the pen just three and a half years ago as I was fast approaching sixty-nine. This possibly goes some way to explain why I’ve been writing frantically ever since, making up for lost time. I’ve never worked so hard as I’m doing at this writing thing.

Virtual Literary Festivals

Elizabeth Ducie

This week, CWC member, Elizabeth Ducie, talks about the current spate of virtual literary festivals, and how her experience as a member of the audience shaped her behaviour when it was her turn to be a speaker.

“One of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic is that many, if not all, of this year’s Literary Festivals have been cancelled or postponed. But several of them have taken advantage of technologies such as Zoom, Teams or Crowdcast to set up online alternatives.

Camp NaNoWriMo

Elizabeth Ducie

This week, CWC member, Elizabeth Ducie, reflects on her first attempt at Camp NaNoWriMo, which she completed in April.

“NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. In November each year, thousands of writers all over the world challenge themselves to write 50K words in 30 days. It’s an exercise in creativity; a time when quantity is very definitely more important than quality. Originally, as the name suggests, the only permissible project was to write the first draft of a novel; and officially that’s still the case. These days, many people take a much more flexible approach. After all, no-one’s checking on what you do, so making up your own rules seems quite logical. I’m a very definite NaNo rebel.

News Round-Up

This week we bring you a round-up of writerly news, some local and some less so. CWC member, Elizabeth Ducie, talks about the upcoming Crediton Literary Festival in which she is taking part. There’s news of a Short Story Competition from Exeter Literary Festival. A neighbouring writers’ group launches a flash fiction anthology. And Winchester Writers’ Festival announces a Virtual Writers’ Weekend.

Jo’s Covid Poems

Jo Elliott and friends…

The current situation has had differing effects on different writers. Some are finding the time to write even more than ever. While others are finding themselves completely blocked and unable to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard. This week, we bring you two poems written by CWC member, Jo Elliott, in response to Covid-19.

Trials and Tribulations: Finding a new route with Idea/Mind Maps

Bea Hutchings

Anyone who has used Mind Maps successfully will understand the enthusiasm of this week’s author, Bea Hutchings, who has been experimenting with three different approaches and presents her conclusions below.

“At a recent Zoom meeting for CWC I mentioned I was going to start a new novel. I’ve had the idea in my mind for quite a long time now, and I did a sketchy intro for the first chapter in 2018, using Word. I’d already done a lot of research and also written copious notes and character references, but, as I found out, not nearly enough to begin to outline or structure the story, especially as I was changing the genre from crime to romantic comedy. So, I had to rethink how I was going to write this time-slip, romantic comedy almost from scratch, using the same characters and research.

Jackie’s Lockdown World Tour

Jackie Juno

In last week’s news round-up, we mentioned Jackie Juno was embarking on a World Tour throughout the month of May. Well, today she tells us more about it.

“I am really missing doing live shows. I absolutely love that connection with the audience, sharing such special time together. Things happen in live performances which can never be reproduced – that particular mix of atmosphere, time, place and people will not occur again.