On Thursday 10th March, I took part in my first in-person literary festival. I was at the inaugural Farnham Literary Festival, running an introduction to crime writing workshop at St. Mark’s Church in Hale. A big thank you to Stella Wiseman for inviting me to take part.
It was so lovely to meet with a group of writers as we looked at the basic ingredients needed for a crime novel – plot, characters, setting and authenticity. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that but there’s a limit to how much you can teach in two hours!
There were three writing exercises related to plot, character and setting. I was very impressed with the plots that people came up with using the starting line, ‘So, what have we got here, Barton?’ The storylines included police officers, a dog walker, a school child, canal barges, cable ties, a car crash and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head!
Of course, I don’t know everything there is to know about writing crime fiction, so I included top tips from other authors such as C.L. Taylor, Clare Chase, Graham Bartlett and Margaret Kirk, among others. I also read out the prologue from The Lingering by S.J.I. Holliday as an example of creating atmosphere in a setting. There isn’t much visual description in the passage, focusing instead on sounds and smells to create a truly evocative opening.
My next event will be online on Monday 4th April at 7.30pm BST for First Monday Crime on their Facebook page. I’ll be on with Imran Mahmood, Tony Kent, Graham Bartlett and Neil Lancaster as we talk about cops and the law as portrayed in crime fiction novels.
But I also hope that I can get out and about soon to meet up with more readers and budding writers!
joykluver 