Creative Factory workshop

I often use Story Cubes at schools and workshops to get ideas started. They’re a really useful and fun tool, and they prove that even the most reluctant storyteller can come up with ideas. I recently did a workshop for the Creative Factory in Stockton-on-Tees. Creative Factory is a group of young people who meet weekly to learn about performance and acting from the very talented Ree Collins. Improvisation can be a big part of acting so they took to the Story Cubes like ducks to water. Here’s Luke showing how it’s done:

Thanks to Tee Yo Media for filming the event. You can read their blog post here.

June Edit – part 5

“Here’s the challenge, Niel: you’ve got a month to do the next draft of The Death of Goldilocks. Thirty three chapters in thirty days. Are you in?”

Yeah, I was in all right, right up to my neck! It was a good idea but hopelessly optimistic! (I might get that put on my tombstone.) I’m about halfway through the edit – page 126, somewhere in chapter 15. Lots still to do! So bring it on, July!

June Edit – part 4 – Euston reccy

Eversholt Street Research

Eversholt Street shops and cafés

Chapter 14 is my home now. Almost halfway. Ah well, I’ll finish when I finish, but it’s not going to be by the end of the month, that’s for sure!

Still, I’ve made some good progress this week, and even did a reccy of some of the book’s London locations. I took a walk up and down Eversholt Street which is home to my two main characters. A lot of the early action takes place around their home, including a shop and cafe. I took pictures of most of the shops on the street to help me get the feel of the location right. I’m not using any existing shops in my story (although I’m so tempted to use the Skylight Café, given my story’s subject matter, but no one would ever believe it wasn’t a made-up cheesy pun!) but these pictures give a flavour of the places I’m describing.

Eversholt flats

Flats on Eversholt Street

It’s always really useful to walk through the locations. Google maps gets you so far but there’s so much more to learn by walking in your character’s footsteps. I’d imagined the character’s flat to be a bit more modern but the reality of the current houses on Eversholt Street are more run-down than I’d expected. They’ve got an earthy quality which I like but I’d never have known that without taking a stroll!

 

 

Next I walked to St Pancras Church which is just over the road from Euston Station. It’s a beautiful old church where my characters find sanctuary. I spent several minutes sat inside, imagining the events of my book taking place around me. As well as being really useful it was also a very relaxing and quiet moment. The reccy really helped to cement the story in my mind and it’s a process I’d recommend to other writers.

St Pancras Church 02

Outside St Pancras Church

St Pancras Church 03

Inside St Pancras Church

St Pancras Church 01

June Edit – part 3

This is like wading through treacle! The last few chapters are almost completely new so I’m waaay behind where I wanted to be. That said there’s been some interesting stuff gone into this draft. I’ll need to re-read it all to make sure I’m happy with it at the end but I think it’s OK so far. I’m just starting Chapter 10 so finishing by the end of the month is looking wildly optimistic!

June Edit – part 2

One week in to my June editing challenge and I’m doing OK. I’m up to  chapter 7, so I’m a bit behind schedule, but one of those chapters is almost completely new. I’m hoping I can pick up some pace this week but I’m entering a part of the book that needs some serious thought. One of the characters is going to be edited out and another will have to change quite drastically. Who knows where I’ll be at next Monday!

Scissors

“Something followed me out of my dream.

No, not some thing. Some one. Someone followed me out of my dream. He’s watching me now from the end of the bed.

He’s called Scissors.”

I’ve just finished a short story for the National Literacy Trust for their Premier League Reading Stars programme. Scissors is a creepy story about a boy who finds he’s not alone after a vivid dream. The story is told in ten chapters, each of which is meant to be read out loud to a class of children (9-12 years old) and leave them wanting more! Each part can be read in under five minutes and can be used to stimulate discussion and creative writing. You can download and read it here. If you use it in your class please do let me know how it went down.

Premier League Reading Stars is a partnership between the National Literacy Trust and the Premier League. It is a reading intervention programme that captures the motivational power of football to inspire young people to read more and to improve their literacy skills. It delivers statutory requirements of the new national curriculum. Over the past three years, thousands of children have used Premier League Reading Stars to raise their attainment. In 2014, 3 out of 4 children made at least 6 months’ progress in reading in just 10 weeks; 1 child in 3 made a year’s progress, or more.

The programme includes lots of exclusive short stories by some of the UK’s most talented children’s authors. Take a look at some of the other stories here: Tom Palmer, Justin Somper, Tommy Donbavand, Neil Arksey, Helena Pielichaty, David Bedford, Alan Gibbons, Jonny Zucker, Barry Hutchison, Paul Cookson, Sam Gayton, Dan Freedman and me [PDFs]

June Edit – part 1

“Here’s the challenge, Niel: you’ve got a month to do the next draft of The Death of Goldilocks. Thirty three chapters in thirty days. Are you in?”

This is the voice in my head, always challenging me, always taunting me, except when it’s singing songs I hate, or deleting important memories and replacing them with detailed plot breakdowns of ancient TV shows. On the face of it this seems an achievable challenge; one-ish chapter a day over the next month, then I’ve got draft 4 sorted! But it’s never that easy. Some chapters will whiz by, others are going to take days! Lots of days! And it’s not like I don’t do other stuff to do. I’ve got an animation project for a CBBC show to finish, mentoring for various digital companies, author events, not to mention real life! This could be a tricky challenge.

“Go on! You can do it! Probably… Hey, why not blog about it then, if you fail, everyone will know!”

Or it might just push me to get the job done. So here goes – thirty three chapters in thirty days. What could possibly go wrong?

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