Jericho Writers

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The importance of writing diversely How to ensure your work represents the world around us It’s our job as writers to represent the diverse world in which we live through our work, without perpetuating stereotypes. This newsletter features advice from brilliant authors on how to ensure you’re writing diversely. Having trouble with links? View this newsletter in your browser: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=130

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NEW on Jericho Writers

MASTERCLASS: Writing characters different from you – Part One (FREE for members) Join award-winning author Patrice Lawrence for part one of this masterclass on writing characters who have a different background to yourself. WATCH NOW

BLOG: The Omniscient narrator: all you need to know In this new blog post, Philip Womack delves into narrative voice, focusing on that tricky omniscient narrator. READ NOW

WEBINAR: Mistakes that make me scream (Exclusive to members) 6 MAY 2020. Join literary agent Laura Williams from Greene & Heaton as she shows you the submission mistakes that she sees, time and time again. REGISTER NOW

Content corner: Top tips for writing diversely Both writers and publishers have a duty to make books reflect the beautifully diverse world we live in. Here are some top tips to think about when you’re world-building. Step outside your usual circles and speak to other readers. Could you help reflect their stories in your books? Research and ask for help. It's important that we reflect lives that are different to our own in a way that is sensitive and avoiding stereotype. Spend time researching this and speaking to real people about their lives. Think – is this your story to tell? Although it’s important to reflect the diverse world in our writing, it’s also important to recognise when a story would be better suited as own-voices. Use a sensitivity reader. You can hire someone to read your work to check for representation issues. Sometimes, a publisher will pay for this for you, but it’s a vital thing to have, especially when representing topics outside of your personal knowledge (and particularly important for those writing for young people). We can all do our bit to make literature more inclusive to readers. So, what are your top tips for writing diversely? Are there lives you’d like to see feature more widely in the books you read? Sign up to the Townhouse and share here.

As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact our customer service team on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah J Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on +1 (646)-974-9060

Three months. Over fifty events. Live in your living room. Don’t miss a word! BOOK YOUR TICKET NOW

Plus – don’t miss: Win your way to the Summer Festival of Writing We're giving away a free ticket for you and your friend over on Facebook! Enter before 14 May for your chance to win. Self-Edit Your Novel Bursary Deadline 17 May. Win a free place on our upcoming June Self-Edit Your Novel tutored course – exclusively for under-represented writers. Complete Novel Mentoring (Discounts available for members) Work with one of four of our expert mentors when writing or editing your book – each with decades of experience (and prize-winning books!)

Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Difficult to catch in the act of greatness

I want to talk, in a moment, about one of the tiniest writing virtues – and one of the most powerful. Couple of bits of housekeeping first. Number one, our Summer Festival of Writing is open for booking. We’re getting great new content scheduled in all the time and the event is going to be fabulous. Our past Festivals have launched many a career. I hope and expect this Summer Festival will launch a few more. Info here. Number two, if you’re a JW member, you may want to know that literary agent Laura Williams from Greene & Heaton is doing a webinar on the mistakes that make her scream. Members can register for the event here. Non-members will just have to peer sadly through the glass – sorry. Boof. Housekeeping done – and I can hang up my pinny with pride.

OK. So: the tiniest writing virtue. A day or two ago, I came across this quote from Virginia Woolf talking about Jane Austen: “of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness.” And that’s true, isn’t it? Her plots were reasonably standard for her time. No innovations there. Her themes were comfortable and safe. There aren’t many quotable quotes. Her social situations are strictly limited. Her descriptive writing is almost completely absent. She is, in many ways, one of the least adventurous writers you can find. Even her comedy is of the wry smile sort. No one has ever guffawed with laughter or found themselves snorting cornflakes out through their nose. And yet – She’s Jane Austen. She sits in the very top rank of British writers. Her reputation has just grown steadily since her death. The heart of that invisible greatness? Her precision. Each character talks precisely like themselves, reacts precisely like themselves. Here’s a tiny moment from Mansfield Park. Fanny (the poor niece transplanted to the big house and prosperous family) has a ball thrown in her honour. Here is Fanny’s reflection: She could hardly believe it. To be placed above so many elegant young women! The distinction was too great. It was treating her like her cousins! … The ball began. It was rather honour than happiness to Fanny, for the first dance at least: her partner was in excellent spirits, and tried to impart them to her; but she was a great deal too much frightened to have any enjoyment till she could suppose herself no longer looked at. Here is her uncle’s attitude to the same moment: Thomas himself was watching her progress down the dance with much complacency; he was proud of his niece; and without attributing all her personal beauty, as Mrs. Norris seemed to do, to her transplantation to Mansfield, he was pleased with himself for having supplied everything else: education and manners she owed to him. And here is her aunt’s view: “Yes, she does look very well,” was Lady Bertram's placid reply. “Chapman helped her to dress. I sent Chapman to her.” Not but that she was really pleased to have Fanny admired; but she was so much more struck with her own kindness in sending Chapman to her, that she could not get it out of her head. There’s nothing so remarkable in the prose there. Yes, there’s a big of comedy in the last snippet, but nothing beyond what you could write yourself. And the characters aren’t so exotic either. You’ll find no huge act of the imagination at play here. Yet there’s not a word awry. Jane Austen isn’t about huge. She’s all about tiny. Take that last bit about Lady Bertram. Her reply is ‘placid’ – of course it is, because Lady Bertram has never been known to stir herself for anything. Her being ‘struck with her own kindness’ perfectly exposes the limits of her thoughts and imagination. And even that bit of dialogue is precisely right: “She does look very well” – a positive comment about her niece. “Chapman helped her to dress” – a thought about how come she looks so nice “I sent Chapman to her.” – ah! In three short sentences, Lady Bertram has reverted to her own favourite subject: herself. The childish simplicity of that 1-2-3 movement, and the sentences that carry the thoughts, give you an almost holographic insight into the good Lady B. It’s as though you could unfold that tiny bit of text to give you a complete insight into Lady Bertram’s every thought and feeling. The moral for us, as workaday non-genius writers? That genius doesn’t always look like genius. That paying careful, repetitive attention to the tiny details may not build some big fat obvious mountain of greatness – but it builds greatness all the same. And of course, you don’t have to jump back to Georgian England to find writers like that. Anne Tyler has the same gift. So does Elizabeth Strout. So too does Elena Ferrante. And yes: I notice that I’ve just name-checked four writers in this email, all of them female. I do think, as it happens, that this virtue of precision is most often exhibited by women, but there are male writers (eg: Colm Toibin) who show you that the possession of a Y-chromosome doesn’t have to be crippling. That’s it from me, so it’s back to that locked-down grindstone, folks. Test every sentence, every word, for its ring-true-ishness, because those tiny disciplines can unlock vast pools of emotional power. And once you get into the precision game, you’ll find it absorbing, compelling and deeply rewarding – just how writing ought to be. Keep writing. Keep editing. Keep smiling. And stay safe Till soon. Harry

PS: Over at Townhouse, we’re throwing a Regency ball. Ladies in long dresses please. Men to bow stiffly from the waist, if you wouldn’t mind, and must be in possession of large country houses. https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=127 If you want to complain privately about the servants, just hit reply. PPS: Oh, golly gosh, you don’t need another Festival PS, do you? Tell you what - I’ll give you a link. You supply the yadda: Summer Festival of Writing. PPPS: Just quickly: JW members can register now for a Laura Williams webinar next week. That’s shorter notice than normal, hence the double reminder. PPPPS: Going lockdown-loco? Turning corona-crazy? Three simple cures: Drink industrial strength bleach. Probably not a good idea, though. Join us on Townhouse. Sign up is free. We’ve been adding hundreds of members since worldwide lockdowns started, and the conversation is zinging along nicely. Take out a JW membership. We’ve got full-length courses that we pretty much guarantee will make you a better writer and more proficient in the arts of getting published / author-led marketing / self-publishing. We’ve got AgentMatch to help you find agents. We’ve got any number of films, masterclasses, webinars and more. We’re like ninja school for writers, only with better toys. More here. Loads of people have been turning to JW membership – and if you’d care to join the club, we’d be thrilled to welcome you.

Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Summer Festival of Writing special How to make the most of your Summer Festival of Writing The news is out! We’re gathered some of the biggest names in publishing for a three-month online festival, exclusively for writers. This newsletter makes a splash about what there is to look forward to, starting 1 June. Having trouble with links? View this newsletter in your browser: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=126

The Summer Festival of Writing : 1 June – 5 September. Three months. Over fifty events. Live, in your living room. 50% discount for members. Join now. Don’t miss a word! BOOK YOUR TICKET NOW

Top Festival picks

In-conversation with Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell Sit with superstar author Neil Gaiman as he speaks about his work, accompanied by a live drawing from ex-children's Laurette, Chris Riddell. You’ll also get the opportunity to ask your burning questions in a live Q&A. SEE THE FULL LINE UP

Mini-course: Commercial Fiction with HarperCollins Join author and Editorial Director Phoebe Morgan for one of five three-hour mini-courses included in your ticket. In this session, Phoebe will delve into the process of writing and publishing commercially. BOOK YOUR TICKET Workshop: Make multiple streams of income with Joanna Penn Self-publishing guru Joanna Penn is one of fifty tutors holding webinar workshops this summer. This one-hour session will focus on income tips for indie authors and will be totally unmissable. FIND OUT MORE

Content corner: Summer Festival vs York Festival This is usually the time of year we announce our Festival of Writing at the University of York (UK) for what is always an extra-special weekend. Of course, the changes in the world have made it impossible for us to go ahead with that event, which is a shame, but also offers us a huge opportunity to capture the spark that makes the Festival of Writing so great – and make it accessible to writers all over the world. That’s what we’ve tried to do with the Summer Festival of Writing. We’ve kept to what would have been the programme for the York event, but extended and added names like never before. Names I am unashamedly fangirling over. Thanks to it being online and the timings staggered, events are more accessible to people in different time zones. We have tutors who will be presenting from all corners of the globe – all live – and all available to watch on replay if you’d rather. New tutors have brought fresh and exciting workshop topics to the table, covering writing; editing; author wellbeing; traditional and self-publishing. Most of these sessions will be one-hour webinars, but we also have five mini-courses (one for each topic) and flagship “in-conversation with” events, which are similar to keynote panels. Our team have really pulled out all the stops here and I’m super-proud of all of them. This is an incredible thing to be part of and I do hope that you’ll join us for what promises to be a shining light in a topsy-turvy year. So – what's your take on the Summer Festival of Writing? What events are you most excited about? Sign up for free and share your thoughts in the Townhouse here.

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As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact our customer service team on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah J Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on +1 (646)-974-9060

Plus – don’t miss: WEBINAR: What happens after you get an agent? (Members only) 18:30 BST 30 April 2020. Join Holly Seddon as she reveals what happens after you land a literary agent, and what to expect from your relationship. Exclusive to members. WEBINAR: Mistakes that make me scream (Members only) 18:30 BST 6 May 2020. Join literary agent Laura Williams from Greene & Heaton literary agency as she shows you the submission mistakes that she sees, time and time again. Self-Edit Your Novel Bursary Deadline 17 May. Win a free place on our upcoming June Self-Edit Your Novel tutored course – exclusively for under-represented writers.

Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

A superstar in your living room

Folks, I told you last week that I had something big to tell you about this week. And I do, I do. The story goes like this. One day, probably in December last year, and in a city that lies far, far away, a nasty little piece of viral DNA jumped from a bat to a pangolin to a human. That human infected a couple more humans, and those two humans each infected two or three more humans, until … The whole world pulled its duvet up to its ears and CANCELLED OUR FESTIVAL OF WRITING. We were all ready to launch it, but with prospects for mass gatherings so utterly murky, we made the horrible decision to cancel it completely. So. Boom. No Festival. Sorry about that. You can blame those damn pangolins if you want to. A stupid sort of animal in my opinion. And bats? I’ve never liked them, not really. Only … What if …? It struck us that we could take the whole damn Festival and plonk it online. That had some brilliant advantages, in fact. Here are three: Because we don’t have to provide food and accommodation, we could slash the price of tickets – to about 12-25% of normal levels. Because the Festival would take place online, it would be open to everyone, not merely those able to travel to the lovely city of York, England. Best of all, we wouldn’t need to be restricted by time. At York, you have to choose between multiple brilliant workshops, because so many are taking place at once. With the same Festival online, you can get to every single event if you so choose, either live or via replay. So we decided that we wouldn’t simply take the York event and shift it online. We would take our existing Festival programme as the spine of our Summer Festival of Writing – then expand it, massively. Make it better. Make it more global. So we went crazy. We invited some of the biggest names we could think of. Hey, Neil Gaiman. Want to come to our Festival? Yes, I surely would. And may I invite my friend Chris Riddell as well? Hey, super-seller Clare Mackintosh and internationally renowned Sophie Hannah. Would you care to come to the Festival? We’d love to. We feel honoured. Hey, HarperCollins, you lovable great Big 5 publisher. Want to come to our Festival? Most certainly. May we send our best and brightest? Hey top literary agencies in London and New York, would you like to come to the Festival? Yes, please, we would surely love that. Hey, Bookouture and hey Amazon Publishing. You’re the world’s slickest digital publishers. Would you like to come to our Festival? You bet your cotton-pickin’ boots we would. Oh, hi there Adam Croft, you multi-million selling indie author, you. Do you want to come to our Festival? Why, my dearest sir, nothing would give me greater pleasure. Because we’re not limited by time or space, we can go way broader than we’ve been able to go in the past. So a lot of you guys will have wondered about writing a screenplay one day. Or you’ve worried about your productivity – are you writing too slowly? Or you’ve thought about your mental health and the stress of writing during lockdown. We can address all those things, and so much more. We’ve got Cal Moriarty on screenplays. We’ve got Becca Syme, THE leading name in author productivity, talking about how to write better, faster. We’ve got Rachel Thompson (aka Bad Redhead Media) talking about social media for writers. We’ve got kids’ novelist, Aisha Bushby, on writing and mental health. We’ve got Joanna Penn talking about how to create multiple income streams as a writer. We’ve got international bestseller, Rachael Herron talking about self-editing and revising. We’ve got David Gaughran, the self-publishing god, on Author Platform. We have Patrick Knowles on book covers, Erin Somers on the US publishing landscape, and Jo Forshaw on audiobooks. And more. And more. We haven’t stopped, either. Yesterday, I got an email from one of the team that’s built the Festival. She had just thought of a whole bunch more AMAZING people to invite. We were one day before launching the Festival and she wanted to throw out more invitations. Dumb, right? A stupid, dumb, terrible way to do business. But we’re dumb. So we’ll invite them. All of them. And more. (Because I’ve got a few more ideas myself.) Our only mission here is to build the most incredible writing festival ever created. We’ve got an awesome programme in place already, but we already have plans to add to it and make it better. OK. That’s what we’ve been up to. But I know you have questions: What does the Summer Festival of Writing cost? If you’re a member of Jericho Writers, it will cost £75/ approx. $92.50. If you’re not yet a member, it will cost £150 / approx. $185. How do I actually attend? You need a laptop (or similar). And you need a half-decent web connection. If you can watch video from your laptop, you’ll be fine. We’ll explain everything else in due course. But don’t worry. It’ll be almost painfully simple. Will I be able to ask questions during the live sessions? You betcha. Just type them in. Most sessions will have a moderator who will fish the best questions out to put to the speaker. And if I miss a session? Just watch it back on replay. We’ll have the replays available at least until the end of September. You guys are British. I’m American / Aussie / Singaporean / Venusian. Is there anything for me? We’ve gone global. We’re giving a platform to superstar authors from London to New York to California. We’re talking to the best agencies in the world, irrespective of location. When Amazon offered us access to their London office, we asked for Seattle too. (They said yes.) In short: if you’re Venusian, we have nothing for you. Everyone else – you’re welcome. What about agent 1-2-1s? Yes, we’re currently signing up agents and building the schedule. We’ll have something to release on this shortly. Just to be clear, though, the 1-2-1s are going to be totally separate from the Festival. So a Festival ticket won’t give you access to a 1-2-1 slot. Buying a 1-2-1 slot won’t give you access to the Festival. We’ve made that separation partly for logistical reasons, but also to keep prices as ultra-low as possible – just buy the bits you need. Did you just make it up about Neil Gaiman? Nope. He and everyone else mentioned in this email are all signed up and raring to go. A load of other brilliant superstars too.

That’s it from me. I’m genuinely excited about this – like a schoolboy looking forward to his first funfair. Everyone else on the team too. It’s been kind of a passion project for all of us. Roughly: “Who in the world would you most like as a speaker / workshop leader? OK. So invite them.” It’s been chaotic. Overwhelming. Brilliant. Rewarding. If all that sounds like something you’d like to get stuck into, then …

Learn more about the Summer Festival of Writing

We’d absolutely love to see you there. Literary agent 1-2-1s will be released to JW members and Festival ticket holders first, but we will do all we can to create as many 1-2-1 slots as possible. Bustle over to Townhouse if you have questions on this. We’ll use the blog post version of this email as a sort of answer-hub for all your queries. And blimey. It’s going to be amazing. Till soon. Harry

PS: Got questions? Course you have. Ask me here: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=122 If you aren’t yet a member of Townhouse, do sign up. It’s free and the company is scintillating. PPS: I’ve got two main PSes for you today. The first one is nice and simple. It’s: What are you waiting for, you noggin? Go and buy your Festival ticket now. Lordy me! Some people … PPPS: And in very different mood – Covid. We all know there’s a global shortage of personal protective equipment and that many key workers go to work unprotected. So Ryan Annis, from our tech team, thought he could do something about that. Just a little something, but something. First, he cut up a Coke bottle to make a prototype face mask – the sort with a clear plastic visor that comes down right over the face. Once he had a design he liked, he fired up his 3-D printer and printed dozens more. (And yeah. Ryan: he can do anything. Like, anything.) Right now, he – and a huge international group of collaborators – are printing as many masks as they can. There are big firms who can churn these things out by the 100,000 – but their masks all go to the government, who supply the hospitals and almost nobody else. But what about the care homes? And the emergency dentists? And family doctors? And vets? The brilliant thing about small-scale local production is that it’s perfectly geared towards meeting the needs of small-scale local users. So Ryan’s going to go on printing masks. And he’s going to go right on giving them away, absolutely free, to everyone who needs one. If you want to help support this effort (which is pretty near global now), you can do so here. We at Jericho Writers have already donated ourselves. If you have a 3-D printer of your own and would like to help, or if you are a care home or similar that needs support, please tootle over here. It’s a very strange world out there at the moment, but the milk of human kindness is flowing as full, sweet and high as I’ve ever known it.

Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Hello In light of the changing times we’re living in, we are hugely excited to announce that we are turbo-charging our Festival of Writing event on a global scale. If you’ve always wanted to come to the life-changing Festival of Writing, but haven’t due to cost or distance – this online festival captures all the usual York magic, and transports it right into your living room. Jericho Writers Summer Festival of Writing 50+ online events, 100+ hours of workshops, talks & advice from best-selling authors, big 5 and indie publishers, top agents, & editors

BAG YOUR FESTIVAL TICKET FOR JUST £150

Over three months we'll be joined by some of the biggest names in books, including authors Neil Gaiman, Clare Mackintosh and Adam Croft, publishers HarperCollins, Bookouture, and Galley Beggar Press, plus top agents from across the world. (Pssst! You might also like to know that Jericho members get 50% off tickets, and one month’s membership is just £30. You can join here, should you wish to save some extra dough.) What’s more, we’ll soon be releasing phone call one-to-one sessions with book doctors, agents and publishers from all over the world for an additional £50, which you’ll get first dibs on as a ticket-holder. Hope to see you there – and do keep checking back, we’re adding more speakers every day... Take care, Sarah J

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Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

How to write climatic scenes If you’ll forgive the double entendre, the best climax is all about the build up... This newsletter shines a light on all the ways that plotting, pacing and delivery can lead to a climactic scene that will stun as well as satisfy readers. Having trouble with links? View this newsletter in your browser: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=121

Webchat: Ask an author (FREE) In our first community webchat with a bestselling author, you can ask all those questions you always wanted to about the writing process, getting an agent, being traditionally published and anything in between. REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

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Spotlight

MASTERCLASS: The dos and don’ts for strong pace (FREE for members) Filmed live at the Festival of Writing 2018, top crime and thriller writer Eve Seymour shares her tips for creating a strong pace. An ideal masterclass for anyone experiencing a soggy middle! WATCH NOW

BLOG: How to write a thriller Guest author and blogger Eve Seymour shares her seven secrets for writing thrillers you just can’t put down. READ NOW

VIDEO: How to inject pace (FREE for members) In this powerful Jericho Snapshot, YA author Sarah Juckes shows you how to inject pace using a thrilling scene from her own book Outside as an example. WATCH NOW

Content corner: Writing climactic scenes using the bomb theory Alfred Hitchcock credited the nail biting suspense of his most climactic scenes to the ‘bomb theory’. Regardless of genre or format, we can all learn from the master filmmaker. “There is a distinct difference between ‘suspense’ and ‘surprise’,” Hitchcock explained. Learning this distinction is key to building climactic scenes in films, and books. Picture a scene where two characters are having an innocent chat at a table. In the ‘surprise’ scenario, nothing happens and then suddenly a bomb explodes. Sure, we’re surprised but surprise fades fast and ultimately we’re unfulfilled and a little non-plussed. Now consider the suspense approach. We know someone has hidden a bomb under a table. We are told that the bomb will explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the background telling us it’s a quarter to one. “In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters: ‘You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!’” Watching the normal conversation is now agonising, and when the bomb finally explodes, it is almost a relief. Whether your climax is a romantic meet-cute, the punchline of a situational joke, a grisly murder or a car crash, the satisfaction comes from watching the threads being woven together, tighter and tighter. And then… bang! Truly climactic scenes stay with you. Share your favourite take-your-breath-away shocks, twists and payoffs on Townhouse.

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As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact our customer service team on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Holly Seddon Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on +1 (646)-974-9060

Plus – don’t miss: Complete Novel Mentoring (Discounts available for members) Work with one of four of our expert mentors when writing or editing your book – each with decades of experience (and prize-winning books!) Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members) Our most popular editorial service matches you to your dream editor and gives you tailored feedback on your work. It doesn’t get better than that. Parents community group: How to write around children We’ve started a new group for all parents currently trying to write with children at home. Tips, advice, helpful resources for keeping kids occupied and happy while we're trying to write... and of course, a space to have a really good moan when it all gets a bit too much. P.s. 3D printed face shields – we can all help! A member of our Jericho Writers family is part of a brilliant project to 3D print face shields to donate to hospitals throughout the UK. Thousands of people have volunteered their time and printers to do this, and they need all the donations they can get to fulfil the ever-growing demand. If you would like to learn more and donate, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/3dcrowd-emergency-3d-printed-face-shields. If you can’t donate, perhaps you can share the link with others?

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Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Winning a monkey on the turn of a knave

A few weeks back, when Covid first struck, we ran a lockdown-friendly 14-day free membership offer. You could sign up for free and, if you liked it (and were wise and decisive), you could convert to a full membership. As an extra little sprinkle of stardust, we offered the converters a quick review of their opening pages. That’s always an interesting exercise, reminding one of the astonishing breadth of fiction. And one of the opening pages that floated my way - this one from a writer called Karen - opened with this brilliant opening phrase (referring, by the way, to a sack of tiny monkeys): Won from a fellow tar on the turn of a knave … You know instantly that you’re in the hands of an accomplished writer there, with poetry and vigour right there in the first dozen or so words. You also recognise that the voice is going to be distinctive, which it duly is. Here are some other lovely bits from Karen's first page: Earl reminded him sharply with a blow from his fist. The old dog would reap a bright forget-me-not on his temple as a reprimand. And what about this: Experience had taught him that encouragement in the softest of tones invariably succeeded in calming a frightened creature. Horse, woman, whatever. Part of the joy of these openings is the delicious realisation that we are about to witness a voice, and a character, that lies several standard deviations away from normal. You might think of published books like Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated: My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my many friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name. My mother dubs me Alex-stop-spleening-me!, because I am always spleening her. That first sentence lulls you into a sense of security. Then my ‘friends dub me Alex’ catches you out and forces you to pay close attention to what’s coming. And then – bim-a-bam-bosh – you get your reward with the delightfully barmy phrase ‘a more flaccid-to-utter version…’. We’re just two sentences into the book and, if you were browsing in a bookstore, you’ve already made up your mind to make the purchase. Or how about this: Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky. That’s the opening of Where the Crawdads Sing and it combines poetry with an immediately distinctive presence. In all these cases, the book announces itself with something distinctive, something that rejoices in language, something that doesn’t sound anything like the book next to it in the shop or online. And that sort of sounds like a recipe for success: invent something distinctive and glittery for the first page. Get the sale. Then tell the story. Except that to succeed, to really succeed, the distinctive thing you offer has to be baked into the story at the very deepest level. The Crawdads opening makes a promise about place and mood that the entire book lives up to. The Safran Foer opening likewise makes a big, bold splashy promise that the book also amply lives up to. (That book is multi-voiced, so there are multiple promises, in fact.) So maybe the right way to think about these distinctive voices is that they perfectly align everything about the book. Genre, mood, setting, character. Those things line up so that the reader ends up reading some perfectly presented whole. It feels impossible to detach any one part of the book, so completely is everything integrated. And that in turn means: no cheating. No shortcuts. A flashy opening sentence or vignette is fine, but if the flash dissolves into something without a coherent original vision, you haven’t necessarily gained yourself much. That kind of originality is hard to do. It took me five novels and nine or more books before I’d really nailed it. And of course, you can be a highly competent writer writing highly competent books without the bolt of inspiration that elevates your work to a whole different level. You never quite know how an idea will turn out until you’ve written the damn book. But this I think you can do: you can take what is original and distinctive in your voice or concept and lean into it. Encourage it. Invite it to display itself to the full. You need to stay disciplined, of course. (No sloppy phrases, no weak writing.) But even the act of inviting that voice to unfurl to its fullest extent is an act of bravery. And your bravery will be rewarded. Always. If you keep the discipline, then always. Find the heart of what you have, the most distinctive strand of your story-DNA and lean into that thing. Make the most of it. Put it at the very heart of what you do. I’d love to see snippets of text from anyone who thinks they are writing with a distinctive voice or an unusual, strong-flavoured character. If you reckon your text qualifies, then hop over to Townhouse and let’s share. Meanwhile – Stay safe and keep writing. Oh yes. And I’m going to have something AMAZING to tell you about next week. Stay tuned for that. Till soon. Harry

PS: Want to share your distinctive and poetic text? Please do so. We’re meeting here: https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-post?id=120 As usual, if you want to chat to me about something privately, just hit reply. PPS: We placed an order for three interesting and distinctive PSes that were meant to have arrived by 9.00 this morning. But nothing came, but emptiness and birdsong. So please hum yourself a soothing yet optimistic tune instead. Normal service will resume next week.

Jericho Writers 4 Acer Walk Oxford OX2 6EX United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560