Writers' Summer Schools - what I loved and what I learned

The Hayes Conference Centre. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

10-16 August 2019

What I loved
BADGES
The badges were great, yellow with our names printed on both sides.

The pale turquoise co-ordinated with everything, pink, orange, red, purples, blues and other shades of green as well as brightening up the outfits of anybody in plain white, grey, black or brown.
I attached my bedroom key to the lanyard to be sure I was not locked out.

On Saturday we started with a rendez-vous for writers in the same genre. Poetry, novels, historical.

Paul Dodgson
Our evening speaker Paul Dodgson was relaxing and entertaining, describing the ups and downs of his career, conversational. He had lots of audience interaction, using his guitar to sing to the audience and get us to join in.

Character By Steve Hartley
On Sunday morning we started out two part Specialist coursees. Steve Hartley talked about character psychology. He asked us to think about, and write down, our bad choices, our good choices, people we trusted, people we should not have trusted, people we did not trust.

These all lead to stories of characters with regret, going back to turn their lives around, seeking revenge. Events make our characters.

"Bad choices make good stories."

Characters are influenced by memories of bad incidents from their childhood which make them more cautious, or active. Naive. Suspicious. Judgemental. Angry.

Another useful tip is to make a list of your characters' names, so that you don't have two characters with the same initial, which confuses the reader, and sometimes you the author.

A Taste Of Teaching by Simon Hall
After morning coffee I started my second short course (1 session of 2), a Taste of Teaching, by Simon Hall. He covered breaking the ice, involving the audience in workshops, and ending on a high.

After lunch I started my second short course (1 of 2)
The book room displays your books and takes a commission which goes towards Swanwick funds.

Lift Up Your Pens
I grabbed a croisant and a chocolatine from the dining room which opened for breakfast at eight.
Every morning at eight we were in the Tissington room.Outside the side glass door a pheasant nicknamed Percy was waiting patiently.

Poetry Reading
This event was over-subscribed.

Prose Reading
I was able to read my story about learning to write which is in another blog.

Contest Winners

Plays
Half a dozen five minute plays selected from those which had been sent in earlier in the year and judged by another group outside Swanwick. One was set in a prison cell, another in an old people's home. All had comic moments and a twist.

My favourite moments? Spoiler alert. The nervous bride-to-be with female relatives trying to be encouraging but failing. She was told by her granny that her grandfather had had several affairs - one with a man.

Bettina on Crime
Amusing moments. Bettina pointed a plastic gun at somebody in the front row and pretended to shoot, shouting bang! The older woman in the front row dutifully fell sideways on her chair and played dead.



Which Accommodation
Main House
Lakeside

What could improve? Gaps or mould around the shower tray.

Food
I loved the potatoes.
I loved the chocolate cake. I wish I could have stayed all year.

More Information
The Hayes
Swanwick
Derbyshire

Directions.
Very easy to drive there from London. Drive to the MI, going north. you can join it from the Brent Cross or Watford area. Turn off at Junction 28. Look for signs to Swanwick. When you are in Swanwick, at the traffic lights by the church turn left. go slowly and just past the school there's a minor side road leading up to the Hayes which is a big house on a hilltop above a field of cows.

One advantage of driving: you can load up copies of your book or books to sell in the book room.
Also have space for books you buy to take home.

If you prefer to take the train you can pay in advance for a seat on the coach from Derby station to the Hayes for arrival and return.

If you have friends travelling to and from Swanwick, try to be on the same train. Your reserved seats won't necessarily be in the same carriage.

Useful Websites
www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk

www.jerichowriters.com
Conference 6-8 September 2019.
Membership 30 pounds a month or 195 a year.

Exhibition Centre, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD Get directions

Prices:

• Full Weekend (Inc Mini-course)  £595
• Full Weekend (Exc Mini-course)  £545
• Sat/Sun  £495
• Sat only  £275
• Sun only  £165

writers holiday
http://www.writersholiday.net
21-23 Feb 2019. 249

arvon
https://www.arvon.org/
several centres. One night you cook with a few of the other writers. Supposed to help you bond.
Other courses take place in other countries.

TWITTER
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https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2018/08/diary-note-writers-summer-school-in.html

NEXT Writers' Summer School
August 8-14 2020.
Priority bookings open 1st January 2020.
Who gets priority bookings? Those Friends of Swanwick who donated money for the scholarships for the new young members needed to replace old timers who died or are too old or ill travel. The school has been going 71 years.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, no relation to the actress, nor the other dozen people with the same name on LinkedIn, is a speaker and author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts; Etiquette For Every Occasion; Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.

How to make camera shy people look good in photos

Problem
Your friend says:
Doesn't matter what I do, I look awful in photos. It akes a genius photographer to make me look halfway human.

The staging makes all the difference. You need to put some effort into it. You must have seen makeover shows. Here are some suggestions:

1 Take several photos when you are all dressed up - weddings, anniversaries, birthdays.

2 Wash your hair in advance of the special occasion. If hair is too fly away, use conditioner. You can buy conditioner, find it in hair dye packets, get it free in many hotel bathrooms.  Buy a shampoo containing conditioner.

3 If your hair is greasy or badly cut, or you have a blad patch, or roots of a tint showing, cover head with a hairband, scarf or hat or tiara or paper hat from a Christmas cracker.

4 Place a plain person in a group photo with everybody in the same costume (like bridesmaids).

5 Dress up as a character at a fancy dress party in a costume with a hat which covers your hair and maybe part of your face.

6 Smile.

7 Add a cute cat or dog or bird or baby or soft toy.

8 Stand or sit at a distance next to an attractive feature such as a log fire in a hotel.

9 Take several photos to avoid ending up with only one in which the subject's eyes are shut.

10 Work out your most attractive feature (feet, legs, body, hands, face, eyes, hair, cleavage). Take photos which emphasize your best feature. 

11 Try different poses, such as back to camera looking over shoulder.

12 Try various outfits.

13 Go into fitting rooms of a department store and try on some fancy clothes and get a friend to photograph you.

14 Spend time photoshopping your photos. Cut out frown lines. Try showing yourself slightly blurred instead of sharp.

15 Hide behind a bouquet or vase of flowers.

16 Hold up a book you have written or your favourite book so the book is the central point of the picture.

17 Feature something you do, such as digging the garden, displaying a cake, holding a fish you have caught, standing beside your painting.

18 Put your head in a frame such as a circle, oval, heart.

19 If you are now old and wrinkled, do a collage of four or more pictures of yourself at different ages so that you or others can comment how gorgeous you looked in one of your photos when you were younger.

20 Do a funny face. Comedians such as Kenn Dodd and Mr Bean make a feature of their odd looks. Maybe you can be 'a character'.

21 Look at professional photos to find interesting poses. For example, two children or mother and child sitting back to back on a piano stool. Sitting in a meadow of flowers, hugging your dog, or eye to eye with a cat, and handing an animal a plate of food.

22 If you do any charity work, a photo of you collecting money or helping others has emphasis on what you are doing, rather than what you look like.

23 Be photographed next to the portrait or statue of your hero. 

25 Stand next to a sculpture in a sculpture park.

26 Take lots of selfies sitting at home or in the mirror in a hotel. If you take twenty-five photos you should have one good one.

27 Lots of people will say, "You don't want a photo of me!" or, "Why do you want a photo of me?" You might get them to pose if you say, "I want photo of your certificate," or, "I want you to hold the dog still".

28 Fussy people might well reject most of your photos but pick out one which they like.

29 Hide behind stage make-up such as a Union Jack or American flag on a national day or sports day.

If all else fails, and one person doesn't want to be in a group photo, ask them to take a photo of others.

Author