Crafting A Great Story

This was an impressive panel, chaired by Greg Mosse, creative writing tutor at West Dean College and writer, and consisting of the judges from The Writers Retreat writing competition – Cathryn Summerhayes (literary agent at William Morris Endeavours), Nina de la Mer (author), Tinge Krishnan (BAFTA-winning film director) and Vicky Blunden (editor at Myriad Editions). This was also the occasion when they announced the winner of this prize, structuring a hefty part of the discussion around the final six extracts that were in the running to win the prize, leaving the majority of us wrong-footed in being without the discussed texts. Some useful tips came through for the eager authors in the audience, the strength of a good story structure, to have confidence in your own voice, the difficulty in finding your own writing voice, the advantages of the short story format, as well as tips on what an award-winning director might be looking for with an eye to film adaptation. Each of the panel were invaluable – especially Ms Summerhayes with her comments on topical genres and the variable length of the contemporary novel. It was just a shame that Mr Mosse – with clearly the best of intentions – kept verbally stepping on and interrupting his co-panelists, and there was no supporting literature available for the prize the group had been assembled for.

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 23 May 2012

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