Network News Wales: Cardiff Festival
by Zoe Coghlan
The Cardiff Festival of
Children’s
Literature is in its third year, and this year the new SCBWI Wales network was
there.
Social Event
First off was a Saturday social in Cardiff with
special guest, Sibéal Pounder, author of the
Witch Wars series. We spent a relaxed
couple of hours over lunch, talking about writing, publishing, and how to
handle a workshop of sixty small children! Thanks Sibéal for being such a lovely encouragement to us.
Good news, bad news
Next, a talk aimed at new writers with Barry Cunningham from Chicken House and Jon Mayhew, author of the Mortlock and the
Monster Odyssey series. We also heard
from Tony Bradman and Phil Carradice so in fact had four writer’s pearls of wisdom for the price of two - Wales
is full of happy surprises!
Barry led with honesty and as
he termed it ‘the bad news’, which was that publishing is a business and
therefore needs to make money - which is something to keep in mind if you get
rejected i.e. maybe your book wasn’t
right for the market at that time. But
he followed this up with ‘the
good news’ that children’s literature is doing particular well in all
genres at the moment, with many ‘older’ readers choosing to buy
it.
He talked about three things
he likes to see in books - voice, villains and humour. And also advised us to provide answers to the
important questions like ‘When
do we get there?’ and ‘What’s for
tea?’ i.e. domestic details
that are important to children.
Jon told us how he wrote his first novel when laid up for six weeks after breaking his ankle. And also the dangers of running in the snow, and making off-hand comments about his Jack Russells! Pointers from Jon regarding your characters were to give them a characteristic that makes them stand out, show that your MC is kind, and ensure they appeal to you - even the villain! Also, show the cycle of trying and failing (something all writers experience) - all of which help to win over your audience.
Jon told us how he wrote his first novel when laid up for six weeks after breaking his ankle. And also the dangers of running in the snow, and making off-hand comments about his Jack Russells! Pointers from Jon regarding your characters were to give them a characteristic that makes them stand out, show that your MC is kind, and ensure they appeal to you - even the villain! Also, show the cycle of trying and failing (something all writers experience) - all of which help to win over your audience.
He spoke appreciatively of SCBWI,
in particular the Winchester Conference and SCBWI’s role in helping him find an
agent.
Then the floor was open to questions. How do you achieve the right tone in your
work? How do you cope with self
doubt? What do you do after rejection?
How can agents and editors help you, and is self-publishing worth it? There was loads of good advice and we all
came away inspired and encouraged.
Recruitment drive
After the meeting the SCBWI members went on a
recruitment drive, handing out information and chatting to people about our
plans for the Welsh network. With our membership expanding and more meet-ups
and events planned, this is a great time to get involved in SCBWI Wales.
Really interesting post, Zoe. I wish I could have been there, a week later and I would have. Maybe next time...
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