Exeter - Writer Development Day

Take part in a writer’s workshop, and learn from the experience of a successfully published author who has written for TV, and get to hear first-hand from a literary agent.

The full day of essential activity includes:

Cathie Hartigan: Plot to Pitch Workshop. Cathie lectures in creative writing at Exeter College. She is chair of Exeter Writers and the founder of CreativeWritingMatters which provides author workshops and courses in the city. This workshop will explore what makes a story work. How to answer the question ‘what’s it about?’ when it’s inevitably asked, and how to shrink your hundred thousand word masterpiece into a line strong enough to sell it.

Veronica Henry: Writing approaches. Veronica has long been instrumental in the creation of fictional havens: as a scriptwriter, she has written for iconic dramas The Archers, Heartbeat and Holby City. More recently she has published several successful novels including The Beach Hut and Marriage and Other Games. She joins us to talk about the different approaches needed when writing for the screen and for the page.

Dorothy Lumley: Impressing an Agent. Dorothy Lumley is an established agent of the Torquay-based Dorian Literary Agency and she will offer her professional insight into the publishing business. This is a unique chance to ask an agent what it takes to get noticed.

We all know the importance of first impressions – and agents and publishers are all extremely pressed for time. How do you make sure you get noticed? All attendees will also be asked to bring along a copy of the first page of their novel. During the day, you will be asked to select your top three favourite first pages, and the page with the highest score will be offered a professional read and feedback from ‘The Literary Consultancy’.