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| (This photo is from a previous visit) |
Normally my gut reactions are written immediately afterwards to avoid being swayed by media opinion. For this one, I thought it important to wait to let the experience sink in. Plus I didn't want to spew out some ill-conceived tripe after attending a writers' retreat. That wouldn't look good.
This was my third visit to Ty Newydd, the National Writing Centre for Wales, and the second course with Belinda Bauer as a tutor. Her co-tutor this time was crime writer Sharon Bolton. I was not overly familiar with Sharon's work, having only read one of her novels but that didn't matter. She came with an excellent crime writing pedigree and a long catalogue of successful books so she was more than qualified to tutor us, even if she didn't believe she was a teacher. Belinda is, well, Belinda, a bundle of infectious giggles, good humour and remarkable insight. As a writer, she is fantastic. As a tutor, she's even better. I knew we were in safe hands with this pairing.
For my accommodation, I was lucky to be allocated room 8 in the Hafoty outbuilding. It is a large room with a desk, two chairs, a wardrobe and a double bed (most other rooms only have a single). The room was cold the first night but cosy thereafter (it takes time for the heating to kick in if there's not been a course on immediately before). This room shares the toilet/ shower facilities with room 7, but that worked out fine because I'm an early riser and I never heard the other gentleman of a certain age going to the loo during the night.
On the first afternoon, most of the new intake of students congregated with tea or coffee in the library, chatting away while trying to remember each others' names. My tip is to get there early so you only have to remember one new name at a time as each person arrives. You also get to hear them introduce themselves. Note down all the names on your phone too for reference, although this was my undoing later.
One aspect of this writing retreat that is fantastic is they have an on-site chef. Tony makes marvellous meals. All dietary requirements are accommodated, whether coeliac, vegetarian, vegan or, in my case, cheese intolerant. On the first night, the staff clean up while the students receive their course introduction. The other nights the students form a rota for kitchen duty: setting the table, washing the dishes and putting the uneaten food away again. Tony makes delicious cakes and cookies for break times so keep on his good side by ensuring there is no work left over for him the following day. There's nothing quite like that aroma of freshly baked cookies to tantalise the taste buds. You spot the cooling tray stacked with fresh cookies, select the best one, notice that it's still warm, take a bite out of the crunchy exterior, discover the warm chewy middle then experience the fiery ginger sensation bursting across your mouth. Of course, you need to have another one. Total yum.
I should point out every course is different depending on how the tutors operate. For example, a previous course I attended did not have compulsory homework, leaving us free to explore the local area, watch films or do further writing. I preferred having a focus. Our homework this time wasn't a huge task but it kept our attention on our work in progress and had to be submitted by email by 6pm each day.
The pre-work we were asked to submit prior to attending was:
1. First two thousand words of the WIP;
2. The name of your main character, plus three words that define that character; and
3. A 100-word selling pitch of your project.
This pitch was important because our homework on different days was to cut it down from 100 words to 50 words and then down to 25 words. It seemed an impossible task. How do you distil seventy-thousand words down to 50 when 100 already seemed too few? It really made me think about the core of my novel.
Mornings were for lessons. We covered planning, characters, dialogue, story structure and surprises, twists and suspense. There were short exercises to complete during each session and everyone got to share what they'd written. If the tutors felt an individual has missed the objective, they explained why, arguing their point if their colleague disagreed.
Afternoons were for 1-2-1 sessions. Each tutor helped coach your idea into something stronger, identifying flaws in your writing and helping you see how to make it better. We spent an hour with each tutor and it was interesting to see how their focus differed. For me, Belinda was more about the big picture, streamlining the story structure, scaling up the "All Is Lost" moment and placing the beats to build a grand finale. Sharon was more about character and making sense of the confusing beginning. Both agreed my main villain needed more subtlety and for the opening chapter to be slowed down. I also need to convey my characters' emotions better.
I got Belinda in the first slot on Tuesday afternoon. Her ideas to rework my piece were so dramatic it gave me a headache. It took time to think through how I could make so many changes. By Friday night, the manuscript didn't seem quite so rigid as I figured out my new plot line. Accepting I could make the changes took a while to sink in. I've now started my third draft incorporating her ideas. I can't promise I'll be able to pull it off but it will definitely be better than what I had before. (Not to say Sharon's advice wasn't also invaluable - my beginning needed a huge rethink).
Time with the tutors is invaluable. Their perspective is so professional both from the story side and the business side. They know what editors would say and cut to the chase. They only want to make your work better. It's like Ty Newydd is a maternity ward for stories. Sharon and Belinda are midwives tasked with bringing our stories into the world in the healthiest form possible, regardless of how premature their development is. Some stories transformed completely over the course of the week because of their skills. I can't say enough how great they were.
Our guest reader on Wednesday night was writer Clare Mackintosh. She is a force of nature and painfully honest. Her dry wit had us in stitches. We were all in awe of her work ethic and her dedication to marketing her books. It was good of her to give up her time to join us given her looming deadline.
But Ty Newydd isn't just about writing and eating cookies. If you get time (it is nice to get out of the house if the weather is good), it's worth taking a stroll down to the beach. Don't wear new shoes though as I did because the path is very muddy in places. The walk helps clear the mind and allows story ideas to percolate. Even better is going with others from the course so you can chat and get help to work out your plot problems. Plus you get to know your fellow students better. I believe it's called being social, not something I'm well versed in.
(When on dinner rota, don't make my mistake of insisting there are only eleven people on the course (plus two tutors) citing the number of names I'd typed into my phone. You didn't add your own name, idiot).
The course cost £625. This included the accommodation and all the meals, covering a period from 3pm Monday to 10am Friday. It was superb value. Ty Newydd is a wonderful place. It feels such a privilege to spend time there, away from normal life, concentrating on every aspect of your writing. Returning home afterwards felt like a wrench away from something magical.
Afterwards, we started a Whatsapp group to keep in touch and linked up on social media too. We've even adopted a motto: "Keep writing!" *
I highly recommend the courses. They are fun, relaxed and only as hard as the effort you put in.
(* I'm the first to use it so maybe it's more a work-in-progress).
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| We turned the tables on our tutors by asking for the 25-word pitch of their latest WIP. |
Photos courtesy of Sharon, Teri and Karen (and possibly others).
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Names to keep a future eye out for in your local bookshop
(unless they use a pen name).
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