1984 the stage play: Angst und Zeitgeist

1984 presents a vivid, scary, dystopian view of the present. 

The Party sees, hears and knows everything people do through a system of screens, cameras and paid informers. People willingly submit to this invasion of privacy because of Project Fear: 

the country is at war

 terrorism threatens 

the collapse of civilisation is imminent

  'There is no alternative'  

Michael Billington's review 
The illusion is maintained through constant repetition and sinks into the world view of everyone. Though I found the play melodramatic and the scenes of torture unbearable, it did make me think about the narrative that national governments like to foster.

There is the narrative of Great Britain: the 'golden years' of a benevolent empire founded on profits from slavery and naval aggression. A transient lead in technology has endowed Brits with the illusion of supremacy, hints of which were heard in the run-up to the Brexit vote. 

It's convenient to forget that Britain is sinking into a morass of corruption and inequality; taking its place as a small nation on the edge of Europe.
In a way, our present state resembles the book group who debate Winston Smith's diary: the myths and illusions of our present day Zeitgeist are invisible to us because we all want to believe a cosy narrative.

The British Empire gave a lift-up to nations that hadn't experienced bureaucracy or prejudice on the grounds of sexual orientation. Missionaries civilised primitive peoples and their illegitimate children, rebellions, torture and starvation are not a part of this story.

mindful storyboards and filling the gaps in the narrative

Mindful storyboards, filling the gaps in the narrative

Creative writers always say: use all the senses. To evoke a particular place and time, include what you can see, hear and feel, also smell and taste.

This is very much like an exercise in mindfulness, to be in the present, non-judgmental, noticing what's special about the experience. In doing research, writers walk about the location: museum, library, canalside, drinking in the experience. In fiction, the character's emotion is the most vital part, but readers need to 'be there' as well.

Reviewing a piece of writing in a critique group you often find that you've left out some important detail, something so obvious it didn't occur to you to mention it. It's only when your work is read by fellow writers that your attention is drawn to these gaps. 

If you're working on your own, as most of us are, how do you guard against this tendency?

My suggestion is to use storyboard examples. Although a storyboard is used to show the sequence of camera shots in a film, it is also useful to let your story flow. A storyboard focuses on the key moments so it's useful in preparing an 'elevatior pitch' or a synopsis.

You don't have to be an artist. You can just draw stick figures and scribble in a rough background. If you pick out six 'story beats' from your novel.

The first thing you notice is that the boxes in a storyboard are  tiny . Some professional storyboard artists work on on an amazingly miniature scale.

My solution has been to use pastels on an A4 sheet like this:

I predict that you'll notice something in the pictures which belongs in the narrative but isn't there. Whose point of view matters? Are the characters looking at each other? Is there a whole scene that's missing? 

If it's helpful you can storyboard every scene and you may notice details which turn out to be useful. There is a risk is that storyboards are too visual. Our present culture is dominated by visual media: film, TV, internet, video game and the novelist's task is to portray human experience in all its aspects. 

Pictures can hint at smells, tastes, body sensations and emotions but ultimately it's  down to the writer's imagination that finds words to convey these.

Researching a novel setting, using maps, editing and keeping going

Prompts that help me edit

I've always been fascinated to see writers' scrapbooks and research notes. Because I'm writing about a remote historical time, research is vital to imagine how people lived

 Maps help me track the route characters need to take to get around the village. I have an outline of the key buildings, the river, the valley and the forest. I can see where the sun will be shining in the morning. 

I'm doing a line edit at the moment but it still helps to remember the context and to remember the feelings I had when I envisaged the landscape.

My book is set in the Neolithic period, or new stone age so I check through the images I have of stone age artefacts which play a big part in the story. 

Cave sculptures like this amazingly life-like creation remind me of the artistic creativity of the people and their relationship to animals. 

Totem animals may have had a spiritual significance, animals played a huge part in people's lives.

This photo reminds me of visits to neolithic sites. This stone circle in County Cork is close to a stone house that still has stone beds and and a stone sink. 

A lot of my research was from illustrated books and archaeological digs. I copied the drawings that might be significant to the story. Whenever I spent time in a library or a museum I always did some free writing about what I had seen that day. I feel this helped me internalise my learning and imagine how people felt when they wore these clothes and lived in these houses.

These are the things that help me keep going.

I have more suggestions on novel editing to come...

Truly creative writing, attribution and mindfulness

There are many books for writers that are designed to inspire you to write and to write well. 

For me, the best books are the ones that you have to put down because you feel: "I have to write now; it can't wait"

Writers often offer insights into their inspirations at literary festivals but the best advice I ever received was from Julia Green , children's writer and tutor at Bath Spa University. 

It has stayed with me and I often return to those five words:

"Get close to your character"

Whenever my writing diverts off into my own thoughts and favourite places or when I feel it's not resonating it's because I've lost that inkling of my character's feelings and thoughts. 

This is particularly likely to happen when I write in the third person. "She" feels a long way away and I need to remind myself that a novel perpetuates an untruth that we all act for a reason.

In real life I believe our actions and mediated by all kinds of random events to do with brain and body chemistry, day of the week and unplanned accidents.  Perhaps that's what a post-modern novel is designed to convey but it makes for heavy reading.

We live at the the Age of the 'Crisis of Attribution'; for most of us, natural disasters are not 'Acts of God' as they were in medieval times but random events which challenge a belief in a plan or an organising consciousness. 
In my best moments I believe in a spiritual realm but mostly I bumble along like everyone else, beset by regrets and ruminations.
In novels, A follows B which causes C in a believable and inevitable consequence of a character's actions. 
The challenge for the writer is to simulate free choice; to persuade readers that decisions and actions have consequences. It is conventional for puzzles to be solved, for evil doers to suffer consequences except in the case of lovable rogues and antiheroes. 
There's a great hunger for uplifting stories to be true and it's so strong that Governments employ storytellers to explain away setbacks and ugly inconveniences.
So my conclusion is to 'be in the zone' I need to become mindful and to imagine each of my characters is meeting the consequences of his or her actions.

Happy Endings in Children's Books

Happy Endings used to be vital in children's books. 

Not so with the recent trend for 'terminal teens' as seen in titles such as Jenny Downham's Before I die, John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and most recently in Sarah Benwell's The Last Leaves Falling. 

Perhaps these books reflect a post-modern rejection of moral tales and a willingness to tackle subjects specifically excluded in earlier guides for writers. They certainly tap into strong emotional events and enquiries about what lies beyond. Mainly, I think, the writers encourage us to live honest lives knowing that injury or disease can strike people of all ages without warning.

As a doctor, I'm glad that chronic disease in childhood, learning needs [Sarah Hammond's The Night Sky in my Head] are represented implying a more inclusive society. Since it's my blog, I can mention my own title: Speak to Me: Mute, witty and dangerous, which seeks to explore the teenage experience of advanced cerebral palsy.

All these titles challenge the overriding perception of a fit society in which 'fitness' is equated to both 'sexually attractive' and 'deserving'. The experience of people outside the presumed majority urgently needs to be explored in an age of hate crime of outsiders: those with disability, different gender, orientation or race. 

Despite advances in treatment, living with chronic illness is an experience of a minority of young people, their friends and their families. Arthritis, Down's Syndrome, autism, hemiplegia, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, heart disease all deserve to be represented here. 

What young people seek is not pity or charity but a recognition that their lives are as eventful and precious as any of the celebrities of whom we hear so much.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

I love the title which alludes to Jeanette Winterson's book: ".. when you could be normal" It's well researched with a heart-warming final scene, Trans deserves to be written about. Lisa portrays some of the anger, confusion and bullying in and around people who question their gender. So why do I feel let down? Alternating first person narrators are great for a YA romance [see Ann Turnbull's No Shame no Fear]but when both voices [spoiler alert] are transgender it can create confusion especially if one voice, Kate's, is less convincing. Secondly, the plot shifted between locating absent Dad and coming out. Some scenes were written to 'create a realist feel' rather than advancing the plot. There's a big difference between M2F and F2M transition; Kate and Leo's experiences differ enormously. This difference is borne out in a recent autobiography of transition: Professor Maxim Februari's The Making of a Man: Notes on Transsexuality. Maxim explains the effects he has noted while taking testosterone which has a gradual effect on emotions and strength.

Kate keeps a log of her male puberty changes and as she says: 'time is running out' while Leo can effectively pass as male. Overall I thoroughly recommend the book, Lisa Williamson is a talent to look out for and I hope to see more inclusive stories like this.

How to keep readers reading

Best advice for novel writers: READ MORE

It's vital that writers to understand the conventions that readers are familiar with, in order to avoid cliche or worse: incoherence. 

Breaking the rules invites ambiguity

So what are the rules about keeping readers motivated to read on?

Plot comes first. However convoluted the plot, it can fit into one sentence. 
Tell your friends no more than that one sentence and remind yourself of it every day.
Keeping the plot sentence in mind helps writers write a continuous story and also helps agents and readers decide whether to buy. Knowing the plot keeps you away from sub-plots and irrelevant episodes.

Beware any changes in plot after your first draft; every change will have consequences on each page which will be tiresome to correct. By all means change the characters' names, gender, dialogue as much as you like but plot is sacred from the start.
Plot provides the motivation for your main character and it changes in a special way through the story. and yes, keep to one main charcater and maintain their point of view throughout.
[established writers ignore this but for first novels a rambling point of view puts people off] 

So what is a plot?

Stories open with stasis: the kingdom is in neglect, doom-laden, or everything seems fine but the king is ageing, rumours of dragons abound. Whether you start with action or dialogue, your novel informs the reader of the characters, the place and time and underlying this: the genre [thriller, mystery, horror, historical, romance] Concentrate on your favourite examples of your favourite genre and you will have a repertoire of clever plot twists. 
You can introduce the rules of your fictional world through action, narration or dialogue. If there is magic or paranormal events they are bound by certain rules such as: having a wand made of a particular wood, or having telepathy only with those you love.
Then comes the trigger, the call to action for our hero or heroine. A significant event brings the character to life [eg a beautiful princess is entranced and sleeps for a hundred years]
Ther character sets out on a quest. The object of his quest is often a symbol rather than anything especially valuable. Readers are asked to suspend disbelief, the wrtiter and the character believe that only this one object will bring happiness, relief, safety or survival.
Surprises happen. 
A good writer constantly reaffirms and contradicts readers' expectations. Stories that are entirely predicatable are boring so plan a surprise for every chapter ending. A surprise is an unexpected plausible obstacle or help to the character's quest. She meets antagonists and protagonists, a wise woman or a cruel tyrant.
Then she is faced with a critical choice which demonstartes free will. Things could go either way. She decides to follow a path which is fraught with danger.
This leads to the climax in which she confronts her greatest adversary: time, dragons, a torturer or an arranged marriage and a tense conflict plays out resulting in a reversal: now the character has changed in some way, become more resourceful or lost the battle and accepts defeat. Finally we have the resolution: the new stasis in which the world of the novel is altered following the climax.
So what has kept the reader turning each page?

Surprises and rising stakes. As the story proceeds the character rsks more and more until she stakes her whole life on the outcome. 

I haven't made these rules up, if they sound dogmatic, they can be traced in most films and books and talked about in plot advice to authors since the time of the Greeks. 

In my view, plot awareness is the author's best friend.

Fairy Tales II: Fantastic fantasy via Tolkien

Fantasy, Tolkien says, is more suited to narrative than drama. Fairy tales are most often represented on stage as the peculiarly English Christmas pantomime.

Fantasy 'does not destroy or insult Reason, in fact, the best fantasy has clear reasons behind it. 

Fairy tales deal with simple, fundamental things, like keeping promises and judging by appearances. No princess is going to literally marry a frog; fairy tale transformations beautifully illustrate how transient human perspectives of people are: changing instantly between good to evil, ugly to beautiful, rags to riches [and back again].

Fairy Tales 'go back to nature' chiming with our evolutionary origins as animals. Humans are different from animals; our link with other creatures has been severed but we must be aware that it once existed.

'Trees are more beautiful than mass-produced street lamps' to paraphrase Tolkien.

Escape and consolation are important functions of fantasy. They sidestep the ordinary in order to inspire us. Fairy Tales must have a happy ending, according to Tolkien 

[though some mermaid tales and Grimm's 'Three Wishes' about petty marital arguments don't]. Reincarnation and survival are recurrent themes. The ending gives a beat and lifting of the heart.

Is it true? is often asked: if the secondary world of the fairy tale is well constructed the answer is 'yes, in that world, it is.'

Tolkien on Fairy Tales

What's special about Fairy Tales?

Professor JRR Tolkien writes in 'Tree and Leaf':

 Fairy Tales are not moral tales [Bunyan] or animal fables [Aesop] or dreams [Alice] or travellers' tales or allegories [Orwell] or satires [Swift] They have an ancient origin with elements of the 

• mystical [supernatural like religion] 
• magical [through observation of Nature] and 
• a mirror [reflecting the nature of human beings]

Fairy tales often explore what is prohibited; what is behind the locked door? Forbidden love, for instance.A spell is both a story told and a charm with power over people.Fairy tales are not simple yarns that appeal to children, in fact not all children enjoy them. 

Fairy Tales can be a literary genre which explores the depths of space and time, the ability to communicate with other living beings, They are presented and read as 'true'.

 Andrew Lang, a collector and writer of Fairy Tales says they require:

'a willing suspension of disbelief'

Tolkien disagrees, 

  He states that the best Fairy Tales enchant,that is they create a secondary world, with its own rules that draws the reader in.

Top Ten Best Reads of 2013

My Top Ten reads of 2013

10. The Curtain Maker of Beirut by Teresa Thornhill

A unique mix of eyewitness account and travel journal, a moving portrait of a country at a postwar crossroads when it was possible to hear the voices of Sunni, Shi'a, Maronite Christian, Druze and Palestinian veterans and civilians. Well-written dialogue and background with extra relevance in the present conflict in Syria.

Highly recommended

9.  The Reason I jump by Naoki Higashida

The title promises more than it delivers but a fascinating insight for parents and friends into what it feels like to be autistic with advice about how to behave around an autistic person. An easy read with a question and answer format. Raises many questions with incomplete answers. 'Why?' is the hardest question of all to answer, 

A brave attempt.

8. Shine by Candy Gourlay

A cross-cultural allegory about growing up with a secret and despised blemish. How 'civilised' society alienates anyone different and how inclusive traditional spirituality can be. Mutual support from a fellow sufferer. Well written and original from a promising young writer, one to watch.

7. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

What it's like to grow up as a teenager, brain-washed in a remote and isolated cult. Tense and pacey. The redeeming impact of books from the outside.Available here

6. More Than This by Patrick Ness

Slow-burning page turner exploring the currently popular theme of  reincarnation in a YA novel. A hopeful book by a great story teller with striking characters. Worth persevering with. 

discounted here.

5. Microcosm: E coli and the new science of life by Carl Zimmer

This amazing book takes you to the frontiers of science about a bacterium which we know more about than any other organism. As well as causing life-threatening multi-organ damage, E coli saves lives by making insulin and growth hormone for us. 

So much I didn't know, it's embarrassing.

 Microcosm

4. Sacred Country by Rose Tremain

Deep in the English countryside, a story of a village community that spreads far and wide by one of my all-time favourite writers. Masterful narration and unmistakeable characters. 

Bargain prices here

3. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver.

Orange Prize-winning doorstop book with a surprise twist on every page. Humorous, irreverent, insightful, feminine, everything I love. As good as Barbara's superlative Poisonwood Bible. 

Don't miss out.

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I would never have believed that a book about teenage terminal illness would make me laugh and cry on the train...

Unmissable

1. Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff

Read my review here

A superlative book with expert narrative, characters and setting, I love it.

My full book reviews are available here

S a new book looking like a library book

Books that weren't meant to be read.

A new book that appears to be a library book with annotations on it.

It's a piece of dissembling but could it be a trend?

S  reviewed by Mark Lawson in the Guardian here

Maybe this is a reaction to the ebook revolution, which has done away with the hard copy of a book and created a double for practically any book you can buy and hold.People have said that the packaging of books will become more startling as a response to all this cyber-reality.

Mark Lawson refers to AS Bayatt's Possession, for which the author made up poetry that purports to have been written by a poet who is being researched by one of the characters.  
What other documents could be released which are ambiguous about their origins?

• A book marked TOP SECRET that appears to have been smuggled out of GCHQ.  Perhaps we have that already.
• A coach's notes on every member of a cricket team with strategies about how to exploit the weaknesses of each player [of interest to enthusiasts, probably sadistic]
• A book of texts, [yes, it's been done]

Laurence Stern's Tristram Shandy is perhaps the best example of this genre, a rambling comic novel which reveals much while interrupting itself repeatedly and dispensing almost entirely with plot.

     Feigned invitations and letters are an regular part of the realist novel and are used in  Gothic novels to set the scene before wandering off into more fantastical realms.  Mary Shelley employs this technique,  switching between narrators: the creature, Dr Frankenstein and a sea captain.

   There is a whole genre of epistolic novels which include non fiction titles such as Priscilla Wakefield's An Introduction to Botany from the 1830's in which Felicia guides her sister through the orders of plants in a series of letters.  A modern equivalent is Lionel Shriver's We need to talk about Kevin which is constructed entirely of fictitious letters.

    It all goes to show that dissimulation is at the centre of the writer's art.

Children's writers- advice from an editor

1/5 books make 4/5 of the profit for publishers.  The FInkler Question won the Man Booker in 2010 and had the biggest boost ever: 200,000 books; meanwhile Jordan's biography sold 300,000 in 6 weeks.  Big successes fund the many failures.  

Mills and Boon are the most successful publishers, they sell 130m books a year.  Their success is based on  a promise to readers. An attractive young woman will meet a dashing virile man.  Every genre promises its readers something, eg Beast Quest.

What a story needs:

1. A good concept, well written.  The concept is more important than the writing.  If the concept can be summarised in five sentences it's high concept and that's your elevator pitch.
2. Practice summarising your book in 5 sentences max.
3. "But" is a useful word:  "Like Stephanie Meyer but with more heart."
4. A strong main character, male for young boys, female for teen novels.  Strong means aspirational, honest, cool, slightly older than the intended readers.
5. Younger boys prefer books about external conflict [eg dealing with monsters] which are usually written in the 3rd person
6. Girls prefer internal conflicts, written in the first person.
7. The inciting incident occurs in the first chapter.  Don't worry if it's confusing, readers can read on to find out what's happening.
8. Write short chapters [eg 200 words] and finish each one with a cliffhanger.
9. Word count: 5-7 4-8,000   8-10 8-10,000 10-13 10-50,000 13+ 30-80,000 words picture books, under 500 words.
10. Always have more ideas in outline form.

With Thanks to Lil Chase.

Why I wrote Speak to Me: mute witty and dangerous

In Speak to Me: mute witty and dangerous Lauren aged 14 starts school, only, she can't speak, she needs help to point at letters on a board.  

Lauren's nerves are on edge after overhearing comments as she comes in to the classroom. She wants to learn enough to get to university and also she's like to get to know the boys. Classmate Anthony learns how to help Lauren speak and after a series of misunderstandings Anthony gets called into the head's office with a serious charge that could affect his schooling forever.

I wrote Speak to Me while studying for an MA at Bath Spa University. I found few novels for teenagers explored the drama of life in a wheelchair.  It's a page-turning story that makes you think.  It is possible to be inside the head of someone who can't speak without help and there's plenty of drama on all sides.

Speak to me is available as an ebook on KIndle here:  Speak to Me and it will soon be released in paperback.

Kate Mosse: Five facts about the French in Languedoc

Kate Mosse: La France profonde

1. Richard Coeur de Lion couldn't speak English and he barely set foot in England, that's the revelation that Kate Mosse brought to the Cheltenham Book Festival today.  Richard was bilingual: in Langue d'Oil and Occitan.  The language of Occitan is promoted much more in schools than it used to be.

2. The French buy French wine, cheese and bread. Kate attributes this to the years of shortage in Vichy France, when people in towns relied on local farmers to stave off hunger.  In the older generation, she said, the gratitude lives on. The French prefer to do things in a French way which may not be the most efficient way. 

3. The majority of Jews in France were rescued in the South of France.  Kate has always been fascinated by the strong links between the land, its history and the people, which is portrayed in the Labyrinth trilogy.    Le chemin de la liberte provided an escape route over the Ariege Pyrenees.  The people of Launguedoc have a long history of subjection to  authority and a refusal to comply.  

4. Pretty villages in France  have hardly changed.  France is highly centralised but because of its sheer size it has a long history of independent local government.  Kate feels  French villages and towns have resisted economic change and redevelopment more effectively than the Brits. . However, some villages in the south of France have a larger population of ex-pat Brits than French people. 

5. Winters are cold in Provence.  Brits tend to forget about the Tramontane, the strong northerly  wind that chills to the bone in winter. It's not all hot sun, it's hotter in summer and cooler in winter than Britain.

Reflections on self publishing: costs, break even point, ISBN's

I spent an hour today talking to a director of a self publishing press.

Whether to buy an ISBN

An ISBN for a tree book is linked to a book distributor such as lightningsource. Waterstones are supplied by Gardners book wholesale distributors, few books are accepted direct from authors.

Break even point

The cost of setting up Print on demand varies but may be around £795 PLUS the cost of editing, about £325 for a 50,000 word book altogether about £1200.

The break even point would be around 1,000 books even if a publisher offers 70% of profits because: Printing costs about half the retail price of the book [ eg £3.50, I'm aiming for a retail price of £6.99] Amazon take a further 30%, that leaves about £1/book.  Bookshops take even more, leaving £0 or -£1 profit per book. 

Debut authors I've met have achieved about 300 book sales in the first year even with intensive marketing via bookshop launches, signings, school visits and literary festival events. 

Getting your book noticed

Publishers have access to Nielsen's Pub Web and can fill in the book's description fields: author, product, contents, reviews, as an author of an ebook with an ISBN you'd need to pay a fee of £150 to Nielsen to have the same facility.

A subtitle helps if it describes the drama of the central character: eg "Stolen: a letter to my captor" by  Lucy Christopher

Play the 'local author' card, media are often more interested in the person than the book and the quality of the writing.  

Wherever possible, include a back page giving your website, blog and the title of your next novel, inviting pre-orders.

With thanks to Miles Bailey of Choir Press

"Local author" Promote and Market yourself

   With Thanks to Colleen Laybourne-Smith
 Colleen biographyWho is published by Book Guild through their partnership scheme.  

Last year 3,000 people applied to become partners at the Book Guild and Colleen was one of 85 whose picture book for 5-8 year olds was accepted. In partnership, the author pays the cost of the first print run and receives 30% of the total price of each book sold

The initial Waterstones book launch.  Choose the most local branch .

• Phone local papers and magazines in advance

• Invite friends, relatives, contacts, fellow authors and inform the branch of pre-orders, bring your own copies to sell and use commercial book holders, pretty soft toys and a stand to make an eye-catching display.  

• Use a banner with picture of the book: TITLE, GENRE, AUTHOR, BOOK SIGNING TODAY, PRICE, AGE RANGE  Have matching cards and book marks with links to a website.

• Position your table near related books where you can talk to parents looking for a book: personalise your dedication for a christening or birthday.

Send out review copies, update your author page on Amazon, try to interest libraries, Google your ISBN, title and name: you may find people mention the book in remote places.

Subsequent Waterstones launches: "Local author" is a moveable feast: where you were born, where you went to primary school, secondary school, any previous towns you lived in, where your grandparents live or your present home. Let them know how many books were sold at the initial launch.

• Set clear goals: number of books to sell or sales ranking at Amazon or Waterstones sales rankings also number of blog site hits.

• Further events: Involve independent booksellers, mention them in press articles and ask if they will stock your book in return.  

First lines: Free Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: First Lines

for Year 8/9

Could be adapted for younger age groups

	Groups, timing	content	A/V aids
Introduction:	Plenary 5 minutes	In this hour we will 1. Focus on first lines  2. Read aloud 3. Develop the Inner Critic 4. Do some creative writing	Aims projected overhead
Reading first lines	5 minutes	Go round. Read these first lines aloud to the class with expression [give example]	Handout: 12 first lines [see below]
Ready to write?	1 minute	Have you heard enough to write your own?
Reading First lines	5 minutes	[if needed] Continue go round	12 more first lines
Write 3 first lines for a poem, story or novel	Individual, 5 minutes	Creative writing	Paper and pens
More time	5 minutes	Individual
Select the most powerful.	5 minutes	Look critically at the three lines and mark the most powerful one, the one that prompts you to write more
Read your chosen first line to a partner.	In pairs, 5 minutes	Talk about what you think of when you read your chosen first line
Change over	In pairs, 5 minutes	Listen carefully and discuss your partner’s first line.  It’s your chance to develop your Inner Critic.
Creative writing	Individual, 10 minutes	Write your first line at the top of a page and do some free writing.  Try to write without stopping to think.
Reading your work aloud	In pairs or a plenary, depending on confidence level of learners. 8 minutes	Share your writing with members of the group
Summary	1 minute	Well done, today you’ve done some creative writing and thought about first lines.

Sample: 12 First Lines

1.  My name is Elizabeth but no one calls me that. 
2. For the first time in his life Indigo Casson had been properly ill.
3. I should be arrested for this.
4. Paige Owen slapped a tarot card on the back seat of the bus.
5.  I didn’t notice the men at first.
6.  It hit me when I was power walking on the treadmill at home, watching a Friends re-run for about the ninetieth time.
7.  You saw me before I saw you.
8.  It’s the end of August, my last day on the island of Ailla.
9.  “Honestly, Mrs Hadley,” said Mrs McGregor, wiping her eyes. “That sense of humour of yours will be the death of me yet.”
10. I need you to hold it in your head, this picture of Sam Lopez when he arrived at my front door.
11. Monday.  I came home after a crap day at school.
12. The first thing you find when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say.

1.        Meg Rosoff, How I Live Now
2.         Hilary McKay, Indigo’s Star
3.         Morris Gleitzman, Girl underground
4.        Elen Caldicott, The Mystery of Caldicott Manor
5.               Ruth Eastham, The Messenger Bird
6.        Randa Abdel-Fattah, Does my Head Look Big in this?
7.         Lucy Christopher, Stolen, a letter to my captor
8.        Julia Green, Bringing the Summer
9.         Malorie Blackman, Noughts and Crosses
10.       Terence Blacker, Boy 2 Girl 
11.            Maxine Linnell, Closer.
12.       Patrick Ness, The Knife of never letting go