So... you're at your local writers' group, and a speaker is coming. What sort of things do you want that person to impart?

I'm currently drafting some speaker guidelines for our writers' group committee to consider, because we've been rather disappointed with some of our speakers in the last year or so, and thought perhaps we should provide guidelines to future speakers so that at least they know what we want.

We had Emma for our lit dinner, and she, needless to say, was wonderful! However, many of our speakers have been lacklustre.

Things we have particularly disliked:

Speakers who know they are speaking to a writers' group rather than a fan group and yet still spend most of the evening doing a reading of their work. They give the impression they are there purely to sell and don't want to give us any tips in return.

Speakers who are self-indulgent, expect us all to be starstruck fans and hang on their every word, yet don't tell us anything useful... just tell us how wonderful it was that the publisher they were personal friends with agreed to publish their memoirs, and how lovely it was that they managed to get the Bodleian Library for their launch, at no cost because of their contacts.

Speakers who talk down to and preach at the audience about how they ought to be doing it a certain way, and that all popular work is beyond the pale.

I know this may sound a little harsh, but there is such a wide gulf between a good writing speaker and a bad one, and often the bad ones could provide something more useful if they tried harder or if they were more in tune with our requirements.

I have already drafted something and need it to be ready tomorrow evening for the committee meeting, but I would really welcome some input from here, because I feel I might be approaching it just from my own angle.

Any comments very gratefully received! Including those from people who do go and speak, and how it is for them.

Thanks, lovely people!

Deb

I'd probably want to know how much they struggled to get published. I'd assume they'd read an extract from their book - after all, they are there to try to sell it.
I don't know what else, maybe a bit of insider gossip about fellow authors.

Thanks Naomi. Your first thought was along the lines I was thinking of mostly.

I've been to two talks recently where the speakers spent most of the time reading their work. Fine if it's a 'reading', and fine if it's a small amount of reading (say 10%) in a talk, but I went to hear them talk about writing, not to hear them plug their work continuously.

Deb

If I were at such an event, I'd want to hear the personal stuff - after all, the other things we can get from other places. In other words - what have been their greatest highs and lows? What has been the process of getting published? Have they ever thought of giving up, and if so, what made them continue? What do they consider to be the greatest attributes a writer can strive towards?
Susiex

Thanks Susie - that's useful.

Deb

Are you planning to send them a Q&A sheet when you invite them, to help them compose their speech? I know that would help me, if I was ever asked to speak on anything. Maybe there are some questions you could get off the WW or Strictly Writing author interviews?



- NaomiM

Hi Deb, I did once talk to a writers' group in Uxbridge. I did a (short) reading and then talked about the experience of getting my first book published and about all my years of abject failure and rejection (people seemed to like hearing about how miserable I had been over a long period of time). My first book was with Macmillan New Writing, which was a new venture at the time, so I think there was a certain amount of interest in that. The whole thing was lined up by the Macmillan publicity department. I do seem to remember communicating with the lady who ran the group beforehand about what she was expecting and what the group members would like to hear about. I was new to the game so really appreciated having a few pointers so that I knew what people expected of me.

From a writer's point of view, I suppose the hope is that you might get a few sales out of it - otherwise why would they bother doing it? Which maybe why some of the writers you've heard seemed to spend the whole time plugging their books - that may have been why they thought they were there. Personally, I tend to believe that kind of approach is counter-productive and a softer sell approach works better than overt pushing anyhow!

Deb, are the authors being paid? If so then I think you can draw up guidelines beforehand. If not, then I'd expect them to just read and plug.

Also, they may be used to visiting book clubs whose members expect exactly what you've just said you don't want. Maybe emphasise beforehand that they will be addressing practising writers who are keen to learn about craft and aspects of the trade.

But go gently on them if they are giving up time, travelling to new places, addressing complete strangers, especially if they're not being paid. I'm a little surprised people don't want the authors to read. If it were an author I admired, can't think of much I'd like more.

Roger, thanks for those thoughts, which are really useful. You made me smile when recalling how people enjoyed hearing about your misery! I guess it made you seem human and accessible and also gave people hope that after their years of rejection they may one day make it!

Naomi, when you say a Q&A, do you mean a list of questions we'd like answered in their speech? Yes, that's the kind of thing I'm planning to put in the guidelines. Not too specific, so we don't have to keep tailoring it to the speaker, but just some ideas of what kind of things we'd like to hear about. Thanks.

Deb

I can see how these kinds of event can easily end up being vague and unsatisfactory for both sides. A writers' group could be a mixture of people at all kinds of levels; and of course the writer himself will be at a particular stage of his career. The chances of all these different factors just happening to hit it off are pretty slim. Which means the lowest common denominator will rule, which probably means in most cases a nice chat at best, a boring reading that goes on and on at worst.

So it needs responsibility on both sides. Someone from the writers' group has to put together some question or starting points for the writer, on subjects that will best benefit that particular group. And the writer needs to ask for this, if it isn't forthcoming; to establish as clearly as possible beforehand what criteria the evening is operating under and what the people want from it.

For example, last year I was invited to give a talk about workshops I'd been on to a group of SF/Fantasy writers. I knew quite a few of them already but still spent time with the organiser, finding out where they all were on their writing paths, and what approach would benefit them best. As it was, just about all of them were published in one form or another, so that reduced the necessary scope of the talk, and gave me a good idea of what exercises might work best.

Next week, I'm giving a talk to a group of published children's writers. To be a member you have to have at least one book published (by a traditional publisher); but there will be a few present who have published dozens of books. I haven't worked out exactly what I'm going to do yet, but my thinking is to build it around the question of what constitutes learning and development for writers as they progress in their careers - which of course will be a very open question in that group; certainly not me telling them what they should be doing.

But if I was talking to a group of largely unpublished writers, I'd very much need to find out what they want from their writing. In that respect, the kinds of questions Naomi raises would be great starter motors.

Terry

Well yes, Terry - you have neatly summed up why I asked the question...

Roger's comment about plugging being counterproductive is probably a good guide for writers giving talks. Just look at most TV interview shows. 99% of the guests are there to plug something, but if they came on talking of nothing else but product, as an audience you'd feel cheated. In most cases they tell anecdotes about life on the inside - what being in their shoes is really about, then mention the book/movie/album at the end. This is what the writers' group deserve, a feeling of the humanity of being a successful author, what it's like to feel your published book, to see it on the shelves, how the editorial went, what went wrong, how you embarrassed yourself, etc. If the story is good enough, that in itself will plug the product.

Colin M