This weekend from Kildare County Council Arts Service, comes FILM LAB.It's a fun, exciting, (and Free!) informative weekend
featuring panel discussions, 'how to' and audience Q&A's, illustrated and
supported with screenings
FRIDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER : 19.00 -22.00 Masterclass with Mary Kate O'Flanagan | Creating and Sustaining Dramatic
Tension
Mary Kate O Flanagan is a screenwriter and script consultant. She works with
writers and producers both nationally and internationally, helping to shape and
polish stories by both emerging and established screenwriters
SATURDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER : SCHEDULE
10.30 - 16.30
A day of panel discussions debate and participation facilitated by David
Keating
To explore different approaches to film making with focus on the roles of
screenwriter, director, producer. Panel: Writer/director Shimmy Marcus,
Screenwriter, Director & Actor Mary Duffin, Director Ged Murray, Producer
Ian Hunt Duffy
FILM LAB is a FREE event/All are welcome/Booking required through
Riverbank box office 045448327 or at http://riverbank.ie/workshops/film-lab
(standard online fee of €1 applies)
**Participants attending on either day will be in with the chance to win abursaryto attend a Final Cut Pro training programme in the PLATFORM 4 Audio
and Digital Media Studio!
Philip O'Ceallaighwill select the best ten
stories for publication in the 2013
Fish Anthology. He is the author of Notes
From a Turkish Whorehouse, and The
Pleasant Light of Day. Closing Date: 30 November 2012.
Word limit is 5,000. There is no restriction on theme or style, and the prize is
open to writers from all countries who are writing in English.
Entry fee is (a hefty!) €20 for online entry. Once you register and enter online, you can login
and check your entry(ies) at any time.
Results will be announced on 17
March on the Fish website, and sent out in the newsletter.
As you can see (big badge on the right!) Words A Day has been shortlisted for Blog Awards Ireland! I've been blogging for nearly three years now, so far thats 36,954 views, 320 posts and 193 followers.
Blogging has changed quiet a bit over that time, I gush blog less than I did in the beginning and comment less as well, with Facebook taking over in that respect, and writing time being too valuable (sorry!) to post as obsessively frequently.
But seriously, one of the best aspects of blogging is linking up with writers from all over the world and keeping up to date with their writing journeys without even leaving the house, so many thanks to everyone who follows this blog, to those that I've met through this blog, and to those who nominated it:)
This is an international poetry prize that doesn't hang around, the deadline is Monday 15th October and winners will be notified by Monday 19th November! It's judged by Jane Draycott & Bernard o’Donoghue. They are looking for poems of under 45 lines, and its a 6 euro/£5 or $8 entry per poem. Mighty fine prizes too...Prizes: 1st £2,500, 2nd £500, 3rd £250. For more click Coffee-House Poetry
I'm delighted to welcome Irish writer Louise Phillips to the blog today to chat about her recently published novel Red Ribbons.
Red Ribbons is a real page turner - any tips for writers on creating and maintaining tension in their
novel?
Straight up, I’m not completely sure how you create pacing
and tension, other than go with your gut, and try your best to feel the flow of
the novel. If lots of things need to happen at the one time, and the stacks are
high at particular key points, well, the same way as you inhabit the characters
you create, get into the tension, feel the pressure, or indeed the ease,within
the narrative, if that makes any sense. In RED RIBBONS, one fast chapter was
quite often following by a much slower paced chapter as the narrative voice
alternated. This sometimes required either ending a particular text on
something reflective after a lot of action, or a heightened tense text, if the
requirement was reversed. But getting back to my first point, I think if you
really get into it, realising when elements are strained, when certain components
dictate slow or fast movement, your instinct as a writer won’t lead you astray.
The Discerning Dolls Book Club are riveted.
Did you know the
ending when you began the book?
I had absolutely no idea of the ending until about 40%
through the script. I think this was a very good thing for me, because part of
the excitement, was wanting to find out what happens next. And even when I
decided on the ending, yes, you guessed it, I changed my mind again!!
On a practical level
Louise, how many hours a day did you spend writing the novel at the different
stages ie first draft, and then later final drafts?
Time spent on first draft, was about 6 hours per day,
grabbed in early mornings, midday between work, and late evenings for 14 weeks
- nonstop. Doing the maths, 14 weeks x7 days x6 hours = 588 hoursJ. I had a deadline
mentally, so when I got nearer to it,
the writing day was even longer, so you could definitely add another 100
hours in no problem. The editing or rewriting, took another 3-4 months at a
similar intensity, and then the final copy editing stage, was about another
month. Probably 9 months of long days, especially if you have to juggle other
commitments.
Is sustaining that level of
work difficult?
Sustaining the work was difficult, it always is, but for me,
I was helped by my decision not to get distracted by dragging the writing out
for too long at first draft stage, by setting high word targets per day, and
avoiding the self- doubting voice
creeping in by concentrating on getting
the job done.
Any tips for other writers struggling to finish their novel
finished?
Tips for finishing a novel – firstly, sit down and write it (stop talking about writing it), secondly,
don’t expect it to be perfect first time, and finally, aim for a beginning,
middle, and end – sounds simple, but it takes hard work and commitment. But if
you achieve it, you’ve achieved more than most, and that ain’t bad!
What was the most difficult stage of the process for you, what was
the most enjoyable?
The most difficult stage of the writing process was getting
to the point where someone decided they wanted to publish the manuscript. The
most enjoyable, was getting to the point where someone decided they wanted to
publish the manuscript. I’m not trying to be funny about it. All stages have
their own share of difficulty, but also of great enjoyment too. Each presents
their own challenges. The hardest thing really, is making key decisions, decisions
that if you were to share with others, they might disagree with, and as the
writer, you’re never completely sure you are making the right decision – a bit
like life I guess, sometimes you have to take a chance.
Are you a disciplined
writer? - do you create rules for yourself? What are they?
I am disciplined. I don’t profess this as the right or the only
way to write, but having a routine and being prepared to work hard didn’t do me
any harm.
The rules I apply are usually based around word count. In
one way this applies a lot of pressure, but in another way, it tells you, as
the writer, that you’re free to get words down on the page. You have nothing
without a beginning – and the beginning doesn’t have to be perfect, it simply
has to be done. When it exists, perhaps if you’re lucky, you can create a
little magic.
You certainly did that! How do your family
feel about your writing success?
My family is my life. Without them, none of this would count
nearly as much. I keep wanting to use the word ‘amazing’, because it seems like
the only word that really fits. They are really proud of me, as I am of them,
and one very special moment, was signing RED RIBBONS for our first grandchild,
Catriona.
Louise signing Red Ribbons for her first grandchild Catriona
Okay, here's a horrible question for you! Define the 'perfect'
novel, what are its ingredients - does any contemporary or classic novel come
close?
The perfect novel is any novel which creates the real in the
fictional over a sustained period. I write, I read, I love books, and anyone
who loves books, knows what a perfect novel is – it’s a story which takes you into
that imaginary world and holds you there emotionally, so you to feel part of it
, and maintains your interest right until the end.
Lots of novels come very close, and I have my favourite book
shelf like many others, but Wuthering Heights, a novel I fell in love with as a
teenager, is fairly high up there on the list.
Wuthering Heights, great choice, I agree with you on that! Thanks so much Louise for popping over to Words A Day on this leg of your international blog tour, and best of luck with you next book The Dolls House, which I can't wait to read.
ABOUT RED RIBBONS
THE SERIAL KILLER
A missing schoolgirl is found buried in the Dublin Mountains, hands
clasped together in prayer, two red ribbons in her hair. Twenty-four
hours later, a second schoolgirl is found in a shallow grave – her body
identically arranged. The hurt for the killer is on.
THE CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGIST
The police call in criminal psychologist, Kate Pearson, to get
inside the mind of the murderer before he strikes again. But the more
Kate discovers about the killings, the more it all feels terrifyingly
familiar.
THE ACCUSED WOMAN
As the pressure to find the killer intensifies there's one vital
connection to be made – Ellie Brady, a woman institutionalised fifteen
years earlier for the murder of her daughter Amy. She stopped talking
when everybody stopped listening.
But what connects the death of Amy Brady to the murdered
schoolgirls? As Kate Pearson, begins to unravel the truth, danger is
closer than she knows...
The bad man is everywhere. Can you see him?
***
Louise Phillipsreturned to writing after a 20 year gap spent raising
her family, managing a successful family business, and working in
banking. Quickly selected by Dermot Bolger as an emerging talent,
Louise went on to win the 2009 Jonathan Swift Award and in 2011 she was
a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice Platform, as well as
being short-listed for Bridport UK Prize, the Molly Keane Memorial
Award, and the RTÉ Guide/Penguin Short Story Competition. In 2012
Louise was awarded an Arts bursary for literature from South County
Dublin Arts. Other publishing credits include many literary journals
and anthologies, including New Island’s County Lines. Louise's
psychological crime novel, Red Ribbons, is published by Hachette Books Ireland, and her second novel, The Doll's House, will be published in 2013.
Good Monday to you! Isn't life amazingly beautiful now the children are back at school? More time to write, yahoo! I'm re-reading Sylvia Plath's journals so here's an inspiring quote from her.
“Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip and make a fool of yourself. Try always, as long as you have breath in your body, to take the hard way–and work, work, work to build yourself into a rich, continually evolving entity.”
I like the hurling, not so much the lacerations, but am with her in spirit this September as I'm editing, editing, editing. And at last have a desk to write at! It's nothing like the photo above, not yet. No, think wooden, think tiny:)
I'll be interviewing Louise Phillips on the 9th, until then you can follow her blog tour for her debut novel Red Ribbons Here I've just finished it, its an amazing page turner, with real psychological insight, lyrical writing, wicked pacing and heart.
