Category Archives: Just James

Anything I feel like putting online that may or may not relate to anything.

How do you write a synopsis?

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood at Pexels. 

The writing industries conference in March is offering a fantastic opportunity for writers to get a 1-1 with an agent. This is a unique opportunity and one which more than compensates for the £42 registration fee. To enter applicants must submit a synopsis which for many is far more difficult than actually writing the damn novel itself. Condensing those years of sweat and tears into one page of text requires precision and much contemplation regarding structure and style. I guess the skill is outlining the basic plot, the development of key characters and what you hope to achieve. But this is easier said than done. There is the danger of being too methodical, too formulaic so that your work comes across as impersonal and by association, unemotional. On the other hand over stating meaning could lead to a review rather than précis and patronise the educated reader. I’d like to offer some advice but I don’t have any because I have struggled with my own for years. It is with this in mind that WIC have potentially missed out on another important aspect to their conference. How about a discussion on composing the awful things?

The synopsis is a craft in itself and a ‘how to’ guide would be incredibly useful. Those who are not selected are going to be very disappointed. Offering written feedback as to where and how they went wrong would act as useful compensation and at the very least, would help when composing future endeavours.

All this aside, the 1-1 put me in a particularly unexpected moral dilemma when a good friend of mine said that he didn’t think he would have time to get his application in. At first I was secretly glad because the less who entered mathematically improved my own chances of selection. Writing envy, who on earth would think such a condition existed. I made sure I text the friend in question and encouraged him to enter. He’s a fantastic writer and I am 100% convinced he’s sitting on a best seller. I hope he found time because he’s got other work on at the moment which pays the bills but writing is, as Knut Hampson kind of wrote, something to starve for. It’s an insanely joyous personal journey that’s cheaper than therapy and brings a sense of control to the mind. Perhaps that’s why writing a synopsis is so difficult. It’s not ‘writing’, it’s not ‘imagination’, instead it’s hard factual reality – the very thing which we write to escape from in the beginning!

www.writingindustries.com

WriteLion spoken word event…help

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Photo by Samantha Garrote at Pexels.

With great regret (and relish), WriteLion will no longer be working with the Beatnik Guild. This was meant to be a bi/monthly event which would coincide with the launch of the magazine and podcasts, enabling a more varied and concentrated promotion of local talent. This event was necessary for the simple fact that Nottingham is producing so much fantastic fiction at the moment that we felt obliged to create more space for it through electronic, audio and print mediums.

The magazine can only host three book reviews (and it was 0-1 before I took over) which is an editorial nightmare given the volume of books landing on the doorstep. This month sees Jon McGregor’s eagerly awaited third novel Even the Dogs published by Bloomsbury. Without doubt, he’s our biggest star and so has to go in the magazine, particularly as I hope he will prove me wrong and win the Booker before his fifth. Tindal St also release NWS member Maria Allen’s debut Before the Earthquake. We love debut novelists and are particularly eager to balance out female coverage. May sees a re-release of Anthony Cartwright’s Heartland which is topical given the forthcoming World Cup and the EDL marches. Two members from our forum have just self-published; Steve Pape, a poetry collection called The Awakening Soul and Adam Watts Mr. Bloody Sunshine. In some ways these are priority reviews as they will not get the coverage as those signed to larger publishers. Then there is the outstanding Staple collection as well as the amazingly quick output from Weathervane and Five Leaves. How do you choose?

To compensate this I’m going to hopefully do a split one page review Tindal St special which will include an interview with Anthony and Maria and book reviews at the bottom of each. That still afford me three slots on the WriteLion page.  But it’s still not enough because there’s another book out about Clough, a quirky local history tale of grave digging and a non-fiction history of the name Paul. Hence the need for a regular spoken word event to ensure all are covered.

This has to be special so I’m thinking of something with a bit of variety to make it a proper night out. My initial idea is to include some of the below elements.

  1. Local band
  2. Drama – a scene from a work in progress
  3. Open mic –  for WriteLion forum and others
  4. Readings – usually themed e.g. Self published, genre, topical. This would be a casual chat about the book and then a reading.
  5. Poetry – again themed e.g. Poets from Nottingham University, genre etc.
  6. Debate – about various writing issues (self-publishing versus tradition – with representatives from both)

My dilemma is finding a suitable venue and working with someone I can trust e.g. Has the ability to operate a mobile phone, understands how to reply to an email, is able to grasp the basic rudiments of time and most importantly, is eager to get involved because they love their city and are passionate about writing. I’d like to charge a nominal fee which would then be invested into a regular WriteLion publication which would feature all artists involved. This would ensure local literature was widely covered through various mediums and go some way to solving my editorial nightmare of trying to cover everyone who needs it. If anybody has any ideas etc, answers on the back of a stamped addressed envelope…

Our fifth WriteLion podcast is out now. It’s raw and unedited, true to the spirit of LeftLion and so that nobody thinks we’re taking ourslves too seriously. It includes information on the Writing Industries Conference and the opportunity to have a 1-1 with an agent, news about submissions for the triliteral festival, music from King Claw and a chat with Adam Watts, Jamie Rhodes and Steve Pape. Ger in there at writelion 4.