Questions and Answers.

This was an open forum Q&A session.

The first question was “Who wishes to volunteer for the ‘shortly to become vacant’ positions of President and Vice President of the Scottish Association of Writers SAW.

In spite of Jacklin explaining the roles and work involved, no one appeared to take up the challenge.

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How far can you go in precisely describing a place? e.g. a town, village or community. 

The restrictions are much less than describing people. A town is unlikely to sue you for deformation especially if your observations are accurate. A change of name is an obvious option.

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What type of literature is ‘trending’ and what are the current available outlets?

A consensus appeared to agree that children’s and young adult’s fiction has a healthy market as do audible books.

Many of the usual outlets are still available, but may keep varying their acceptance rules.

The key is to work the internet and be persistent in submitting material widely. Do not wait months for an acceptance or rejection before submitting elsewhere.

This led to a suggestion for next season’s syllabus of having a professional talk to us on the subject of “Buying Trends”.

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The possibility of using the Erskine Writer’s blog as an easy outlet for member’s work was discussed.

It was agreed to do a trial run by creating a separate ‘Page’ for member’s short stories or poems. Myra volunteered to submit the first piece. A blog will announce when this is due to start.

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Hilary noted a couple more suggestions for the next syllabus and encouraged further ideas.

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Kathleen read the start of a piece from her memoirs describing the place she was born in the twenties and the preparation and hard work needed for the now comparatively easy household chore of “wash day”.

Elizabeth read out her 1200 word entry to the December 2017 Feature Competition. The subject was the history of the Glasgow Western Infirmary. Elizabeth also bravely entertained us with the adjudicator’s constructive comments.

It’s ‘nice’ to get feedback.

It can be discouraging to write a piece and get no feedback. Even if you submit a written item and have it accepted for publication, but receive no comments from either the editor or readers, it is less than ideal.

I recently sent off five hundred words of flash fiction for a proposed Anthology for the Age Concern Charity. https://hachejones.wixsite.com/through-the-ages  My subject was Dementia. I received the following kind reply from the lady editor.

“This is lovely - thank you. It strikes a very personal chord with me - not because of the dementia but because of a different disability, one that affects my everyday life so drastically.

I would like to ask - though you needn't answer if you would prefer not - is this purely fiction or is it a real-life situation for you? I ask only because I am accepting both fiction and non-fiction this time and your piece would fit easily into either of those two categories. If you would prefer not to say, I will leave it in fiction but if you have any strong feelings either way please do let me know. Either way - it is definitely included.

Thanks again and very best wishes”

                              ...………..

“Oh how poignant. Many thanks for that - fiction it is then.”

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It is discouraging to labour over a piece of poetry or prose, show it to a friend or relation and get the reaction “Nice”.

“Nice” is the worst. I’d rather they tell me “Dull and boring”, “I liked the title, loved the font, pity about the story.” or  “The best part was the end.” or maybe “I didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t my thing.”

Anything but ‘nice’.

I’m still waiting for a Morecambe and Wise style of critique for one of my literary masterpieces:- “You used all the right words, but not necessarily in the right order”.

Nellie and Ellie and a Big Green Welly

Kate Gordon's poem, "Nellie and Ellie and a Big Green Welly" is about the terrible twins and a welly throwing contest.

It was a runner up in 'Writing Magazine's competition of a Poem for Children.

Flash Fiction / A man’s a man for ‘a that. 23 Jan 2018

Two subjects in one session this week - catching up from last week’s cancellation. Eight hardy souls (and sixteen wet soles) turned out in this week’s miserable weather.

There was further admin discussion relating to the forthcoming SAW conference.

Katherine was asked about any plans afoot to create an anthology of her memories of a childhood on the Isle of Sheppey.

Pete mentioned a proposed anthology of stories for the Age Concern Charity.  https://hachejones.wixsite.com/through-the-ages

          Flash Fiction.

The idea of the Flash Fiction exercise was to create a 50 word piece and also a 150 word piece, both on the subject of  Festive Fun, but with probably different story lines. The purpose was to have practice in telling stories in a concise fashion.

It was perhaps fortunate that no one was challenged about the precise number of words used.

As usual there was a whole range of approaches and yet all concentrating on the theme of Christmas and the New Year.

A debate ensued on the continued existence of some and the demise of other, seasonal customs.

School Pantomimes and Oranges in the Christmas stocking. Boats on the Clyde sounding their horns at New Year. The Reverend Jolly and “Skittery Winters.”

The latter needed to be interpreted for several of us. “Skittery Winters” were the last people out of bed or into work on Hogmanay and derided accordingly. Selecting the last person into work in a modern multi storey office complex with many people working flex-time and some working from home, would be an administrative nightmare.

       A man’s a man for a’ that.

Some interpreted this Robert Burns poem, as a man winning through despite the poverty whilst others portrayed a man caving in to the pressure.

Kate gave us “A woman’s a lass for a’ that” presented in the form of poetry in Scots dialect.

We had a small amount of time left for some Open Manuscripts.

Festive Fun - Flash Fiction

The January 16th meeting was cancelled due to a 
combination of sickness and winter weather.

Boxing Day and four inches of new snow.

But the sun is out; time is short.

Seventy cars slither up to the park, so that a hundred sledges 
can slide, spin and tumble down the hill.

Parents and kids, babies and dogs shriek with joy.    

 Now, that is Festive Fun!

Wallpaper - Diana Devlin

So the festive period is over and it’s back to normal, which for me at least means back to contemplating the black hole that is the place my poems seem to go when I send them off to prospective publishers. It seems that, no matter how carefully you research your market, the rejection rate can be alarmingly high. So much so that I sometimes feel as if I’m sending out not poems but scraps of old wallpaper, in the hope that the recipient will have a damp patch on their wall the exact same size and shape as my scrap, in the exact same pattern.

But here’s the thing: the black hole is changing. In the last three weeks, four different magazines and journals have said ‘yes’ to eight of my poems. Two of them, the Foxglove Journal and Spilling Cocoa over Martin Amis, are UK based; the others are American and Mauritian. I was of course delighted with this result.

Now I must confess, I do have a tendency to embellish or exaggerate stories. It’s not as if I could wallpaper my study with rejection slips. In fact, I’ve hardly submitted any work! My rejection rate is actually pretty low (so far). So why go on about rejection? Well because you can so easily bring it upon yourself. Maybe the poems that were accepted were just what these publishers were looking for when I sent them but I also read their submission guidelines extremely carefully and followed them to the letter, which can only have helped my case. I also made a point of finding out each editor’s name and addressing my submission directly to him or her, never just to Dear Editor.

So where to now? I recently subscribed to Duotrope (www.duotrope.com) , which helps me find potential markets as well as track my submissions. As most publishers refuse simultaneous submissions, it is essential to keep track of what you’ve sent where, and when. The site allows me to update progress so when work is rejected, I know it is available to resubmit elsewhere. For $5 a month, it seems to be good value so far. Perhaps it will help me see just a little more clearly into that black hole…

What's in the box. 9 Jan 2018.

Thirteen members attended the first session of the group in 2018.

Hilary reminded us about the fast approaching deadline of 20^th January for submission for the 2018 Scottish Association of Writers Conference.

There was more discussion about writing outlets. Websites www.txtlit.co.uk , www.duotrope.com/writers, womag and bringbackfictiontowomansmagazines were mentioned.

“Womag” no longer appears to exist on the internet and “Bring Back Fiction in Women's Magazines” seems to be a group on Facebook. 

Senga’s entry to the Geoffrey Archer 100 word story competition did not win. Instead, Senga read us the winning entry and two of the runners- up.

This week’s theme was “What's in of the box”, which was an exercise in descriptive writing. Hilary provided a lucky dip bag of small objects. Each of us had to pick one and then describe it without naming or showing it. The remainder of the group had to guess the name of item.

Some of the objects were more obscure than others. They included an allen key, shoe horn, metal spirit measure, pill box, radiator valve key, hip flask and, most difficult of all, an obscure mechanical closer for pull top can lids. 

By then, there was only sufficient time for two items to be read out. These were Hilary and Pete’s entries from the December 2017 Feature Article competition. They covered Waste and Statistics respectively.

Looking Back, Looking Forward. - Myra Duffy

2017 was a busy year, not least because two of my novels reached publication. Or to be more accurate Love is Another Country, which had been an ebook for several months, became available as a paperback. This story was a departure from my Isle of Bute Mystery series as it’s in the Romantic suspense genre and set near Dumbarton in Scotland. The heroine is a Scottish girl in danger of losing her beloved home and livery stables and the hero is an enigmatic Russian. Initial reaction has been very good, which a relief when you tackle a new genre.

I couldn’t neglect Bute, and the novella Decision Day at Kilmachal came out as a ‘stocking filler’ in time for Christmas. The main character in all the Bute books is Alison Cameron and this time she travels to Bute for a wedding, but nothing works out as planned. What’s more, she has personal problems looming, problems which may be resolved in the next book in the series, due to be available in the autumn of 2018. This cover is a particular favourite of mine, designed by the excellent Mandy Sinclair from a photo I took of the Etterick Smiddy on the way to Ettrick Bay. When I went to Bute to sign copies at the Print Point bookshop, there was snow lying everywhere – something which is rare on the island.

And so on to 2018. There are a number of projects in the pipeline, including a radio play based on the first Isle of Bute novel The House at Ettrick Bay. I’ll be working with the Bute Theatre Company to bring that one to fruition. Then there’s the new novel to be written in time for the third Bute Noir Crime festival…

I’m very lucky to be a member of such a supportive group as Erskine Writers – membership has been invaluable and I’m looking forward to an excellent programme this coming session.

www.myraduffywriter.com