SESSION FOUR - 30 April 2020 - Wycombe Sound Writing Clinic. Topic – Making a story idea into a story.

REFERENCED ITEMS:

In today’s session I talked about developing an idea into a story by building an outline one scene at a time to explore the story in a dramatic fashion. The story concerns a boy who finds that his family is in a position where they need to make use of a foodbank. For reference, the story I wrote as a result is available at: my short story.

LINKS

To hear this session again or to begin listening from day one, go to the Writers' Clinic.

For Wycombe Sound Short Story Week - (Short stories created by students from the Wycombe Sound Writing Workshop.)

CONTACTS:

Wycombe Sound website  

Wycombe Sound -call the studio - 01494 449900

SESSION THREE - 29 April 2020 - Wycombe Sound Writers' Clinic

Topics – How to laugh in the face of grammar and developing your story antenna to help find good story ideas.

REFERENCED ITEMS:

Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss - A painless solution to some tricky grammar problems. See the book.

Manuscript layout – There is no one layout that will suit all publishers and magazine editors. But generally this layout works and it covers all the usual requirements. The footer should at least have the title and page number which appears on every page. Competition organisers always need your MS to be anonymous and changing the footer is a simple operation. This MS is double spaced. If you use styles (as it’s know in MS Word) it is a simple matter to change any layout settings by altering the style. Styles can be tricky to get used to but its worth the effort. And editors love it. Click here for the sample manuscript layout.

Punctuation in dialogue - Dialogue has its own unique punctuation rules. Don't get caught out. Click here for dialogue punctuation guide. 

LINKS

To hear this session again or to begin listening from day one, go to-

https://wycombesound.org.uk/writers-clinic/ 

Wycombe Sound Short Story Week - Short stories created by students from the Wycombe Sound Writing Workshop.

CONTACTS:

Wycombe Sound website 

Wycombe Sound -call the studio - 01494 449900

SESSION TWO - 29th April 2020 - Wycombe Sound Writers' Clinic

Topics – You’ve made a start and now you’re stuck – how to beat writers’ block – employ a good subplot.

 REFERENCED ITEMS:

None today but if you want to read novels which make good use of subplots try The Liar’s Daughter by Laurie Graham (I found this author had a very engaging style as well). I also enjoyed Karolina’s Twins by Ronald H Balson. These are both good reads so it may be difficult to remember to watch for the use of subplots.

LINKS

To hear this session again or to begin listening from day one, go to-

https://wycombesound.org.uk/writers-clinic/ 

For Wycombe Sound Short Story Week - (Short stories created by students from the Wycombe Sound Writing Workshop.)

https://wycombesound.org.uk/shortstoryweek/

CONTACTS:

Wycombe Sound website - https://wycombesound.org.uk/

Wycombe Sound -call the studio - 01494 449900

What's on for the Rest of the Week?

We're starting with two days aimed at helping writers who have a project and maybe struggling to make a good start or, having started, got stuck.

Monday- Don't feel pressured to be a 'proper' writer - This is what to do...

Tuesday- Okay, you've made a start, what if your luck doesn't hold and you run out of steam?

Wednesday- Back to basics, how to laugh in the face of grammar and where do ideas come from?
Thursday- After yesterday, you've got an idea you want to write - how do you turn it into a story?

Friday- Some ideas about structuring your story and making a good opening.

Next week starts with two days looking at short story writing. Then it gets really interesting - I will reveal some tricks of the trade: simple things that experienced writers take for granted and you need to know.

Catch up all episodes.

Catch up with all episodes of the Writers Clinic

Wycombe Sound has set up a special web page where you will be able to listen to past episodes of the Writers' Clinic. Listen again and make notes or listen for the first time.

Go to  - https://wycombesound.org.uk/writers-clinic/  And bookmark this page.

ONE - 27 April 2020 - Wycombe Sound Writing Clinic

SESSION ONE - 27 April 2020 - Wycombe Sound Writers' Clinic

Topics - How Long is a Short Story and Getting Started.

REFERENCED ITEMS:

Ian McEwan - The Cockroach (novel)

Ian McEwan - The Children Act (novel)

CONTACTS:

Wycombe Sound website - https://wycombesound.org.uk/

Wycombe Sound -call the studio - 01494 449900

Wycombe Sound Short Story Week - https://wycombesound.org.uk/shortstoryweek/ (Short stories created by students from the Wycombe Sound Writing Workshop.)

To hear this session again go to https://listenagain.wycombesound.org.uk/ and select 'Mid Morning'. (Wait two days please.)