Clubbing for Writers: Competitions, Conferences and Connections

Photo by Simon Hattinga Verschure on Unsplash 

Listening, Linking and Learning

Writing can be a lonely job.There are times when it can feel as if your only friends are your imaginary ones.

Most of us work alone. There are no colleagues to chat to over coffee or to share lunch breaks with. There’s nobody on hand to help if you hit a problem, to discuss ideas with, or just to offer encouragement when your motivation levels are low.

Or so it can seem.

But it needn’t be this way. Writers do have colleagues – even if they don’t share a physical office space.

And one of the easiest ways to find them is to join a writing club.

Writing Clubs  

I recently attended the 70th anniversary party of the Edinburgh Writers Club. It was a very pleasant evening. There was cake, cut by Ian Rankin (I know! I came over all fangirl and couldn’t string a coherent sentence together when he said hallo), there were glasses of bubbly, but best of all there was the company of other writers.

I joined the Edinburgh Writers Club (EWC) back in 2000 when I lived in the city. It was at the time when I was just beginning to take my writing seriously and being a member of this most welcoming club helped me to get started. Indeed, I got so much out of my membership that even after I moved to the Isle of Skye in 2004, I kept up my membership and attended meetings whenever I could.

I’m still a member today – even after my recent move to the Scottish Borders. And, yes, I’ve joined a local writing group too. So I’m a new member of the Borders Writing Forum (BWF) – another club where I’ve been made very welcome and with lots of new writing opportunities to explore.

The members at both the EWC and the BWF, range from those taking their first tentative steps to those who are successful, published authors, and everything in-between. The meetings include writing activities and guest speakers. The atmosphere is positive and encouraging and I always feel I learn something useful which could help improve my writing.

Competitions

Like many clubs, EWC offers a series of annual competitions. These cover all the genres including poetry, short stories, drama, non-fiction and novels and entering them give writers invaluable opportunities to learn more about the craft and to extend their skills. They provide deadlines – always good for the procrastinating writer. They tempt participants to step out of their comfort zones and try writing genres other than their usual ones. And most valuable of all they give the writers taking part the chance to get constructive feedback from the adjudicators.

Of course there are hundreds of other competitions for writers where no membership of a club is required. They’re available online, in magazines and through large literary organisations. But the advantage of club based competitions is that (other than a modest annual membership fee) they are free to enter and the pool of competitors is relatively small. And very few of these wider competitions offer any useful feedback.

Conferences

Competitions with similar benefits to the club ones stated above are also open to those eligible to attend the annual weekend conference of the Scottish Association of Writers (SAW) held every March. Being a member of an affiliated writing club such as EWC or BWF entitles you to go to the conference. I’ve gone to several of these conferences now and I love them.

Winners (and other placed entrants) of the SAW competitions are announced during the weekend conference, usually by the adjudicator of the particular competition, and in front of all the delegates. This provides a good buzz of anticipation and a healthy rivalry between clubs. Besides the competition announcements, there is lots of other stuff going on. There is always an excellent keynote speaker. There are workshops run by established authors and by agents and publishers on a wide variety of writing related topics. There are opportunities to pitch your work to publishing professionals and there’s even a book shop where you can both sell your own books and buy those written by fellow delegates. And then there are all the networking opportunities over drinks in the bar or at mealtimes.

Connections

But by far the biggest advantage to being a club member, and going to conferences such as the SAW one, is the chance to connect with colleagues. It is wonderful to be with people who not only understand the frustrations of the writing process –  the perils of procrastination, and the periodic absences of inspiration, but who also understand the rewards –  the satisfaction of completing a piece of work, the joy of having your work appreciated by a reader, and the obsessive compulsion to write. Peer group support in any endeavour is useful, but for the solitary writer I reckon it’s priceless.

And although I’m also part of an amazing network of supportive and helpful fellow authors in the virtual, online world, I don’t think you can beat the real world connection with kindred spirits.

Over to you

I’d be interested to hear other writers’ thoughts on the usefulness, or otherwise, of clubs and conferences and the like. Do you value being part of a writing community? Do you connect with other writers, if so how? Please do leave comments below.

Competition and Conference Success and Other Writing News

SAW Conf 2017

There’s been a lot going on in my writing life recently so I reckoned a bit of an authorly round-up was due.

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m a member of the Edinburgh Writers’ Club and as such I’m eligible to enter their annual competitions. In that previous post I reported that I came second in the General Article competition. The adjudicator of that competition was Anne Hamilton who edits the online magazine Lothian Life, and the stipulation for entries to the competition was that they should be of interest to readers of the magazine. And I’m delighted to say that my article – all about my personal reflections on some of Edinburgh’s many parks – was recently published in the magazine and you can read it here http://www.lothianlife.co.uk/2017/03/park-life/

Then last weekend I attended the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Writers (SAW). I always enjoy this event and this most recent one was no exception. It’s great to meet with other writers and authors at various stages in their writing careers and to have the chance to share experiences with them. It’s also great to have a chance to network with agents and other publishing professionals.

The keynote speaker on the Saturday night was comedian and actress Helen Lederer and she gave an entertaining, funny and engaging speech after Saturday night’s gala dinner. There was an excellent selection of writing workshops on offer throughout the weekend. I particularly enjoyed one on self-editing given by author Michael J Malone and another one on writing for older children and young adults led by author Keith Gray.

I also enjoyed further success with my entries to the SAW conference competitions. Competition entries are submitted and adjudicated prior to the event, and the announcements of the results are made at the conference. I came third in the General Short Story competition judged by author Regi Claire, and I came second in the Women’s Short Story competition judged by author Kirstin Zhang. The feedback I received from both judges was helpful and constructive and certainly boosted my confidence in my writing.

And apart from competition entries, what else have I been doing at the writing desk? The answer is not as much as I would like. The reason being the desk, along with all my other worldly goods is in storage. We’re in the process of moving house and are temporarily lodging with family. Before the move I was tantalisingly close to finishing my next novel, but there’s been little time or space to write recently. However, the end is in sight – both for the book and for this transition phase. We get the keys for our new house at the end of April and after getting moved in, I’ll be able to reinstate my full writing schedule. In the meantime though, I‘ll be finding some time and space to fire up the laptop and press on with getting Settlement finished, redrafted, and ready for my editor.

Onwards and upwards!

Writing News: January 2017

Some writing success:

I’m a member of the Edinburgh Writers’ Club and yes, living in the Scottish Highlands, I certainly take the definition of a ‘country’ membership to its limits. I originally joined the club about seventeen years ago when I lived in the city, and when I relocated up north I wanted to keep my connection to this lovely group of writers. I don’t get to meetings, but I do catch up with fellow members at the annual conference of the Scottish Association of Writers and by maintaining my membership I get to enter the club’s annual competitions.

This year I was challenged by a fellow member to enter in categories outside my writing comfort zone. So as well as the short story competition (still to be adjudicated) which I always have a go at, I decided to give the poetry and the article competitions a go.

And amazingly I had some success! I got third place and a commended for my two poetry entries and I came second in the article competition.

It was good to take on the challenge of writing in different formats from my more usual genre of novel writing, and although i found the poetry writing especially difficult, I’m pleased I did.

The article competition was judged by Anne Hamilton the editor of online magazine Lothian Life and entrants had to write an article that would be suitable for the magazine’s readership. I wrote about my six favourite Edinburgh parks – what they have to offer and why they mean so much to me. Since the article will soon be published in the magazine, I won’t publish it here on the blog just yet.

But I’m happy to share the poems with you. Both were inspired by the landscape and nature of the Scottish Highlands.

 

Sea Eagle

Cliff-soaring, loch-skimming,

Thermal-riding, high-gliding,

Mighty-winging, eye-spying,

Fell-swooping, fish-scooping,

Jaw-dropping, show-stopping,

White-tailed eagle.

 

The Long View

Breath-stealing, steep climb,

Slippery scree and wild wind

Threaten the balance.

High plateau, broad view

Ancient granite mountains

Set a scene of possibilities.

Perspective changing,

Universe overarching, and

Myself, regrounding.

(Both poems are Copyright © of Anne Stormont and cannot be reproduced or shared without permission and attribution)

images are from shutterstock.com