Soundart Radio's Creative Writing Programme

broadcast fortnightly on Wednesday evenings from 8.00 to 8.30

102.5 fm in the Totnes and Dartington area worldwide on http://www.soundartradio.org.uk/

listen again on mixcloud: www.mixcloud.com/soundartstories/

please submit your work to submissions@soundartradio.org.uk

short fiction from 250 to 3,000 words

any style, any theme, any voice

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Episode 4

Stories from Laura Denning and Jean Grimsey and a bit more music than I usually stick in but I simply couldn't resist!
As promised, here are the details for the poetry workshop coming up in a couple of weeks. Led by Chris Waters this should be of great interest to any writer keen to develop their skiils at portraying and interpreting landscape.

Voicing the Landscape

A poetry-writing workshop with well-respected poet and writing tutor Chris Waters

Recent poetry collection 'Arisaig' published with Mudlark Press (2010), prize-winning finalist in the Plough Competition 2010 and Poetry Wivenhoe 2011, poet-in-residence at the Appledore Book Festival September 2011.

at the Barefoot Barn, Chagford
Sunday Nov. 6th 11 am - 5pm

Your chance to give voice to your experiences of the landscape through poetry, word-crafting and wordplay with a very experienced and accessible poetry tutor. Workshop costs £15 – 30 for the day including teas/coffees.

Run by Moor Poets (www.moorpoets.org.uk)

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Episode 3

Stories from Jean Grimsey and Michelle Heatley and, as promised, here are the tips I heard during the presentation of the BBC Short Story prize:

"I set up a situation, then things go terribly wrong – as they always do in my books."

"Scientists and artists seem to make incongruous bedfellows, but they are closer than you think, both are engaged in seeing the world as honestly and clearly as possible."

"I like to grab the reader quickly, give them a lot of information quickly and also to use the voice of the character to give out a lot of information about that character’s background and mood and tone of the whole piece. I also like to be able to control the pace at which the reader takes the story in – all in one sitting."

And from the winner:
"I try and hit all the five senses every two pages – it’s just a rule that’s ingrained – to make it visceral and authentic."

And comments from the chair of judges on waht she looksfor in a short story:
“stories that drop you straight into the middle of the situation and have forward momentum. They need to be page turners, you must want to know what is going to happen.
"Also, since this was a radio competition the story had to read well on air, it had to progress logically, because a listener can’t refer back."

All useful stuff

Keep the stories coming in - a great response so far but always room for more.