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This month we have details of an exciting new competition, expert research and resourcing tips from Lorraine Mace, Ten Tops Tips shows you how to prepare for and write travel articles, Student Success provides you with your monthly dose of motivation and the Useful Websites, End Note and Inspiration hopefully live up to their names
Hello Dear Readers,
Well, it’s been a total sport-fest the past few weeks, with the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Tour De France dominating the television and news headlines. I’m not really one for watching football but, I have to say, I have really enjoyed myself and, yes, I can even spot an off-side position. It’s a miracle! What I’m really getting at here is you should try new things, experience something you may think you don’t like doing and you could be pleasantly surprised by what happens. So, if you think you really don’t like to write about travel for example – give it a go you could just find your niche.
To get you started you might want to have a look at Ten Top Tips and Useful Websites which are both about, yes you’ve guessed it, writing travel articles. It’ll also stand you in good stead for this month’s 21st Birthday Competition which is to write the opening two sentences of a travel article. The prize is a copy of our Article Writing course. We’ve got expert resources from tutor Lorraine Mace, who’s advising on where to find information on the web. And, the student success story this month is one of the best I’ve seen so far for the sheer speed of publication. It truly is awe-inspiring!
If you fancy meeting two of our tutors, Simon Whaley and Alison Chisholm, you can catch them at this year’s Caerleon Summer Writers’ Holiday. This annual event is packed full of things to keep you occupied, with courses on all kinds of writing including poetry, crime fiction, romantic fiction and writing non-fiction books as well as painting and drawing workshops to give your writing hand a rest, free excursions and a concert by the Cwmbach Male Voice Choir on the final evening. It’s held 25th to 30th July and is £399 per person. This includes all meals and accommodation during the holiday.
If you can get out and about this month you should get yourself over to the Byron Bay Writers Festival. This is another of those festivals that I think I should attend personally – furious hinting to the powers that be – to give some feedback! It takes place from 6th to 8th August and features a whole host of activities for you to participate in – from how to market your book and writing ‘bodice ripping’ erotic scenes to honing your craft as an interviewer. A three day pass is $210 and workshops have to be purchased separately.
Now this next workshop is a first for me because it’s in Ghana! It’s the International Writers Workshop and it runs from July 25th to August 6th in Accra. It is the first gathering of its kind in Ghana so please go along and lend your support. There are fiction and non-fiction seminars and poetry tuition too. It’s based on groups of 10-20 people attending and the cost is $3395 US. They are still encouraging people to email them to fill up the remaining places. So get a move on if you want to go!
There’s an interesting five-day festival of culture and creativity planned at The Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre in Armagh, NI. It will feature a plethora of events and in their words, “the John Hewitt International Summer School will offer yet another attractive and stimulating programme of events – readings, talks, workshops, discussions, exhibitions and outstanding evening entertainment – something for everyone!” Fees are from £6-£160 depending on what you want to attend.
I’d like to say a big thank you to those of you who entered our Poetry and Short Story Writing Competition. We’ve hundreds of entries to read through and I’m sure we’ll find some real gems in amongst them. The winners will be announced in September.
And talking of competitions, I’m very excited to announce a very special competition run by Phaebus Media Group. They are in the process of producing a mini drama aimed at introducing new learners, aged between 16-30, to the English language and have asked The Writers Bureau to run a competition to come up with story outlines. The drama will consist of 12 episodes, each lasting five minutes. Your job is to come up with the story and character outlines and the location or setting for the drama. If possible, the winning idea will be put into production, you’ll be credited on the final product and you’ll be invited along to see the filming of some of the episodes. You can see all the competition details here. It’s a great way to break into TV so don’t be shy – give it a try!
So, to finish off this month have a look at this. It just shows you are never too old to start your writing career – nicely done Mrs Stanford Smith!
Shelley x
P.S Don’t forget this month’s 21st Birthday Celebration Competition is to win a copy of our Article Writing course.
