Writing Retreat with Beverly Birch

I signed up for what sounds like an amazing event for May of this year, organized by SCBWI: A Writing Retreat with Beverly Birch. It will take place on the beautiful island Frauenwörth on the Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria. Check it out:

We'll be staying at the convent (the large structure in the front) - an honest-to-God Benedictine convent! How. Cool. Is. That?!

Of course, the location alone doesn't a writing retreat make. Leading the event will be Beverly Birch, both author and editor, whose latest novel RIFT was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. The main theme will be "Grab your reader by the throat and don't let go". Included is a one-on-one critique with Beverly on the first ten pages of your novel/work-in-progress.

The topic and chance for a critique are all kinds of perfect because the beginning of the novel I'm currently revising isn't quite working... which was pointed out to me in the workshop I attended in November last year. I've tried fixing it, and it's definitely better than it was. With the help of my alpha readers, it's going to get even better. But will it be enough to entice a reader to read on? I'm excited to be able to find out in May.

Ten writers.
One published author/editor.
In a convent on an island, during the merry month of May.
Talking about nothing but writing for two and a half days.

Heaven!

The Final Polish* - A Writing Workshop - A Writers Weekend

* "Polish" as in "make shine", not the nationality.

The thing to be polished was, of course, a manuscript. Of which I have finished two this year. So what better time to go to a writing workshop on revision? And what better location for it than London, the city of Dickens and Shakespeare? And what better occasion than over a long weekend, to make it a three-day mini-vacay?

Basically, signing up for The-Final-Polish Workshop over the Halloween weekend was a win in all directions. The workshop was initiated by SCBWI and lead by published author Sara Grant and her agent Jenny Savill. Thank you both for this amazing experience. I learned so much and can't wait to apply my new knowledge to my manuscripts.

Of course, said manuscripts are only first drafts. They need not simply a polish but an entire cleaning blitz, including soap lathering, scrubbing, rinsing and wiping-down. Then - maybe - they will be ready for that final polish. But since the workshop covered the whole revision process, from macro- to micro-editing, I feel fit to tackle that next hurdle.

Another great experience was having an agent critique my pitch, query, one-page synopsis and first paragraph. How often do you get the opportunity for feedback on these things when it's not already an all-or-nothing situation? This workshop definitely popped my cherry in that departement, and it was gratifying to see that all the work I'd put into the query and synopsis paid off - Jenny really liked those.

My resulting euphoria lasted until we got to the first paragraph I'd sent her beforehand as part of the homework. I knew her feedback on it wouldn't be as positive as on the other stuff, because I'd been having trouble with the beginning of my novel. Somehow, I could never get it to feel right and truly express what I wanted it to. So I was looking forward to Jenny's professional input.

Yet I was not expecting total and complete evisceration, which is what Jenny's carefully and constructively worded criticism amounted to. Ouch! But thank you, Jenny, for softening the blow so expertly. And thanks even more for your suggestions on improving that first paragraph - namely by cutting it (and the following five) entirely.

I told Jenny about the problems I'd been having with the beginning and she came up with the most obvious answer: I'd chosen the wrong place to start the story. There was really no reason for those first six paragraphs to be there at all. Even now I'm not sure how I could miss something so obvious; I blame it on the whole not-seeing-the-forest-for-all-the-trees phenomenon. Either way, as soon as Jenny suggested cutting the first six paragraphs, a new beginning cristallized in my mind. The idea of it gave me the warm-and-fuzzies, so it was an easy decision to kill those darlings.

Not only the workshop made this a wholly writing-themed weekend. We had fish & chips at The Grapes, a pub owned by Ian McKellen and apparently one of Charles Dickens' favorite haunts. We did a little photo shoot at a bust/statue of Agatha Christie. We saw the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which made me want to reread Roald Dahl's old classic for the Xth time. We found a cool store that sold signed first editions of books in all genres to prices that made me want to cry (the most expensive we found was a first edition Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at 700 pounds), and a store that offered even bestsellers and recently published books for no more than five pounds. On the way back, my suitcase weighed four kilos more than on the way to London, all of it added by books.

It truly was a writer's perfect weekend.

First Draft Down. Numerous Rounds Of Revisions To Go.

So, I finished a novel - a momentous moment in any writer's life, no matter how many times s/he has written 'The End' (at least I suspect and hope this will always be a significant occasion).

Yet it's only a first draft and very flawed. As Earnest Hemingway once said, "the first draft of anything is shit." So it is in this case, but if Mr. Hemingway felt this way, I don't think I need to feel bad about it, either. Instead, I need to figure out what needs fixing and then make it better. 

I've already identified several things that aren't up to par. A lot of the world building is still only a thought in my head or scribbles in my notebook, because I was focused on getting the action, the plot, down on paper. The main characters' developments isn't as fleshed out as I'd like. The main antagonist is never once seen until the third to last chapter (ouch!). Several info dumps in the beginning must be handled differently. A couple of characters serve no real purpose. And, of course, it's a tad too long at a little over 110k words. 

Ergo, revisions are in order.

Which is perfect, because in November I'm attending a writing workshop that deals with exactly this topic: revisions. My plan is to spruce up this first draft, editing the most glaring flaws I mentioned above in a second, third, and maybe even fourth draft, to make it presentable for the workshop. Until then, I also plan to have the first draft of the next book under my belt, or at least most of it, say 80%. If I can match the writing pace of the last six months, that is actually quite possible. Then I'll have two novels to use my minty new revision-knowledge on, with which I will make them awesome. 

Or at least whip them into good enough shape for my beta readers. :-)