The SWWJ: What’s in it for me?

This month I want to dedicate my blog post to a fantastic organisation for professional writers called the SWWJ.

 

Although its full name is the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, and the vast majority of members are female, the SWWJ is not just an organisation for women these days. The doors are now well and truly open to male writers too, with men co-ordinating the drama section, helping with marketing and promotion, turning up and enjoying social events as associate members, and winning some of the regular members-only writing competition prizes.

 

The SWWJ is a long-established society for professional writers, and is now over 120 years old (This photo was taken at the 120th anniversary celebrations) - which can give the impression that it’s bound to be a bit old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy. Nothing could be further from the truth! Yes, quite a few of its members (me included!) are at the mature end of the spectrum, but that is usually because they joined many years ago and, having become a member of such a welcoming and supportive society, have never wanted to leave! That says a lot, doesn’t it?

 

The SWWJ is well aware that younger members are its future, and is extremely keen to welcome new writers of all ages. Novelists, journalists, playwrights, poets, writers of articles and non-fiction books… Society members come from all areas of the writing world. Geographically too, as quite a few live in other countries, all around the globe, keeping in touch via the Society’s regular magazines, e-newsletters and social media links. It doesn’t matter if you already belong to other writers’ organisations.  Many – like the Society of Authors, the Poetry Society, the Romantic Novelists’ Association or the Crime Writers’ Association - are very specialised, and the SWWJ certainly isn’t trying to compete when it comes to news, training and networking within a specific genre. But what the SWWJ can offer is the chance to meet writers and make friends from across all genres, learn and expand your writing knowledge in new areas as well as your own specialism, and enjoy some lovely social occasions.

 

The SWWJ’s new initials-only name and re-designed logo have, I think, helped to give it a much fresher and more modern feel, as has the new website, re-opened a few weeks ago - a complete transformation from its former dated look and rather limited content. There is a facebook  page (Please take a look and then press the Like button!), and the Society is becoming much more active on twitter too, so there are lots of ways to follow the SWWJ, find out what’s happening and spread the word about meetings, competition and market opportunities, members’ news and writing successes.

 

I have been a member of the SWWJ for around ten years now, and this year I joined the Society’s Council, where I am able to contribute to the planning of events and initiatives that are always so vital in keeping any society growing and thriving into the future. I have also taken on the specific roles of competitions co-ordinator and overseeing the manuscript appraisals service, whereby both established members and aspiring writers/non-members can access expert help and advice about their latest writing projects, particularly when trying out something new.

 

So, what’s in it for you, as a writer, if you decide to join the SWWJ?

 ·        Firstly, and most importantly I believe, you will become a member of a well-run, friendly and supportive society that offers regular get-togethers, both social (teas, talks and afternoon parties in lovely London venues with speakers and cake! plus a range of regional gatherings organised by members at local level) and instructive (workshops and talks at various venues), with the opportunity to network, make like-minded friends, learn, share and have fun! Guests are always welcome at all our events – or just buy a ticket and come along to see if you like us before you decide to join!

 
·        Every full and associate (male) member gets their own press card – a prestigious card that proves your credentials as a ’real’ writer, and is so useful as an introduction tool when meeting or interviewing, and for gaining admittance to press areas at exhibitions etc. Lots of places all over the UK will let you in for free with a press card, especially if you intend to write a review or article about the place in question or need to visit for research purposes. Sometimes it’s worth enquiring before you turn up, so they are expecting you or can send you a ticket in advance. The card alone can save you pounds in entrance fees which can easily re-coup your annual membership fee.

 ·        A quarterly colour magazine, The Woman Writer, packed with Society news, book reviews, market information, photos, articles and poems – much of which is contributed by the members themselves. And, so members don’t miss out on anything useful in between magazines, there is now also a new e-newsletter emailed out to every member who adds their email details to the mailing list.

 

 ·        More specific support tailored to your own writing interests and needs – eg. a thriving drama group offering the chance to read, perform and perfect your plays;  poetry meetings; the Manuscript Appraisals service, guiding your first steps into a new genre or venture (at a very competitive price); Scriptora, the Society’s assisted publishing service (helping you to produce your own book); workshops covering a varied range of topics; and lots more.

·        Regular competitions (poetry, short story and articles) which only SWWJ members can enter, with cash prizes, beautiful trophies and prize presentation ceremonies.

 

And, if you’re not a professional writer but want to support the SWWJ or get involved – perhaps as an avid reader, a book-lover, a librarian, an industry professional, a beginner or hobby writer – you can join as a ‘Friend’. The fee is cheaper because you are not eligible for the press card or to vote at the AGM, but you can still come along and enjoy all our events and you will receive the magazine. As a beginner or unpublished writer, you’ll find that mixing with established and successful writers at all stages of their writing careers can (and will) help you to learn more about the craft, make useful contacts, and move nearer towards the publication of your work and the chance to apply for full membership in the future.

 

Full details of all membership categories, together with current (and very reasonable) fees can be found here. Then just follow the links to a downloadable membership application form. You don’t pay a penny until your application has been considered and accepted.

 

I hope you will consider joining us. I’m sure you won’t regret it. I never have!

 

 

 

Welcome to Camp Cat !

Whenever I chat with other writers on facebook or twitter, there’s one topic - apart from writing itself - that seems to crop up more than any other, and that’s our pets.

Pixie and Dixie: my babies

We all seem to know which of us are cat people and which are dog people (I am most definitely in Camp Cat), who has got themselves a new puppy or kitten, and what their names are. We hear about our animals’ latest antics, their illnesses and, sadly, their deaths. We share photos of them lying across our desks, our laps, our printers, even our work in progress. We even share photos and videos of random pets we’ve come across on the internet – ones we don’t know at all but are just too cute to ignore! Pets, it would seem, are a vital part of many writers’ daily lives. They make us laugh and cry, entertain us, help to keep us calm, and provide the much-needed companionship (and exercise) we so often need after spending hours on end with our bottoms glued to our chairs, staring at a screen.

Our pets don’t keep interrupting us with phone calls, the way our friends do. They don’t keep knocking on the study door and asking when dinner’s going to be ready or for help with homework, the way our kids do. They don’t point at the clock and suggest it’s time we close the computer down and come to bed, the way our partners do. Yes, of course, our furry companions need our attention too. They like to have their tummies tickled and their ears rubbed, a couple of meals a day and a run around outside every now and then, but somehow we don’t seem to mind that at all. They can be just as demanding as the humans in our lives but they do it in a different way – wordlessly, with a look or a lick, a pad or a purr - and we’re suckers for all of that. At least, I know I am.

That must be why I include so many pets in my stories. Looking back, I’ve had stories published about a vet who brings animals into a classroom with lasting effects on some of the kids, couples who meet while walking their dogs, a family who take in stray animals and fall in love with a very special cat, a lonely widower who takes an interest in goldfish, and even a mynah bird in a cage that helps a young couple get to know each other on an Italian holiday.

People's Friend Special 106

Take my latest published story – Under the Apple Tree – in The People’s Friend Special No. 106, in the shops this week. This one starts with the moment every pet-owner dreads – having to have an old and sick dog put to sleep, and burying her in the family garden. Too sad a topic for The People’s Friend, with its nice cosy image? You’d think so, but no. We all know you can never replace an animal you’ve loved and lost, but life moves on and there will be other dogs, and people, to love, as proved in my story when the hunky new vet and his pregnant dog come onto the scene, sweeping young Josie and her widowed mum off their feet! Happy endings always help to heal the hurt, and this one certainly does. It’s that warm uplifting feeling and an air of positivity that readers love, especially the readers of that particular magazine.

A story I have just finished writing is about two married couples (one young, one elderly) who live next door to each other and share not only a blossoming friendship but also a sad secret – their childlessness. Enter Max, a lovable puppy who brings the sunshine back into all their lives and, in his own special way, helps to make everything all right. I haven’t yet sold this story, but I have high hopes for it!

They say you should write about what you know. And we writers do know our pets! So, go on. Give a pet a home – in your fiction! After all, you can’t go far wrong writing about animals, can you? Oh, hang on a minute - yes, you can. Whatever you choose to write about, your story still needs to be original, fresh, interesting, surprising, exciting, emotional, or any combination of these - all the things editors are looking for to please their readers. So here’s a tip: Never, never, never, write your story from the pet’s point of view, or commit the even worse crime of writing a ‘surprise’ ending where your character turns out to have been a dog all along. Believe me, it’s NOT a surprise, it’s been done to death, and your story will slide across that editor’s desk and right off the other side in five seconds flat.

Treat your fictional animals the same way you treat your real-life ones. When you put them on the page, give them a purpose that makes them integral to the story. Give them plotlines that reflect all the fun and laughter, worry and pain that a real pet brings. Make them the heroes and heroines, the lifesavers, the sleuths, the comforters and the heartbreakers they are in real life, and together you will deliver all the conflict, warmth and emotion that readers crave.

Now, you will have to excuse me. One of my kittens is scratching at the outside of my study door desperately trying to get in and confront the goldfish, and the other is busy wrecking a house plant. If one of my human family was doing that, there’d be big trouble. But kittens… well, you just have to love them, don’t you?

Thrills and Spills!

I’ve just finished watching the Grand National and, as usual, there were lots of thrills, spills and surprises. The whole thing is always so unpredictable – favourites fall, outsiders come from nowhere, some start off well but then seem to give up, and they all spend the whole race jumping over enormous fences, often with no clear view of what’s on the other side, and jostling and tripping over each other in their desperation to win. Sounds just like the writing world!

The books are, of course, the horses – lots of them all launched at once, with one or two destined to become bestsellers but the majority likely to have their short moment of fame before falling flat on their face or sinking without trace - and the writers are the jockeys trying to hang on and steer them to victory. It can be a very bumpy ride!

My entry into the novel-writing arena started twenty years ago when I won a ‘best opening to a novel’ competition and, as a result, soon found myself with a finished manuscript and an agent. I felt that I must be on my way to fame and fortune. After all, I had moved up from being an apprentice rider to proper Grade 1 jockey status, and the race had begun! What could possibly go wrong? But, as in any race, I soon discovered that plenty can. Some publishers just weren’t interested, one liked it enough to put it through four readings before saying no, and some said ‘Not this book, but let us see the next.’ Maybe I had become the right jockey at last, but I was still riding the wrong horse!

Taking a fall at that stage hurt. I jumped off the horse, put my novelist’s hard hat away, and became a successful short story writer instead, swapping the long hard unpredictable ride of the steeplechase for the more comfortable world of women’s magazines – a series of fairly easy short sprints with far fewer hurdles to overcome.

But, over the last couple of years, my mind has turned again to my real love – novels. Like veteran jockey A P McCoy, riding his last National today before hanging up his saddle for good, I may be getting older but I still want my moment of glory. I want to see my book traditionally published, sitting on the bookshop shelves, and selling well. And then to go on and do it again, and again. I want to be a winner. And this time, it just might happen!

My newly completed novel passed through the Romantic Novelists Association’s New Writers Scheme last year, not entirely unscathed, and after a bit of ‘grooming’ the hunt began for just the right trainer (agent!) to get it in tip-top condition and ready to find a permanent stable.

And now… I am happy to announce that I have just signed with an agent! The lovely Hannah Ferguson from the Hardman Swainson Literary Agency is exactly the right agent for me. We get on well, she likes my story and, with a bit of luck, the winning post could again be in sight!

And, today, I really do believe in luck. My baby granddaughter, just 5 weeks old, grunted at just the right moment when her mummy read out the list of runners, and her choice, ‘Many Clouds’, just won the Grand National, putting an amazing £500 into her savings account! Who says a beginner can’t, just occasionally, get ahead of the field and take the prize?

Marching On!

It's March already, but what a very exciting March it is!


Firstly, and most importantly, the birth of my first grandchild, Penelope Vincent. Here she is with me, and even at just one day old she is looking absolutely beautiful.


Grandmothers have always been prominent characters in my short stories, and I'm sure they will feature even more frequently now that I am one myself!



But, back to the writing: March has again seen my work published in four of my favourite magazines:


In Nursery World, 23 Feb-8 March issue, I visit a wonderful bug hotel at a Children's Centre in Uxbridge. Don't know what a bug hotel is? Well, it's a fantastic structure made from wooden pallets, straw, twigs, flowerpots, dry leaves, sawdust... anything that will make little hidey holes and warm crevices for insects to find a temporary and safe home during the cold of winter. A great project that gets kids, parents and school or nursery staff working together in the garden and thinking about wildlife, recycling and the environment. The magazine used lots of my own photos too.

In March's Practical Pre-School I suggest ways that young children can learn by listening. Taking a walk and noticing all the sounds they encounter outside, maybe even taking a tape recorder with them so they can be listened to again and again, brings the weather, birds, leaves, machinery, planes, and lots more vividly to life.

But I've been busy with my fiction too, with two stories in The People's Friend this month, both tagged by the editor as 'inspiring'.

In the Spring Special (number 103), a single mum takes a faulty blender back to the shop and unexpectedly meets up with an old flame, stirring up memories, not all of them good! How different might her life have been? But how lucky is she to have the wonderful life she found after he was gone?

The second People's Friend story, 'Rambling Rose', is in the weekly magazine dated 14 March. Rose loves flowers and the outdoor early morning life. She doesn't enjoy late-night clubbing like her friends, who despair of her - However will she meet a man if she doesn't go out to the 'right' places? But, of course, she does meet a man - while walking at the top of the cliffs and looking out over the sea, enjoying what she loves doing best.

And, still to look forward to - the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards night on 16th March at the beautiful Gladstone Library at the National Liberal Club, with chandeliers, white flower-bedecked tablecloths, nibbles and drinks, wonderful views over the Thames at night - and the presentation of the awards, in several genre categories, for the very best romantic novels of the year. I had expected to miss out on being there this year as my daughter was due to have her baby the very next day, so thank you Vicky for doing it ten days early, so I can go after all! Hoping to see some of you there.

Best wishes and happy writing

Viv

And the winner is...

It’s been another winning month for me! Since my last post just three weeks ago, I have been lucky enough to see my work published in four national magazines (see photo).

 

My short story Motherly Love in the People’s Friend Special number 101 (in the shops now) tells of two soon-to-be grandmas who don’t seem able to agree on anything, right down to the sex of the baby! Obviously one of them is going to be proved wrong, but which one?  And once the baby arrives, does it really matter anyway? With a lovely illustration by Mandy Murray, this story is very close to home for me as I await the birth of my first granddaughter, due in March.

 

Bigger, which appears in Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special (March issue) is another story that came, at least partially, out of my own experience. It follows the very different but intertwined lives of twin sisters Susan and Linda, from childhood to their sixtieth birthday party. Growing up in the same time period myself (1950s and 60s) and having twin daughters of my own (one of whom has always loved to dance, just as Linda does) helped to make so much of this story very easy to write!

A Good Judge of Character is my first story to appear in Ireland’s Own magazine (13 Feb issue). And I can honestly say that, in this case, the overbearing and snobby mother who tries to rule her daughter’s life and control her choice of boyfriend is in no way based on me! Just a small line drawing for this one, but I am very pleased to have found my way into a magazine I had not written for before and to reach a brand new audience for my fiction.

Putting fiction aside, I also have two separate articles in February’s Practical Pre-School magazine – one about playing snakes and ladders and the other exploring some creative ways for children to use plastic drink bottles to make music, play games, and in art projects. This magazine is sold on subscription only and is read by nursery staff, childminders and nannies all over the UK, giving them lots of information and ideas to help them in their work with the under-fives.

My new novel is coming along nicely, having just passed the 20,000 word mark, even though I still have nothing to report on the progress of the finished one which is still doing the rounds of literary agents looking for a publishing deal. I have also returned to poetry, with two free-verse poems I feel particularly proud of now entered for competitions, in the hope of a prize. I am nothing if not versatile when it comes to my writing!

Now, over to my other love: cryptic crosswords. After 50-odd years of enjoying the daily challenge of cracking them, I have now finally compiled one of my own - which will, I hope, be appearing in the next issue of The Woman Writer, the members’ magazine of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists (SWWJ), whose Council I have recently joined. And that brings me to a very important announcement… the winner of my crossword competition, launched here on the blog last month.

I was a little disappointed by the low number of entries, but nevertheless I am very happy to announce that the winner is…  Wendy Clarke.

Wendy wins a personalised crossword compiled specially for her husband's upcoming fiftieth birthday, and I will be in touch with her soon to get a few ‘clues’ about him to make sure the finished puzzle really is all about him!

 

 

IT’S COMPETITION TIME!

Do you know someone who loves crosswords?

 

Since the publication of my book How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords, many people have asked whether I ever write crosswords of my own. Well, so far I have spent more than fifty years solving other people’s but have not taken that extra step into becoming a compiler. That may soon be rectified when my first self-penned crossword appears in the Society of Women Writers and Journalists’ quarterly magazine, The Woman Writer. Only time will tell if the society’s members enjoy it enough to want me to carry on submitting puzzles on a regular basis.

So, I need the practice!!

 If you would like me to create a unique cryptic crossword, individually tailor-made for a friend or family member, perhaps as a birthday gift or to pop inside a greetings card – or you’d just like one written for yourself – then I can do it for you!

Just leave me a brief comment below indicating who it’s for and why they might enjoy it, and I will be in touch with one lucky reader, randomly-selected, to find out all I can about your chosen recipient’s interests and hobbies so I can build the clues around them, and maybe even hide their own name somewhere amongst the solutions!

I know I will have fun creating the puzzle, and I hope the winner or their friend will enjoy solving it just as much.

So, now it’s over to you…

THE GRAND RE-LAUNCH

I’m back!

 

After a year of blogging together as a team, the ‘Write Minds’ ladies are going their separate ways. No, we haven’t fallen out. Far from it! We have become very firm friends and, as fellow members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, will continue to meet, chat and support each other as often as ever, both in person and through our many social networking links.

 

In fact, sharing a blog with four other aspiring romantic novelists for a whole year has been a very useful experience, giving us the chance to set ourselves writing goals, explore shared themes, promote our own successes and interview some fantastic published writers, as well as finding our way around all the behind-the-scenes admin that managing a blog entails …but our writing careers are all taking off in new and different directions now, and it’s time to spread our wings and fly. 

 

So, after a long silence, I’m finally back here on my own blog - and fully intending to update it regularly with all my news - and probably quite a bit of other writers’ news too!

 

So, let’s start with my short stories. Fifteen sold and published in women’s magazines during 2014. Not a huge amount, mainly because the novel writing has taken up a lot of my time lately, but I still love writing short fiction and can’t see a time when that is likely to stop. I hit my milestone fiftieth story for The People’s Friend in the summer, I still appear regularly in the monthly Woman’s Weekly Fiction Specials, and I will have a story in the My Weekly Annual 2016, which seems a very long way off right now! I always look forward to seeing what the lovely illustrators have made of my characters and settings when my stories move from my own imagination into print, and am rarely disappointed.

 

But what about my foray into novel writing? As a member of the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme I was able to send my 100,000 word manuscript off for a full (anonymous) critique this year. Oh dear! Their reader, whoever she was, clearly hated everything (and I do mean everything) about it, which was very disheartening, but I am made of sterner stuff than to burst into tears and give up, so I asked for it to be seen by someone else, who turned out to be much more on my wavelength and offered plenty of praise and some useful suggestions as to how I could knock it into better shape. And while I was waiting for that second opinion, a published novelist friend offered to read it for me too, and she loved it! The trouble is that everyone who reads it has such different views about what works, what doesn’t and what I should change that I found the whole experience really confusing - so I sent it off to a couple of agents completely unaltered just to test the water.

 

One knuckle-biting near miss (from a very well-known literary agency) later, and with a lot of good things said about my writing and my book, I am now anxiously waiting for the response from a second agent who I met at a ‘Get Published Day’ event, before even thinking of sending it anywhere else. Fingers, toes and everything else are permanently crossed at the moment, and while I wait I have of course made a start on the next novel, a much more conventional ‘one man one woman happy ending’ romance which I am sure will be more to the RNA’s taste.

 

So, before signing off for 2014, here are my writing tips (all highly pertinent to my recent experiences) for anyone hoping to embark on a major writing project or push, or considering a change of writing direction in the year ahead:

 

 1.    Stick to what YOU want to write. Believe in yourself and don’t let one person’s opinion bring you down or knock you off course. I didn’t… and the next three people (all top professionals) to read my novel all had very good things to say about it.

 

 

 2.    Get yourself known on facebook and Twitter. Not every hour of every day, or you will never find time to write, but use them to make connections with other writers and with potential readers. Publishers will expect it of you, it will inevitably help promotion and sales when your book comes out, and you will enjoy it!

 

 3.    Join any writing organisation that you think you will get something from – even if it’s just meeting and sharing your work with fellow writers at a local writers’ group so you aren’t doing it all on your own. I love being a member of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, which was a wonderfully impressive 120 years old in 2014 – lovely lunches and afternoon teas in London, workshops, a great little magazine, and a press card for free entry into all kinds of fantastic places I just might want to write about – and I am about to join the SWWJ’s Council to get involved in running things and to help guide its future. And I am staying in the RNA for at least another year too, and will be sending them my next manuscript for critique, despite my disappointment at the previous reaction. The meetings, awards ceremonies and my forthcoming first visit to the annual RNA conference are just too good to give up!

 

 

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a successful New Year.

 

Viv Brown

Oh, did I forget to say I got married this year too?!

I will still be writing as Vivien Hampshire, but I am now officially Mrs Brown – without her boys!!!

 

 

 

 

MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vivien-Hampshire/e/B004NO9ANM/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

 

AMAZON LINKS TO MY PUBLISHED BOOKS:

How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Crack-Cryptic-Crosswords-Answers/dp/1845285085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354898163&sr=8-2
 
Losing Lucy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006WP6VUU/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb