Farnham Literary Festival -- JOY KLUVER

On Thursday 10th March, I took part in my first in-person literary festival. I was at the inaugural Farnham Literary Festival, running an introduction to crime writing workshop at St. Mark’s Church in Hale. A big thank you to Stella Wiseman for inviting me to take part.

It was so lovely to meet with a group of writers as we looked at the basic ingredients needed for a crime novel – plot, characters, setting and authenticity. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that but there’s a limit to how much you can teach in two hours!

There were three writing exercises related to plot, character and setting. I was very impressed with the plots that people came up with using the starting line, ‘So, what have we got here, Barton?’ The storylines included police officers, a dog walker, a school child, canal barges, cable ties, a car crash and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head!

Of course, I don’t know everything there is to know about writing crime fiction, so I included top tips from other authors such as C.L. Taylor, Clare Chase, Graham Bartlett and Margaret Kirk, among others. I also read out the prologue from The Lingering by S.J.I. Holliday as an example of creating atmosphere in a setting. There isn’t much visual description in the passage, focusing instead on sounds and smells to create a truly evocative opening.

I don't think I could have taught this though, if it hadn't been for the many years I was in a writing class, taught by Elizabeth Kay and N.M. Browne. Thank you both for passing on your writing wisdom. It's much appreciated and missed!