Feedback - Andrew Chamberlain
Last November I cleared a couple of days in my diary and headed up to the Lakes for Authentic Media’s writers’ conference. We stayed at Eusemere House, home to Abolitionist MP Thomas Clarkson. The sense of scale and history there provided a good environment for us all to work and talk and think.
The course reminded me that writers tend to feel their humanity very keenly; the main speaker was unable to attend as he was suffering from depression. Perhaps ten years ago he would have received little sympathy, but not now. Too many of us have had to deal with a mental health issue, or we know someone who has. Some of those present could empathise with our absent speaker; a few were already using their writing as a therapeutic process, a way of dealing with issues and pain from the past.
Being away from home gave us all time to get to know people. I spent some time with my roommate talking about his struggle with spiritual abuse. There is a reality to these sorts of conversations that can inspire any writing.
The content of the presentations was varied; as a fiction writer I found some of the teaching useful and all of it interesting. The small group sessions were helpful, as were my one-to-one conversations with some of the editors there. A word of advice; if you are coming to a conference, think carefully about the kind of writing that you want to do before you arrive. You are then in a position to speak to the right people and ask the right questions when you get there.
I also learnt (again) that the business of putting the words on to the page requires discipline and determination. I am a published author and some people asked me how I had been able to write the 100,000 words required. Part of the answer is simple: sit at the your chair and type! And keep typing until you have finished.
Many of the important lessons we learn simply dawn on us when we are in the right environment. In conversation with writers and editors I found myself really caring about punctuation and grammar for the first time. I am now convinced that mastery of the rules can a help a writer to create inspiring prose.
Since attending the course, I have changed the direction of my writing focus. I still love the idea of writing fiction, but it’s a very tough market to penetrate, especially if you want to write Christian fiction. I still love the idea of writing stories; but I have also started to write short articles for Christian magazines. Additionally, I am in discussion with a mission organisation about creating stories to support their objectives; and more recently I have been offered work as ghost writer on an autobiography that is due for publication in 2007.
Andrew Chamberlain
Andrew Chamberlain is pastor at Cambridge Vineyard Church, and author /of Urban Angel/, published by Authentic Media. www.urbanangel.net