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Meg Rosoff giving the Keynote Speech
at Winchester Writers' Festival 2016 |
Rather
unbelievably, it’s time for my annual follow-up post on the Winchester Writers’
Festival, where I gave a lecture on self-editing and a day course on building
character. There was the usual buzz of creativity and connection as writers
milled around, attending readings, talks, courses and one-to-ones with agents,
editors and writers like myself.
What
do writers talk about at events like this? Well, their writing, of course,
their hopes and their struggles, their frustrations and their triumphs. All of
this against the backdrop of the annual review of the State of Publishing. We
listen to those in the know, those in the trade – but also those in the
independent sphere. Both schools of publishing practice have learned to
co-exist fairly amicably, really. Perfection doesn’t exist on either side:
indie authors sometimes haven’t taken on board the need for professionalism in
presentation and content. Trad publishers are often way behind the times in
their view of the indie world. But, catching up has been done, on both sides.
Every
year the Festival officially opens on Saturday with the Keynote Speech. This
year featured Meg Rosoff, with a quirky Powerpoint sequence behind her, discussing
the nature of ‘voice’. This it turns out, is your ‘DNA’ as a writer. It’s your
individual personality in words. It takes some finding and developing. When
found, it creates that state we all seek and sometimes achieve: the zone, ‘writers’ magic’, the state where
you tap into your true self and meaning, where inspiration and expression fuse.
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| The Stripe Auditorium |
In
case this all sounds a bit airy-fairy, let me assure you that Meg was sharp as
a tack, cynical, acerbic and total fun. She introduced us to the wonderful
German word Durchlässigkeit, which
means ‘throughness’, for that sense of a perfect flow of energy between
conscious and unconscious mind. The term comes from dressage, referring to the
harmonius co-operation of rider and horse. She said that a wall exists between
the conscious and the unconscious and it’s up to us to establish and encourage
connections: ‘If there’s a wall, you won’t get resonance.’
Meg
went on to stress that we need to access the ‘dreamy state’ by such practices
as morning writing, when ‘the brain hasn’t closed the bridge’. She herself
waits for her books to come to her and tell her what their meanings are, what
their resonance is. This is a process you can encourage but not force:
‘Sometimes you need to wait for the brain to be ready.’ If you want to home in on what is important to you, storywise, she recommends you to consider the turning
points of your life and what they meant to you.
Throughout
her speech the audience responded with laughter and murmurs of agreement: she
really spoke to us, part-reassuringly, part bracingly. It was clear that
writing – which she came to at the age of 46 after a rocky career in
advertising – was as frustrating and rewarding to her as it is to the rest of
us. She described the months when the book won’t come, the glorious
breakthroughs of meaning, the buzz of inspired productivity. She spoke to an
audience resonating to her message.
I
came away struck in particular by one thing she’d mentioned: early in her
career she’d written a pony book, which was no good, she claimed, but which got
her an agent. Her agent said, ‘There are no rules. Write as fiercely as you can
and I’ll find someone who will read it.’ I loved the idea of fierce writing –
and the idea of a champion who would fight for that writing to be read.
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| During my one-to-one appointments |
A
couple of hours later I was meeting writers for one-to-ones in a room full of
agents and editors, all listening to pitches, all responding to dreams and
aspirations in a world that is commercially hard-headed and has always had to
be. Yet I know that in that room, a writer or two will have fired up an agent
or an editor with enthusiasm and months down the line we’ll hear of the book
deal and the dream fulfilled.
Keep
crossing that bridge into your inner life and self. Keep writing fiercely. Keep
trusting that out there is the agent or editor or reader who will look at your
work and ‘get’ it and champion it.
Finally - shout outs to my lovely friends at Winchester: Judith Heneghan, Sara Gangai, Barbara Large, Adrienne Dines, David Simpkin, Judy Waite, Nik Charrett, David Evans - and also to Imogen Cooper, Beverley Birch, Jenny Savill, Eden Sharp and Andrew Weale for fascinating conversations.
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| After the Festival Dinner |
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| Conference Director Judith Heneghan at the Festival Dinner |
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| With Adrienne Dines |
This is one of those catch-up posts as it dawns on me how long it is since I last blogged! And why is that, you ask? The spring and summer were intense phases of teaching, along with my core editorial work. I realised yesterday that we are on the cusp of autumn and couldn't quite believe it. This post, then, is a photographic diary of my summer and of the amazing people I've met.
