Creative writing challenge 2020 - meet our judges

If you're in need of some last-minute inspiration to enter our creative writing challenge, we have spoken to two of our judges to find out about them and share advice for aspiring writers.

You can find out more about the writing challenge and submit your entry via www.southessex.ac.uk/creative-writing-challenge-2020

Competition closes at 5pm on Friday 29 May.

 

 

Hollie Hughes

What is the first book you remember reading?
I can't really remember my first book, but my favourite book as a child was definitely Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl - I must have read it a hundred times!

What/who inspired you to write?
I honestly can't remember ever not wanting to write, so I think I must have begun writing stories almost as soon as I began reading them. Given that my first stories were about Eric the Earwig and his potato skin car driving adventures though, I think it's probably safe to say that the stories of Roald Dahl might have had a little something to do with it...

Has there been a book that made you laugh out loud?
Many, but I haven't read a funny one for a while - the most recent book to make me laugh out loud was probably Alan Bennett's 'Keeping On Keeping On'

Is there a film that you think is better than the book?
Not really - but I recently watched the excellent Armando Iannucci's David Copperfield adaptation and it really inspired me to try Dickens again. I had been put off him a bit at school, but many of the film's best lines were taken directly from the book and it made me appreciate for the first time just what a brilliantly funny writer Dickens actually was. 
 
Is there a book that you have read more than once and keep returning to?
Persuasion by Jane Austen - it's like a comfort blanket to me, and I re-read it most years.
 
Do you have a particular time/routine that you find suits you to write?  
I don't really have much of a choice about when to write, as the biggest chunk of time I get to myself is (usually!) when the rest of the family are all out at work and school - so it has to be then!  When the children were younger I used to just write wherever and whenever I could, and my first few books were mostly scribbled in notebooks during their swimming & tennis lessons. I still write all my first drafts in a notebook though, and my favourite place to write is sitting on a deckchair outside a beach hut at Walton-on-the-Naze. 
 
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
It's hard to choose just one piece of advice...  But, if I could give only one tip, it would be: read, write, submit, repeat. The more you read the better your writing will get, but then you need to share it. Don't worry about rejections - every writer gets them, and every writer must learn to deal with them in their own way. I think the healthiest way to handle rejection is to see each knock back as an achievement in itself - not only is it proof you've actually written something, it's also proof that you were brave enough to put yourself out there. Most people who aspire to be writers will never even get around to the first part, let alone the second!  And it's best not to dwell too much - as soon as you send something off, just try and put it to one side and start the process all over again...  This will help to create some distance so, if you're lucky enough to get feedback on your previous work, you'll be a bit less attached and better placed to learn from it.

 

Greg Fidgeon

What is the first book you remember reading?
Like many kids, Roald Dahl’s books really struck a chord when I was young. But George’s Marvellous Medicine was a particular favourite because it was so daft – mixtures of shampoo, oil and gin turning grandmother into a giant and creating massive chickens. What’s not to like?

As an adult, after letting my reading drift outside of school life, I was given Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold as a gift. It’s set in the 1920s and tells of a stage magician, Charles Carter, and the death of a President after one of his shows. It was so well constructed and I loved the experience of being pulled back in time by the writing. It got me back into reading for enjoyment.
 
What/who inspired you to write?
I was always praised for my story writing at primary school, so I would guess the basis for my love of writing was instilled there. Later, at secondary school, it became more about studying the works of established authors rather than creating our own works, so my fiction writing drifted. Well, it stopped completely to be honest. 

I later went into journalism and in 1999 was working at the Yellow Advertiser as the sports editor, aged 21. The editorial team decided to start a short story writing club. We would save our stories anonymously into a folder and then review each other’s works anonymously. After a dud or two, I got a lot of praise for one particular story and that gave me confidence to write more and be a bit braver with the ideas I explored. Some of those short stories appeared (polished up) in my first book, The Long And The Short Short Of It.
 
Has there been a book that made you laugh out loud?
Several. But the Mystery Man series by Colin Bateman got me good. I was once reading one on the train to London, and I don’t even remember the gag, but this involuntary “HA!” of laughter came booming out and all eyes turned on me. I then tried to contain it, but just had the giggles and started making noises through my nose instead. In the end, I was covering my face and wiping tears away, and I had to stop reading. John Niven’s The Amateurs was also very funny.
 
Is there a film that you think is better than the book?
Hmm, I’m not sure. I’d have to be honest and say there are many films I’ve watched that I haven’t  read the book or wouldn’t have ever considered doing so, so I can’t make the comparison. A bit of a cop out, but I found the Band of Brothers TV series much more engaging and accessible than the book by Stephen E Ambrose. I read several of his books around that time (early 2000s) but I enjoyed the “story” version of the TV series more than the historical account of the book, despite them covering exactly the same things.

Is there a book that you have read more than once and keep returning to?
Can I say my own? I know it’s a bit narcissistic, but I wrote Ball Or Nothing because I really liked the story. And I genuinely forgot writing some bits, so I get enjoyment from reading it again. In terms of other people’s books, The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer is outstanding. It’s incredibly dark as it deals with grief and mental illness, but it is so powerfully written. Brilliant. Last time I read it, I only intended to read a couple of chapters in the bath. I got out cold and wrinkle-fingered after getting two-third through.
 
Do you have a particular time/routine that you find suits you to write? 
For me, a lot of the writing takes place in my head. I will spend months (even years) formulating the plot, drawing out the characters, and even writing out set pieces in my head on the drive to and from work. When I actually sit down to type at my laptop, I will write out a rough plot so I know where I’m going and what points I have to pass, but then I just let my brain talk direct to my fingers and see what flows out. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad. It’s like it comes straight from my subconscious sometimes with my conscious looking on, going: “Oh yes, that’s excellent” or “No, that’s pants, change it.”

One thing I always need when actually writing is music. For a long time I thought I had to write in silence and focus solely on the page. But that environment became clinical and cold, which didn’t work for me – especially when I was trying to be funny in my writing.

Once I introduced music, the whole experience became a lot more fun. I like heavy music and some people are baffled that I can concentrate on writing while listening to Slipknot or Killswitch Engage, but it suits me fine. Much of Ball Or Nothing was written while listening to Tool.
 
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Remember that the first draft of your book is meant to rubbish – it’s the worst your book will ever be. That’s why you have a second draft, and a third, and a fourth, etc. Don’t get stuck – like I did for many years – trying to write the perfect manuscript first time round. It will sap your enthusiasm and your enjoyment of writing when perfect doesn’t happen. But it doesn’t have to. Just get the story out of your head and use that first draft as a framework to build a better second draft, and so on. Eventually, you will polish it into something you will be happy with. It will likely be saved in a file called BookDraft17FINALfinalv8.7.doc or similar.