One to One with David Headley

During the workshop by Julie Cohen I had my second one to one with an agent, David Headley.

http://www.dhhliteraryagency.com/

David studied theology in London and Durham before co-founding and becoming the Managing Director of Goldsboro Books, a much admired independent bookseller, based in central London.

David has spent the last 14 years establishing Goldsboro Books and building good relationships with editors within the UK's major publishing houses. He has gained a reputation for championing debut authors and he created the UK's largest collectors' book club and is influential in selling large quantities of hardback fiction in the UK.

David is actively looking for new writers across the board, both general and genre fiction (excluding young adult, children’s, poetry, plays, screenplays and short stories). David is particularly interested in well written novels with strong characters and an original narrative voice.

Email: david.headley@dhhliteraryagency.com

I had heard from a friend that he had been very harsh on her writing, so I have to admit I was scared.  I had submitted three chapters of HYBRID and was ready to receive a grilling.

But, again it did not happen! I know, shock...

David mainly asked why I had choosen to go down the Self Publishing route, he did not understand the reasoning.  And then added that my writing was sound and very good, it just wasn't what he was looking for at the moment.  The fact it was kind of Young Adult was also an issue.

So, no slating, no critique, just a simple... not for me.

Might I add this is the problem for any debut novelist (I think)

QUESTION: How do you find the right agent for your writing and style?

ANSWER: Impossible... LOL

CREATING CHARACTER (JULIE COHEN)

I can't believe it has been so long since my last posting, so today I will try to finish my diary... Oh yes I will... (sorry I have doing a panto all of last week! Have to get it out of my system...lol)

Anyway, the next workshop I attended was Creating Character by the lovely Julie Cohen (a very bubbly lady - I want her energy!)

According to Julie, there are six ways to create character... I will expand on the exercises at the end.

1) Appearance/ Decription

Characters might fit their appearance, or be at odds with it. Beware of indigestible chunks of description, or cliches.
EXERCISE: Describe the Character's appearance)

2) Action: SHOWING not telling

Make characters active whenever possible, instead of telling what they're like
EXERCISE: Write about this character walking into a room and picking up an object

3) Symbolism

Use objects and settings to show significant aspects of your character
EXERCISE: Discover the significance of the object the character picked up

4) Conflict

This will drive your character forward through the entire story, and can be on an internal (emotional) and/ or external (plot) level.  The best conflicts grow out of internal conflicts.
EXERCISE: What's your character's biggest problem?

5) Character Arc

How does your character grow and change over the course of the story?
EXERCISE: What's your character's greatest quality and worst fault, and how do they connect?

6) Voice

Both the voice of the character as narrator, and voice in dialogue.
EXERCISE: Write dialogue as a script, and write first-person inner monolgue

TEN WAYS OF USING YOUR NEW CHARACTER (X) IN A STORY

1. Put X in a place s/he doesn't belong
2. Introduce X to a character with conflicting goals
3. Introduce X to a chracter with the same goals but different motivation
4. Make X face his/ her worst fear
5. Give X an impossible task
6. Make X make a horrible mistake
7. Force X to confront the past
8. Plunge X into unexpected fame
9. Make X lose everything
10. Make X win something unwanted, or which becomes unwanted

EXERCISES

During the course of this workshop we had to carry out the exercises.

My character was a male who I called TIGER QUINN, aged 19. (We had to select a number and letter cards to give us a start).  This is what I wrote...

Tiger Quinn was not the type of person who had ever been described as bright.  As long as Lisa could remember, he had been the drop out loser guy that every girls aspired to have as a boyfriend.  She was not one of those girls.  From the moment she set eyes on his muscular, tanned body and striking hazel eyes, she had known he was that type.  The type that would never be interested in someone like her.  And funnily enough, his idea to trip her up five years ealier had only solidified her hatred.  She would not forget, her memory was long.

Lisa happened to watch the door as he grabbed the handle and made his way in.  His slow, almost calculated (and obviously staged), walk was smooth. As he continued to move in her direction a smile broke out over his face.  She glanced over her shoulder, paranoid. she faced him again and realised he was actually smiling at her. He stopped next to her, leaned one hand on the table and winked.  then he picked up a chip from her plate, dipped it in her ketchup, and popped it in his mouth.  He chewed slowly, it was almost an attempt at seduction.  Almost.

He moved his hand to take another just as Lisa broke out of her trance and slapped his hand away.  Her eyes narrowed.

(This covered points 1 & 2)

Best attribute: Looks, kind, sharing
Worst attribute: Attitude, arrogance, pride

(For point 3)

Now we had to make them talk (she asked us not to embellish, just make them talk)

'Ouch.'
'I'm glad it hurt.'
'Come on, you know you don't mind sharing with me. Most girls I know would love to split a meal with me.'
'Well, I'm not one of them.'
'Serious?' 
Lisa stared.
'You are serious? Wow! Anyway, I know something you don't and you're going to have to be nice to me so that I tell you what it is.'
'You don't know shit.'
'Go girl.  I didn't even know you knew how to swear.'
'Well, I do.'
'So, I guess I'll be going then.  You don't want to know what I know. Right?'
'Right.'
'Okay then.'
'Okay.'
He started to walk away, but then stopped and turned back to face her. 'Fine, I'll tell you already. I'm in love with you.'
Before Lisa could react his lips were on hers.  That completely threw her off.

I did not get the chance to carry on with the exercise since I had my next one to one with an agent... but what I managed to do was excellent! Thank you Julie...

One-To-One with CAROLINE HARDMAN

My first one to one session was with Caroline Harman, and I have to say I was really impressed.  She must be a great agent.

Considering this was only 10 minutes... you did not have a lot of time to gush over writing... and she only read the first 3000 words.

Overall, I was very happy.  She thought my writing had real potential.  She gave me a few tips and thought I should tweak my dialogue slightly... other than that no bad views. 

Shocking!

In a way, I wish I had more to say but I don't I was stumped...

Vanessa :) xx

CAROLINE HARDMAN has now founded...





Nice website... http://www.hardmanswainson.com/about.html

Before founding Hardman & Swainson I was an agent at the Christopher Little Literary Agency and The Marsh Agency, where I also specialized in translation rights. I have an excellent understanding of global trade publishing and have had the honour of selling rights on behalf of bestselling and prize-winning authors such as Kate Atkinson, Iain Banks, Bill Bryson, Linwood Barclay, Meg Cabot, Vikram Seth, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Jonathan Lethem.  Before The Marsh Agency, I was a bookseller for Waterstones for a short time following university. I have a 1st class BA and an MA in English Literature from the University of Leeds.

Nothing excites me more than discovering new talent. I'm interested in accessible literary fiction, from dark, moving and emotional novels to warm and cozy – great writing in all its guises, but nothing too rarefied. I'm also interested in quality commercial fiction, particularly the elusive book group novel, upmarket women's fiction and I'm on the lookout for crime and thrillers – I'd love to find the next Sophie Hannah. Whether it's literary or genre fiction, I look for strong writing, great characterization and originality. I like to be challenged, surprised, moved to tears or on the edge of my seat by the novels I read.

As I grew up reading Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume, and the Point Horror books (not to mention adult novels with mass-market appeal like Virginia Andrews and Maeve Binchy), I enjoy YA and crossover fiction and would like to add more authors in that area to my list.

In non-fiction, I enjoy memoirs (particularly confessional memoirs by women), and well-written, subject-driven, narrative non-fiction in general. I'm always looking for popular science, philosophy and psychology, particularly when written by experts in their field. As a health and yoga fanatic, I'm also interested in any books with an emphasis on food, health, the mind and the body.

Creating Tension with Claire McGowan

AN EXCELLENT LECTURE/ WORKSHOP ON CREATING TENSION... hope you find these notes helpful.  I certainly did...

Vanessa :)

The Art of Suspense...

• to hang
• to be in abeyance
• a state of mental instability

1) WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

Suspense is about waiting...

* The Secret Keeper - the character, not the reader, knows...
* The locked room puzzle

a)

• traumatised narrators
• Unreliable narrators (The taming of the shrew)
• young narrators (The Curious incident of the dog in the night time)

Consider... Tokyo, Room, Every vow you break...

Also, take into account 1st/ 3rd person variants

The "There or Not?" & "When and Where?"

b) Hercule Poirot's Christmas

2) WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?

a) 

• Jeopardy
• Loss
• High stakes
• Posing big questions

E.g. Jurassic Park, One Day

b)

• Reader knows, character doesn't 
• race against time
• race over distance
• the killer speaks

3) CLIMAX

• Start with the setting (opening scene, chracter introductions)
• Set up (initiating event)
• Rising Action (Conflict, sub-climaxes, turning points, attempt)
• CLIMAX
• Falling action
• Resolution

4) TOOLS

• PROLOGUE
• OPENING PAGES
• CUTTING BETWEEN STORYLINES
• TWISTS
• USE KEY WORDS - "Blood", "death", "body"
• CLIFFHANGERS
• CHANGE BETWEEN POV'S OR CHARACTERS
• PACING
• ESCALATION (layers ... think Jurassic Park)
• PACING
• ESCALATION
• CONFLICT
• DILEMNA'S
• HURT YOUR CHARACTERS
• USE OF DIALOGUE TO CREATE "DRAMA"
• ACTION/ SITUATION - Is it necessary?

BUT THE MOST USEFUL...

• CHARACTERISATION - Give them something to lose...

***CAVEAT***

The Art of withholding something forever...

E.g. The Little Friend, Something Might happen, Int the woods, The Little Stranger

5) BOOK LIST

• A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Every Vow You Break by Julie Crouch
• Relentless by Simon Kernick
• Killing Floor by Lee Child

6) EXERCISE

The story starts with...

It was a Monday when I decided to kill Mary...

...continue - you have 1 minute!

This is what I wrote...

It was a Monday when I decided to kill Mary because I was tired.  I was tired of Mary. I don't feel bad about it. She deserved it. What I did wonder was whether I could have dealt with the body another way.  I was foolish and naive.  It should have been another way.

Women's Fiction

On Saturday I attended a workshop on women's fiction, chaired by Julia Crouch, Talli Roland (a very nice author I have met the previous day who moved from traditional publishing to self publishing...) and Julie Cohen.

It was lovely to meet all of them and we generally discussed the genre and they gave their perspective on the market trends.

Talli laughed at the fact some readers complain her books always have happy endings... "I like happy endings" is her reply.

Unfortunately, I had my first one to one so I have to shoot off... You can imagine that I was nervous...

Saturday - Jojo Moyes Key address

I have to say that I was very excited about meeting Jojo Moyes.  I had just read Me Before You and thought it was amazing...if extremely sad at the end.

Jojo was an incredible speaker... inspiring really. 

She told us how she had toiled over the years to find a publisher.  She wrote four books that were not up to the right standard (when asked she said she would not publish them now anyway...they weren't good enough - I am on the fence about this, I bet they were).  She had an agent and they did push for publication but it was only with the fifth they got lucky.

Eight books later things did not seem to be going so well... so she wrote Me Before You and moved with Penguin books.  No-one thought the book would be a hit, but it was a HUGE success and she was back in the game.  Apparently, if supermarkets agree to have your books you are back in the running.  The Richard & Judy show also selected it, so again it all helps.

She explained how difficult it is to get motivated when you are convinced your book is no good, she talked of the dip moment... we all know this as writers, right? The this is rubbish moment... lol and how you have to see through the hump, perservere and finish.  How many of you start to write a book but don't finish? You got to see it through to the end.

Another tip was something called "The Kick the Dog Test"

If you saw someone kicking a dog what would you do? Visualise different characters, give them a reaction, build a picture of them in your heads.  Its a start.

What do your characters do when put in extreme circumstances?

What? Who? Tastes?  Use all the senses... BRAINSTORM

Also, don't describe something that can be kept simple... (give readers some credit...lol)

After the talk there were a few questions and then we had a break.

I managed to catch Jojo later on and bought her new book, The girl who was left behind, which she signed - so chuffed! I loved this and have reviewed it on my blog, A Readers Perspective (http://vanessawester.blogspot.com)

She also took the time to explain the ending to Me Before You which had left me slightly unsatisfied.  I won't say what she said... I still have to review it... but it was great to understand.

A brilliant author that made the weekend extra special...

Friday - Literary Night Live

Sorry for the delay with the next posts but I have been exceptionally busy recently editing my second book.  It is now away with readers so time will tell what the intial feedback will be like.

Anyway, Friday was "Literary Night Live" - I managed to sit with a group of lovely people and was very lucky to be in great company.

The premise of the evening was to hear 500 words from each selected entrants.  Then a panel of three judges gave their opinion and at the end the audience voted by a show of hands.

I met Anne Corlett that night, a fantastic writer and great friend on the entire weekend.  I hope we keep in touch.  She was one of the lucky few to get her writing selected.  She had to read it out loud in front of the entire gathering.  She was very brave and did a great job.  She did not win but it was a very tight contest and she did herself proud.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for her to find an agent...

It was an enjoyable night but I do admit that the agents and publishers were not all around.  Perhaps they'd had enough already!  I did get chatting to a very nice publisher and an agent Sallyanne Sweeney (Watson, Little Ltd.), whose picture I had seen before.

I did not get drunk - sorry! No stories of debauchery I'm afraid... lol!

I went back to my room and felt like a student again... four lonely walls!  Strange but, because I could, I read a book until past midnight... no kids! Freedom...