Manuscript Evening - 5th September, 2016

On 5^th September, the group focused on the craft of writing through various problem-solving activities. In the first half, veteran Bill Petsing, read out 'Mistaken Betrayal', his ongoing memoir of World War II. He had acted on previous critique from group members, and everyone noticed the work was much improved. After the break, our Vice-Chair and best-selling author. Kate O'Hearn, shared a real and thorny problem with her current manuscript, 'Phoenix, Fire and Raynne'. As a children's author, she said she was finding it difficult to write from an adult's point of view, particularly as the adult in question is a terrifyingly evil demon and so was having to do it via another adult's perspective. She read out a section, but everyone said that it was convincing and that there was nothing to worry about, so she now feels more confident about carrying on. However, it just goes to show that even the most experienced and successful of writers need a bit of encouragement now and again. As always, all members learned something about the perennially fascinating challenge of writing.