Exeter Writers

Do you want to be traditionally published?  It can be a longer road than self-publishing, and you certainly have a great deal less control over the whole process.  My experience is far from typical, but some of the milestones are common to all the roads. Here’s – more or less – how it goes. Finding an agent   My novel won the Exeter Novel Prize , and that brought it to the attention of my agent, Broo Doherty of DHH Literary Agency , who eventually took it on.  Normally, you’d submit a synopsis, three chapters and a covering letter to various agents. They get thousands of submissions a year, so it's important to find out what each particular agent likes, and do your best to deliver it.  They will expect you to know which genre you’re writing in, your target audience, and how you plan to promote it. The actual writing is just the beginning… Once you have an agent, they will send it to various rounds of publishers, try to promote it at Book Fairs and so on. Typically, it will be reje

To tag, or not to tag? That is the question. Dialogue is a tough nut to crack. Advice is often contradictory and complex to implement. There's been a firm rule circulating among writers in recent years that you should stick to simple dialogue tags, rather than rummaging through your thesaurus and using every tag under the sun. The reasoning in this rule goes back to Ernest Hemingway who was a great proponent of using language in its simplest form to convey a message. He was a master of minimalist writing and as a result his prose can deeply impact the reader. A good rule of thumb to follow is to 'use the simplest language and format possible'. Many of my writing companions and fellow bloggers said that using an assortment of tags is distracting, jarring, and unnecessary - an obscenely flagrant misuse of language when a simple, said, asked or replied would do. I'd like to challenge that thought today.  Although being understood is our main objective as writers, we must h

A Canadian's Take on Canadian Writers by Canadian-born member, Jane Crossman I suspect that when most readers think of Canadian authors, novelist and poet Margaret Atwood springs to mind. Her most noteworthy book is The   Handmaid’s Tale and the sequel, The Testaments , won the 2019 Booker Prize .  On her website , there's an extensive list of awards and honours including numerous honorary degrees from universities all over the world.  But even though Atwood is undoubtedly our most noteworthy author, in this blog I would like to share with you other Canadian writers who have had an impact on my own writing style and reading enjoyment.  I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about Canadian writers with the hope that you will find value in discovering these authors for yourself. Also, April 23rd is UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day and, for that reason, Exeter Writers wants to celebrate authors from around the globe. Join in with #WorldBookDay and tell the community what

Whether you want to learn how to hone your writing craft into a well-oiled machine, or you want to hear from successful authors about their new books, Exeter Writers has you covered for the coming month. One positive thing about the current pandemic is, with the technology available to us and our human ingenuity, events of all kinds are popping up online. Conferences that might have been over budget or simply out of reach because of distance are more easily available than ever before. Here are a few events coming up in April 2021 that may be of interest to you: The Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival   24 April - 2 May The theme for this year is: The Challenge of Our Times. They will have over 50 panels, debates and interviews with writers and professionals to discuss the subject. If that’s something that interests you the full programme is now available. Cambridge Literary Festival Online  (£35-£50 Festival Pass) 21 - 25 April  There are a host of writers and poets discuss