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SCBWI/ACWIS DEVELOPMENT DAY, FALKIRK, SCOTLAND
We had a great day at Falkirk Town Hall on Saturday May 29th 2004, improving our skills and networking over a good lunch. This was a special Development Day to mark the evolution of The Association of Children’s Writers and Illustrators Scotland (ACWIS) into the Scottish chapter of SCBWI.
ACWIS was formed in 1998 with as a result of an initiative by the Scottish Arts Council to encourage both new and established children’s writers and illustrators based in Scotland. Our members are kept in touch by newsletter and E mail and we have an active committee which is currently chaired by Vivian French. We hope our present members will all be encouraged to join SCBWI and enjoy being part of a worldwide fellowship of like-minded people.
Our day started with Viv French inviting members to stand on a large map of Scotland (elegantly drawn out in masking tape by Dave Sutton) so that members could identify each other and form regional ‘pods’. After much laughter and a photocall, we disappeared in three directions to our choice of workshop.
Cathy MacPhail
(Many prize-winning author of ‘Run, Zan, Run’, ‘Bad Company’, ‘Fighting
Back’,
and many more with her latest, ‘Underworld’ published June 2004)
Cathy’s books are character-led, her ideas spring from the lives she observes around her in her hometown of Greenock. She was very generous in giving us an insight into her approach with some useful tips on how to get the creative juices going.
- Read the books you like, analyse them and think about why you like them
- Put the children in the books in control of the plot; give them a problem to solve.
- Remember the events that made you FEEL e.g. angry, happy etc as a catalyst
- Write. Once you have something on paper you can change it for the better.
- An idea is only an idea until you get convincing, individual characters who will drive your story forward in different ways.
- Don’t be issue-led; write a rattling good story first and foremost that they will want to pick up and read.
- Teen books need action; information should be revealed through action rather than told.
- ‘There’s no such thing as writers block!’ Invent one sentence and build a whole idea around it. Cathy turned this idea into an exercise; what a shock to discover there were characters and plots lurking inside us all the time!
Sue Heap
To come…..
Anna Claybourne
To come……
Once delegates had let the exhausted speakers go, a buffet lunch was available with plenty of time to meet new people and look at the selection of members’ books on sale from Blast Off Books in Linlithgow near Edinburgh. This vibrant independent children’s bookshop runs bookfairs and dedicated drama workshops for children and their teachers and parents (www.blastoffbooks.co.uk)
Panel Discussion
Sue Heap, Cathy MacPhail, Anna Claybourne and Kathryn Ross (Fraser Ross Associates,
literary agents) Chaired by Vivian French
Brilliantly useful and insightful!