Wannabe part 2...

Jane Wenham-Jones

The second part of the pilot of Jane Wenham-Jones's excellent idea for a TV show based upon her book Wannabe a Writer?, is now available to view.



Delphine Lever, the brave novice writer acting as guinea-pig for the pilot, goes to meet best selling author, Katie Fforde, who has lots of advice to give.





Katie explains to Delphine the importance of starting the story in the right place and reads an extract from her own very first novel, Living Dangerously, to demonstrate how to draw the reader in.

The clip is full of useful and practical information, particularly for those writers who are just beginning on their literary journey.


After their meeting, Delphine went home and, taking Katie's advice, re-worked her writing piece. You can read the 'before' and 'after' versions here and see how she has incorporated what she has learned.


Go to Wannabe a Writer TV Show now to watch the clip and add your comments.

Many people have expressed their enthusiasm for the concept and their hope that one day soon we will see it as a fully fledged TV show on their screens. And I'm one of them!

Looking around me

It's far too easy when I'm in 'the writing zone' to be so focused on the keyboard or the notepad that I become disconnected from my surroundings. Keen to complete a task or on a roll I don't want to curtail,  I can get to the end of a day realising that I've barely lifted my head, let alone looked out of the window. 

It's not uncommon for anyone, not just writers, to become switched off from where we are, even if where we love where we live.

Every now and again it's good to take a stroll and try to see familiar views and vistas through new eyes.

If you've read my profile you'll know that I live next door to a 13th century church. I see it every day... well, apart from the days when I realise I haven't lifted my head or looked out if the window...obviously!

So I took my own advice and wandered around the churchyard looking closely at little details of this beautiful historic building and snapping photographs. Here are just a few...

The view of the church from over the garden wall

A tantalizing peek inside!

The old west window

The wooden shingles on the tower were blown off once when it was hit by lightening.

Ah well, back to the writing...

Curse of the creative brain

Visiting friends showed us some stunning ceramic pieces they'd bought but which the artist had wanted to give away (they insisted on buying them!), having deemed them 'rejects'.

Lack of confidence in the work we produce is not limited to ceramic artists. We writers also find our inner gremlins pouring scorn on what we've written. But as Helen Yendall's article 'Bad Rubbish, Good Riddance' in August's edition of Writing Magazine reminds us, even the most experienced writers have  gremlins. She suggests one way of dealing with them is to give them a silly name!

When mine starts muttering (I haven't thought of a name for him, yet!) I reach for my copy of Elizabeth George's book, 'Write Away' ('one novelist's approach to fiction and the writing life'). At the start of each chapter Ms George quotes from her journals, aptly illustrating that self-doubt is not merely the lot of novice authors. 

'What am I doing pretending to be a writer?' she despairs on one occasion, and on another confesses to feelings of inadequacy after reading 'The Constant Gardener' and marvelling at John le Carre's genius.

My favourite entry, though, is the one she wrote after receiving an outstanding review for one of her novels.  Several reviewers had apparently remarked that although they can't wait to read her next book, they're a little scared in case she hasn't maintained the quality of the last one. 'Gee,' she writes. 'They should be on this end of things!'

For wannabe writers everywhere

The ever resourceful Jane Wenham-Jones, author of Wannabe a Writer? and Wannabe a Writer We've Heard Of, has come up with an ingenious idea for a TV programme which will be of great interest to inspiring writers.

Along with journalist and TV producer Stephen Arkell, she has made a pilot episode of a 'How-to' television show in which novice writer Delphine Lever is taken to meet top literary agent Carole Blake for her comments on Delphine's writing.

In the second half of the programme, Delphine receives valuable advice from best selling author Katie Fforde.

Jane plans to pitch the idea to TV companies this autumn and would welcome viewers' comments.

To see the pilot episode go to http://wannabeawritertvshow.com/ where you can leave feedback and, if you are feeling brave, apply to be considered for future programmes.

The burden of proof...

Or rather the burden of proofs... plural.

This week the new book cover design for the paperback and ebook of Blood-Tied pinged into my inbox for my comments. Exciting times! I was happy to agree with everyone at SilverWood Books that the designer has managed to capture the essence of the story in the strong and intriguing design.

I look forward to posting an image of the cover here as soon as everything is finalised - watch this space!

Meanwhile, the interior proofs (the book's text) are being carefully scrutinised for errors.

The Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) defines proofreading as "the quality check and tidy up" before an author's work goes to print. But this goes way beyond merely checking spelling, punctuation and grammar.

And if you're thinking: anyone can be a proofreader, right? It's only about spotting a few typos, isn't it? Then I suggest you try the society's 'Self Test' and see how you get on. Click here to have a go.

You never know, you might find you've discovered a new career... or not...

Good luck!

Late summer gems

When I first started gardening the jewel box of early summer plants was so extensive that I loved them all and we filled the borders with them.

By August the limitations of our choices became obvious - the garden looked flat and colourless as the early blooms finished for the season

So in this garden we made a positive attempt to make space for late flowering plants, a particular favourite being the beautifully vibrant Rudbeckia.

We can't remember where we got the gorgeous allium - we don't even know which sort it is but it's fantastic at this time of the year, like hanging pink pearls.

And with a few Dahlias in pots on the patio August isn't a wasteland of scruffy foliage and spent flowers any longer. 

It only took us about ten years to learn the lesson!

Slip back in time

If you're in the mood for some time travel, take a trip to Crowcombe Heathfield station on the West Somerset Railway around 11.15 most mornings and relive the age of steam.

Buy a cup of tea in the waiting room, take it out on to the platform and find an old Great Western Railway bench to sit on. 

As you sip your tea and take in the view around you - the leather suitcases piled high on wooden trolleys or the old 'lamp room' made of painted corrugated iron - listen for the distant huff-puff of a steam engine in the distance as it climbs towards you.

Soon after it arrives in the station you'll hear the sound of another engine from the opposite direction, rhythmically puffing its way up the track until it too pulls in alongside the platform. 

As you sit mesmerised, lost in the smell of smoke and coal, passengers will alight from one train and hurry cross the rails to the opposite train. Carriage doors will slam (very Railway Children, that bit) and with a blast on the whistle, the first engine will pull slowly out of the station, its speed increasing as the rhythm of steam builds.

When the second engine departs, its chuff-chuff-chuff gathering speed as it fades into the distance, you'll hear the clunk of the signal changing. And silence.

Finish your tea, take the mug back to the station master, return to your car... and back into the 21st century.