Writing events – Della Galton.

Last minute Christmas Presents for Writers

Written by Della Galton on December 18, 2018. Posted in ideas, Inspiration, Writing conferences & schools. Leave a Comment

So… have you finished your Christmas shopping? Is everything wrapped and under the tree? Or have you just looked at your calendar and thought blimey, is it only a week away I’d better get cracking? (pun intended!).

If you fall into the latter category – I um may actually be in that category – here are some nifty ideas for presents for the writer in your life.

Up to £10

Novelty pens/mugs with writing quotes.
USB drives for backing up work.
Reference books such as Thesaurus or Book of Baby Names (handy for naming characters)
Books about writing or inspiring writing quotes.

£15 to £60

Book vouchers. (One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was a voucher to buy books from an ‘online book store’. It kept me going all year.)
External hard drive for backing up work.
Subscription to Writers’ Forum (£38 for 12 issues)
A one hour mentoring session with Della Galton. (Special Christmas Voucher can be provided). (£30).
A four week course of evening classes in Gillingham Dorset. 7th Jan, 14 Jan, 21 Jan, 28 Jan. 4 x 2 hour sessions. (£34).
A one day course on Saturday 12 January in Gillingham Dorset. Write a Short Story in a Day. (£45).

£60 to £150

Ergonomic chair.
New desk.

£150 plus

New laptop!
Or if you really want to push the boat out, why not buy your writer a week in a writing retreat, or a writing holiday, (some weekend suggestions below) or even his/her very own writing shed.
Weekend writing course at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. 15th to 17th February, 2019. (£249). Click here for more details.
Weekend writing course at Cirencester, 12th to 14th April, 2019. (£255). Click here for more details

For any of my courses please email me HERE for more details. Please state name of course for which you would like details.

Happy Last Minute Shopping!

All best wishes

Della xxxx

Writing Courses – Five tips on finding a good one?

Written by Della Galton on July 31, 2017. Posted in Short stories for magazines, Woman's Weekly, Writing, Writing conferences & schools. 2 Comments

I am lucky enough to be able to teach creative writing at various venues. This is Woman’s Weekly’s new home at Canary Wharf. How can you fail to be inspired by this view?

Tip Number One – Credibility

Do the course organisers have the credibility factor? Yes, if they are a respected publisher. such as Woman’s Weekly, they certainly do. Choose carefully.

Tip Number Two – Marketability

Can the course organisers actually buy the work you produce? Yes, in Woman’s Weekly’s case – they buy twenty plus stories a month. They also buy features. Which means that what you learn on the course may actually help you to sell your story to them.

Tip Number Three – Venue and accessibility

Woman’s Weekly have courses in London and in Birmingham. They cost £79 for a full day’s course. Choose from fiction, poetry or journalism. Check here for details.

Another wonderful venue, particularly if you are looking for something longer than a day is Writers’ Holiday, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. Check out their winter weekend in February 2018 but be quick because it books up fast. £229 fully inclusive.

Tip Number Three – Inclusivity

Does your course include all levels of experience? If you’re a beginner you don’t want to feel out of your depth. But equally if you’re a more experienced writer you don’t want to sit through a course that is too basic. Check with the organisers. Both the Writers’ Holiday, at Fishguard and Woman’s Weekly cover all levels of experience, often on the same course.

Tip Number Five – The Fun Factor

It’s not all about the work, it’s wonderful to have fun too. Choose a course which has a reputation for friendliness. This is where The Writers’ Holiday comes into its own. Ann and Gerry Hobbs, who run Writers’ Holiday, are amazing. It would be hard to find a nicer couple. Nothing is too much trouble. Don’t take my word for it. Check out their website. www.writersholiday.net

And while we’re on the subject of friendly, I’m pretty friendly myself. Here are the details of my next two Saturday courses in Bournemouth. They run from 10 am till 4.00 pm.

Saturday 5 August, 2017 – Fiction Workshop – summer special DISCOUNT RATE £29.00

A day of inspirational workshops, designed to get your creative juices flowing. Workshop based. Places will be on a first come, first served basis.

Saturday 11 November 2017 – Writing Your First Novel £45.00

The first chapter and beyond.
Writing the synopsis and cover letter.
Approaching agents and publishers.

Please contact me if you’d like to book. I will leave you with some biscuits. These are the ones Woman’s Weekly have on their courses – just saying!

Thanks for reading.

Writing Courses – are they worth it?

Written by Della Galton on July 31, 2016. Posted in Short stories for magazines, Tips on writing, Woman's Weekly, Writing, Writing conferences & schools. 11 Comments

teaching at fishguard — Teaching at Fishguard Writers’ Holiday

There are so many writing courses around these days. Universities run them, publishers run them, magazines run them. In fact every Tom, Dick and Harry (if you’ll excuse the cliche) runs writing courses. Even the smallest town has a literary festival. But are they worth spending your hard earned cash on?

In my opinion, that depends on what you hope to gain. So before you begin, establish what you want and choose the right course for you.

I started my writing career by joining an Adult Education Class called Writing for Profit and Pleasure back in 1987. My tutor knew about getting published. Jean Dynes,who currently writes a column for Writers’ Forum as Barbara Dynes, was already well published.

Top Tip Number One: Choose Credibility
If you want to get published, get someone to teach you who is well published themselves. It helps if their students are too. I was inspired by another student in the class who had got published since joining (she’d just sold her 27th short story that year).
Top Tip Number Two: Choose Expertise
If you’re aiming to get published in a magazine and they run a course about getting published in their magazine, then go. They are the best people to teach you. I teach for Woman’s Weekly Magazine in London, Manchester and Glasgow, alongside their fiction editor, Gaynor Davies.
At Woman’s Weekly with Fiction Editor, Gaynor Davies.
Top Tip Number: Three Choose longevity.
I’ve just come back from the Writers’ Holiday at Fishguard, which is run by the lovely Anne and Gerry Hobbs. This year’s Writers’ Holiday was their 30th! They have a huge repeat rate of students, who can’t resist their courses because they are well organised, the food is fabulous, the locations (Fishguard, Pembrokeshire) is wonderful and the tutors are all working and well published writers. Top marks Anne and Gerry.
Anne and Gerry also run a weekend course at Fishguard in February. I’d advise booking as soon as possible if you fancy it because places are limited. I’m teaching the short story course in February 2017 by the way.
More information about Anne and Gerry’s courses can be found at Writers’ Holiday.
More information about Woman’s Weekly Courses can be found at. Woman’s Weekly Courses. (incidentally that photograph is not of me, but a much fatter imposter, tee tee).
More information about my courses is usually on my website, or you can email me. Next week I am running a day course (Saturday 6 August 2016.) Write a short story in a day. (£29 summer special offer, they’re usually £45). Venue Kinson Community Centre. Please email me if you’d like to book. Or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Happy Writing!

Holidays for Writers – are they worth it?

Written by Della Galton on August 22, 2015. Posted in Inspiration, Retreat, Writing, Writing conferences & schools. 4 Comments

I’ve recently been lucky enough to spend time at two well known writers’ Summer Schools. The Writers’ Holiday at Fishguard (Pembrokeshire) and Swanwick the Writers’ Summer School (Derbyshire).

So what can you do at a writers’ holiday? Apart from network and enjoy yourselves a lot, that is!

Here’s a selection of the 2015 courses provided at each.

Novel Writing
Manifesting your goals – writing goals – naturally!
Writing for Children
Poetry
Short Stories
Script writing
Painting – discover the artist in you.
Writing historical fiction
Writing contemporary women’s fiction
Writing for magazines
Meditation

The speakers are impressive too. Experts in their fields, they range from authors to agents and publishers to magazine editors. Check out their websites for next years selection.

Oh and then there’s the entertainment. The last night pantomime at Swanwick. The Cwmbach male voice choir at Fishguard. All unmissable entertainment.

What’s the food like? Well, Swanwick has a reputation for school dinner food but I thought this year’s was pretty good actually. Fishguard isn’t bad either. Waitress service, choice of menu. Huge breakfasts. Fantastic. But then maybe it’s just the company of other writers – you never know who you are sitting next to? That little old lady at breakfast who turns out to be the author of 40 plus novels or the woman who’s the world expert in chimney sweeps! Who needs food!

The accommodation is good at both but you won’t be spending much time in your room. There is far too much going on and you won’t want to miss a thing.

Both holidays are superb value. Fully inclusive for a week and around £500.

Will you come away inspired and buzzing and fired up to get on with the lonely business of writing. Well, I always do. Both courses have Facebook and Twitter pages. Check out their websites on the links above. So you can keep in contact all year long. I highly recommend both ‘holidays’.

Fishguard is more intimate – around 50 delegates and they have a weekend in February as well as a week in July. Swanwick has around 200 delegates and has activities going on from dawn – meditation on the lawn – till dusk – late night discos and writing sessions.

Fishguard is set on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coastline. Great for walking if you want to clear your head between courses.

Partners are welcome at both. Some pix below to give you a flavour of both but please do check out their websites.

My next Saturday course in Bournemouth by the way is Create Off The Page Characters. This is workshop based and suitable for beginners or experienced writers. And will be useful for you whether you write short stories or novels. Should be great fun. Small group guaranteed. Very relaxed environment. Constructive feedback.

Date: Saturday 17th October – 10 till 4.00
Venue: Kinson Community Centre, Millhams Road, Pelhams Park, Bournemout BH10 7LH
Cost: £45

Please email me via this website if you’d like to book or find out more details of my Bournemouth course.

I’m also teaching at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, 8th to 10th April 2016 and in Alicante on 13th June 2016 for a few days. Email me for details of these if you’d like more info. I also teach at Woman’s Weekly offices in London. Please see their website for details. I’m also at NAWG this year 4th to 6th September and Woman’s Weekly Manchester Live 10th to 12th September. Phew, no wonder I feel a tad tired! I wore myself out just writing that!

Della guitar — me having a guitar moment by the lake at Swanwick with the lovely Helen Ellwood

Me teaching at Kinson — Me teaching in Bournemouth.

Writing Your Memoir/Autobiography

Written by Della Galton on May 25, 2014. Posted in News, Writing. Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever fancied writing your memoir or autobiography you are not alone. How do I go about writing my memoir or autobiography? is probably the second most frequently asked question I get on my Dear Della page at Writers’ Forum.

The first most frequently asked question I get is, how do I publish my memoir/autobiography?

My course, How to Write and Sell Your Memoir/Autobiography is probably also the most popular one I do. Here is what we cover:

Course Content

Ever wanted to write a memoir but don’t know where to start? Then this is the course for you. We will look at compiling information, layout and structure and ways to make your memoir accessible and readable. There will be workshops to inspire you. We will also look at cost effective ways of self publishing your memoir.

Courses are run on an informal lecture/discussion group basis.

Is the Course suitable for you?

This course is suitable for beginners or experienced writers and will include workshops. It is designed to give you practical tips, advice and feedback in a friendly and informal atmosphere.

What can you achieve?

By the end of the day you should know how to go about compiling information, how to organise your material and have an overview of different types of structure and layout for memoir/autobiography.

You should know what works and what doesn’t, and will, hopefully, have made a start on the actual writing.

Handouts are provided. But please bring a pen, a notepad and lunch. If you would like to bring a laptop that is also fine, but there are limited power points in the room.

Time and Cost

10.00 am to 4.00 pm

£45.00

Next course Sat 14 June, 2014

Venue

Pelhams Park, Millhams Road, Kinson, Bournemouth, BH10 7LH

Please email me if you would like to book a place.

Wednesday Writing Spot – Wells Literature Festival

Written by Della Galton on October 16, 2013. Posted in News, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing. 2 Comments

me at Bishops Palace — Me outside the Bishop's Palace where I'm about to teach

Just a little bit of feedback from me this week regarding the Wells Literature Festival where I did a workshop on Writing and Selling Short Stories on Sunday 13 October. I hadn’t realised I’d be teaching in the Bishop’s Palace. Wow! I felt quite intimidated when I saw the building. But on the other hand, what an inspiring place to work! Here are some pictures I thought you might like.

And we're inside the palace - what an inspiring place to write

My group of 21 students wrote an opening paragraph and then read it out for feedback. I think they enjoyed it as much as I did. At four pm I gave out the prizes to the first, second and third prizewinners of the short story competition. Well, actually I didn’t, as none of them were there. So if you did enter, and you didn’t go to the prizegiving you may well be in for a lovely surprise. Do check out the results which should be on the website here any day now. My lips are sealed until the festival has updated its website.

And in the meantime, thanks to the students who came to my workshop. I hope to see you all in print very soon.

While you’re here, please check out my two writing guides. How to Write and Sell Short Stories published by Accent Press and The Short Story Writers’ Toolshed published by Soundhaven.com

Wednesday Writing Spot – Woman’s Weekly Live, Manchester

Written by Della Galton on September 11, 2013. Posted in News, Wednesday Writing Spot, Writing. Leave a Comment

By the time you read this I’ll be on my way to Manchester. I’m teaching short story workshops with Gaynor Davies and Jane Wenham Jones at the Woman’s Weekly Live Show. Click on the link for more details of the programme and how to get tickets. Last year we did the same thing and it was fabulous. We’re teaching workshops between 10.00 and 4.00 Thurday 12th, Friday 13th (oo-er) and Saturday 14th September. Jane is doing How to Kick Start Your Writing, Gaynor is doing Writing Short Stories and Serials for Woman’s Weekly and I’m doing 21st Century Romance – Writing with Passion. We are also doing one to ones – so you can bring your stories along for a (brief) critique.

So, if you do happen to be in the vicinity of Event City Manchester on any of the three days, please pop by and say hello. It will be great to see you.

It’s a fabulous show, plenty to see and do from cookery demonstrations to fashion displays.

Oh, and by the way, if you fancy reading one of my stories, writtten especially for Woman’s Weekly, I have two in the current issue (September – issue 9) of the Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special. (not the one pictured). On sale now. It’s the one that mentions Woman’s Weekly Live on the cover at the top.

If you’d like any more advice on writing short stories, please check out my two writing guides. How to Write and Sell Short Stories published by Accent Press and The Short Story Writers’ Toolshed published by Soundhaven.com

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