Picador Notebook Creative Writing Session

This post isn't a book review, nor is it an author guest post, but instead it is a post about someone starting to try their hand at creative writing, and that someone is me!

I was very fortunate to win a place on the very first Notebook session run by Picador at Pan Macmillan publishers in London on 20th November. This was an introduction to creative writing, a couple of hours long, the first such course I have ever attended, and I found it inspirational. 

There was a small group of us, alongside some staff from Picador, and we were led throughout the session by journalist and former literary editor Suzi Feay and Picador Editor Francesca Main. The atmosphere was welcoming, offering a relaxed and friendly environment in which to have a go at this. I have been wary in the past about attending a creative writing class partly because I am very nervous, lacking in self belief and unsure quite what to expect. This was a gentle, enjoyable workshop with tips, ideas and advice being shared but no pressure or demands on participants beyond taking part in the writing exercises, with the opportunity to share the results if desired. 

We undertook various exercises to stimulate writing creatively and there was plenty of interesting discussion and great tips. It was an amazing feeling for me just to be actually getting something down on the page (however rough or basic or bad it was), being encouraged to make a start on writing like this was just the gentle push that I needed. In particular it was incredibly helpful to think about the things in my life that are important to me, and the concept Suzi mentioned that there is something within all of us that we can each write about well.

I feel that I can actually start to write something having had this experience, which is no mean feat as I have zero confidence that anything I write will be any good and have huge self doubt, but self criticism is one of the things that was addressed, as it was an issue for so many of the budding writers. I know that for me this harsh critic will always be there, but I feel now that nevertheless I can have a go at writing and see where I get to, and most importantly I have learnt now that there are ways of both managing the inner critic, and indeed also using it to your advantage too as a writer.

I am off now to dig out the creative writing books I bought years ago and was too afraid to start using. I am still nervous as to what I will produce, and I don't know at what point I will feel able to show any of my work to another person, but I now feel that I can tentatively begin to write my very own words on the page and begin to work with them, and that in itself feels incredibly exciting!

The team at Picador are considering potentially offering further courses in the future I believe, not just on writing but on topics such as jacket design, children's book illustration and so on. Definitely something to watch out for!

I'd like to say an enormous thank you again here to everyone involved in the Notebook session for this fantastic opportunity, and for the inspiration and the hope and encouragement it has given me.