Last night I attended my first meeting of the Corsham Writers Workshop. I posted about my excitement when I learnt of this local writers group at my village Christmas Fayre. My excitement was entirely justified. There were five of us. We were a mix of poets, short story writers, and novelists. The Methuen Arms in Corsham was our venue, and it was perfect. It’s a bit of a rabbit warren of rooms, all very comfortable and intriguing. We used the Green Room. After introducing ourselves, we started a fiction square exercise. We each chose two characters, a venue, character traits, an object, and an affliction from a menu. Then we had twenty minutes to write a short story, flash fiction perhaps. It was great fun, and an interesting exercise. I hadn’t done anything like it since studying creative writing with the Open University. I’m already looking forward to the next meeting.
How will this help my journey with the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures? Well, I feel certain that exercises, like the fiction square, will help make me a more creative and better writer. We have agreed that we are happy to share each other’s work in progress and get feedback. Of course I already get feedback from my wife and my editor, but that tends to be on the completed first draft. I feel certain that feedback a chapter, or even a scene at a time, is going to help propel me to the next level. And, of course, I hope I can do the same for my fellow writers. Jeff asked if anyone knew of any small local publishers. I’ve offered to lend him, and any of the others who want it, my copy of the Indie Press Guide by Françoise Harvey and Debbie Taylor.