Words4Every1 Writers’ Group Wrap-Up: 22nd August 2015
Hi, folks! For today’s update, I wanted to fill you in on what happened at the first incarnation of the new Words4Every1 writers’ group at the Arts4Every1 centre in High Wycombe, on Saturday 22nd August. I figure it’ll come in useful for the attendees, as well as for people who wanted to come along but couldn’t make it!
We kicked things off by going around the room and finding out more about each of the attendees, as well as about their interest in writing. We had about twenty people of different styles and experience levels, which isn’t bad for the group’s first meeting!
Then I talked about content marketing, to help our writers to get the word out about their work – that’s what I do as a living, and so it was pretty fun to essentially volunteer my time to help out other aspiring authors. You can find out what I talked about by heading over to Slideshare or by checking out the presentation below.
After that, we had a short break so that people could get some refreshments and have a chat to each other, before kicking off the editing workshops. Here, people were able to talk to each other about their projects and to offer each other tips and advice – we also mixed things up by asking people to swap groups on a regular basis to talk to as many people as possible.
After that, guest speaker Stevyn Colgan took to the stage. Stevyn is the author of several books including Joined-Up Thinking and Constable Colgan’s Connectoscope, as well as being a researcher for QI. Stevyn told us about the changes that the publishing industry has gone through, with a particular focus on Unbound, the crowd-funded publisher that he’s currently using.
After that, we gave out some homework – I know that Neil has already made a start on his by revitalising his blog, but here’s what you should all be doing ahead of the next workshop:
Writing Challenge:
Write something using synaesthesia!
Experience one sense through another
For example: The taste of music
Write something and bring it to the next workshop!
Marketing Stuff:
Sign up for a WordPress website
Start trying to release a post every 1-2 weeks
Sign up for a social networking site that you’re not currently using
Come back next time to learn what happens next!
We rounded the event off with some readings, and we had a respectable five attendees get up to do a piece, which was especially impressive because a lot of people were first-time writers. Kudos to everyone who took part!
Our next writers’ group is scheduled for Saturday September 19th, with special guest speaker J. G. Clay – be sure to come along to that one for all sorts of fun and hijinks, including some ideas that the attendees gave me on how to make it even better!
In the meantime, be sure to follow Arts4Every1 on Facebook and Twitter for all of the latest updates! You can also keep up with me and my writing, as well as any events that I put on, on Facebook and Twitter. See you at the next workshop!
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