Welcome

Welcome to the book blog of writer and creative writing tutor, Diane Paul.

Thanks to the publishers and kind PR people who send me books and releases about their clients' books for review. Press releases and review copies of fiction and non-fiction are always welcome. (No sci-fi, fantasy or erotica please.)

Due to the barrage of requests from self-published authors for reviews, I'm unable to deal with them all, although I'm sometimes drawn to non-fiction for the subject matter. And because I love print books, the smell, the touch of the paper and the sight of the words, I don't have an electronic reader or review e-books.

E-mail: diane.paul2@ntlworld.com

My writing website:
www.manchesterpianotutor.co.uk/write-words













Saturday 11 July 2020

writing courses you can trust

'Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid,' said Albert Einstein. Think about it.

You can never stop learning. At least, I can't. I just love starting new courses in topics that interest me. At the moment, the world is my pearl (was that Hilda Ogden? Apologies to Shakespeare). One of the joys of lockdown has been an upsurge of courses, especially of the writing kind. I did a short course in songwriting with Sheffield University and am now looking at signing up for a refresher course in freelance features.

The internet is awash with 'So you want to be a writer?' courses. And there is no doubt there is a huge market of would-bes out there. I have my reservations about recommending those, there are so many, all promising to provide you with untold wealth in return for alarming fees. I can assure you that the only wealth is likely to be gained by the people running those courses. The wealthy writers are those you read about in the media who have arrived and it's a small percentage of writers at that. The rest of us usually have day jobs and other sources of income to keep us afloat. And if you're writing at home for a hobby and paying to see your name in print, rather than being paid, that's a different kind of writing. Professional writers get paid for their work. It's how they pay their bills.

It's a bit like waking up one morning and deciding you'll become a landscape gardener. Writing tends to be seen as something anyone can do. 'We all have a book inside us' - as an editorial consultant, if I had £1 from everyone who has told me that, I wouldn't need to earn my living from writing. We do all have a story to tell but there is no guarantee that it will be a good one. It's why we have ghost writers. It's debatable where this quotation actually originated but several established writers have tweaked it and even their quotes have been re-tweaked. One of the most well-known came via journalist and intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who said: 'Everyone has a book in them and that, in most cases, is where it should stay.' Or words to that effect.

If you're not in the writing business, editors and publishers are unlikely to want your unschooled work and if you don't understand how the business works, they haven't got time to show you. A crash course online isn't going to be much help breaking into the business. Nor do editors and publishers care whether you've achieved a Master's Degree in creative writing or its various genres. If you can give editors what they want, rather than what you want to give them, and they consider your work to be marketable, the door will open with or without a degree.



FutureLearn

FutureLearn

Find a course, if you must, with a reputable trainer. The one I use most, for a wide variety of topics, is FutureLearn at https://www.futurelearn.com/ These courses are run by top universities all over the world. They're free and they last from 2 to 8 weeks. I've followed short courses in nutrition, screenwriting, online teaching, music psychology, history of antisemitism and jazz piano, in addition to the recent songwriting. Owing to work commitments, I don't always get to the end in time but I run off copies of the lectures for future reference and the information has all been useful for my work. You can also do degree courses with them.

So what are these courses?  Among the arts section I found:

  • A-level Study Boost with the University of Reading: Unseen Poetry and the Creative Process;
  •  An Introduction to Screenwriting with the University of East Anglia; 
  • Discovering Science: Science Writing with the University of Leeds; 
  • Explore Film-Making from Script to Screen with the National Film and Television School; 
  • How to Make a Poem with Manchester Metropolitan University; 
  • Start Writing Fiction with the Open University and more. 

Home

For another reliable writing course provider, try the National Union of Journalists. 
https://www.nuj.org.uk/work/training/ You do have to pay for these but they're worth it and you don't need to be an NUJ member. They run courses 'from feature writing to web design to multi-platform courses using all the latest digital technologies.' They're all run by established and experienced journalists.

I picked out a couple aimed at new or established freelancers looking for a refresher course, that interested me:

  • Writing for women's magazines (online) with Tiffany Wright. You can start anytime as the start date is flexible and it costs £250 + VAT. The course offers practical advice on writing and pitching feature ideas for glossy mags. It's suitable for those new to freelancing and established freelancers or staff journalists. It lasts six weeks and includes lectures, assignments, guidance and email support;
  • Freelance feature writing (online) with Ellie Levenson, again flexible start date. It costs £250 + VAT. It's suitable for new and established journalists who want a refresher course and it works through the process of feature writing from original ideas to writing a pitch, researching and writing the feature. 
Good luck!



Wednesday 8 July 2020

Edinburgh Flash Fiction Awards

If you enjoy entering flash fiction competitions, The Edinburgh International Flash Fiction Award 2021 is open until midnight on 31 August 2020. The Award is open to writers worldwide over 16 years of age and the best three stories win £600, £300 and £150. Residents in Scotland can enter for the £300 Golden Hare Award for Scottish Flash Fiction.

You need to complete the application form online and pay £6 per story on the payment page. Shortlists will be announced in December 2020.

Your story must be no longer than 250 words, or it will be disqualified, and it must not have been published elsewhere. You can write on any topic you choose and enter as many times as you wish.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, 20 February 2021 at the annual Flash Bash at the Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh. The top 20 shortlisted writers and the winner of the Golden Hare Award will receive invitations to the event.

Competition judges are authors Zoe Strachan and Louise Welsh and you can read the entry requirements and enter on the website: www.storyawards.org/flashfiction

Saturday 4 July 2020

Coronavirus update

For the past five years, I've had to stop writing Bookblog for Bookworms because I have been running Manchester Piano Tutor in Didsbury, Manchester, giving one-to-one piano lessons, at the same time as managing my editorial consultancy and writing features.

Owing to this tragic coronavirus pandemic, I have been unable to continue one-to-one piano lessons and now teach piano online via Skype. I'm happy because of the flexibility and it pleases the students, who have taken advantage of this new way of learning. It means they have no stresses travelling to and from lessons, they can play their own keyboards or pianos and relax in the comfort of their own homes. It's a much more relaxed way of doing things and has not proved any obstacle to their learning. My editorial consultancy has been absorbed into Manchester Piano Tutor Online as Write Words Editorial and I now have more time to devote to both.

Book appraisals

I'm delighted to continue with Bookblog for Bookworms because it is something I loved doing and I hope to build up my following again. I love reading print books. It can do nobody any harm, much is to be gained from doing so. Giving objective commentaries on the content and quality of writing is part of a writer's learning process and is intended to be helpful. Robinswood, publishers of my Left-hander's Handbook, which won a book award from the British Medical Association, are looking at ways of revising the book and bringing it up to date, which should also keep me occupied with research.


This is Woody. He's got an ear for jazz and learnt Joplin's The Entertainer quite quickly at his online lessons. Woody is 7 years old and was about to take his Grade 1 exam, when the exam board cancelled all exams because of the pandemic. Woody, who is off to Spain with his parents for a month, has decided to stick with Grade 1 when he returns but my three other Grade 1 entrants advanced so much during their online lessons that we were all agreed they should take their Grade 2 exams instead once the board starts running exams again at the end of this year. One of them is taking Grade 1 at the same time as she wants all the certificates. Woody has a great musical future ahead of him.

Feature writing

I was commissioned to write a feature about how I managed being in self-isolation and lockdown. This is the end of week 15 and I have only ventured out to top up my online shopping or to replace some of the electrical gadgets that have broken down while I've been incarcerated. Life has been full of ups, downs and ups. In the feature, Brave New Life I commented, 'Lockdown has brought out the best and, in some cases, the worst of us. Social media is rife with foul language and vicious ripostes to other people's opinions.' For some reason, many people are unable to accept the differences in opinions of others and acknowledge that there is no right or wrong, just differences. Intolerance has risen to the surface bigtime aimed at people of different races, nationalities, cultures and religions, which is disturbing. And a lot of people have been behaving rather stupidly and putting themselves and others at risk.

'I'm aware not everyone feels the same but it's just possible I may not want to come out of confinement once we're released.' I wrote the feature when, by week 9 I was thoroughly enjoying my own company, doing ballet, tai chi, singing and tapping (ENT) online and having my groceries brought straight to my door. It was when the washer leaked into the room below, I caught the plumber vaping in my kitchen, the smoke alarm wouldn't stop pinging, the vacuum cleaner packed up and the printer ate my wallet containing bank card and driving documents, which I'd misplaced on the paper feed, that the reality of my situation hit me. I lost my sense of purpose.

'It's a fact that if you have nothing to work towards or to aim for, you won't survive,' I wrote. Six weeks on, I'm adapting to reality and finding my purpose once more but I don't think life will ever be the same again. Do you?

Piano lesson promotion for July

I'm running a 50 per cent reduction promotion for July only - £10 for a 30 minute online trial piano lesson to test the water. If you have a piano or keyboard and would like to try it out, contact me on diane@manchesterpianotutor.co.uk/ And you can find out more on the website: www.manchesterpianotutor.co.uk/

Write Words Editorial and Guest Bloggers

Write Words Editorial has its own page and all you have to do is press the tab on the MPT website to check it out or google www.manchesterpianotutor.co.uk/write-words. Please don't hesitate to send me books for review or news of your writing activities. I'm also looking for guest bloggers. Phone (01614450159) or email first at diane.paul2@ntlworld.com


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