I spoke at this year’s Penzance Literary Festival on The Truth about Fiction. It’s been a while since I’ve talked to a mixed audience and I wanted to make it relevant to writers, would-be writers, and readers.
My subtitle, dispatches from a working novelist, set out my stall and I built the talk around that premise. I started with writing my first novel and then took them through – in roughly chronological order – my meandering journey through the wonderful world of publishing, to where I am today (ten novels published).
Most importantly, I shared some of what I’d learned along the way. What surprised me was the audience response to things I thought were commonly understood:
- Median earnings for working writers, based on an ALCS survey. Spoiler: it’s not good news.
- Why AI is such a contentious issue for writers and other creators.
- Why trying to get a novel published is not for the faint-hearted (or the thin-skinned).
I also shared some of my worst – and funniest – reviews.
Some of the themes I spoke about have been tackled in more detail on this blog and over on the podcast. The majority of the talk was brand new material, drawn from my records and some industry research.
The talk seemed to go well. People laughed when they were supposed to and nobody tried to escape early. Feedback was positive too, although I nearly over-ran. I did record my talk beforehand, using Audacity to check the length, but sometimes audiences need a while to settle after one of my hilarious tales, and it’s good to leave pauses so it’s not a Gatling gun delivery.
Why do it?
On the face of it, unless you have a book that’s recently come out, there may not seem many good reasons to spend precious writing time on scripting and rehearsing a talk about your books (or some other literary topic close to your heart). However, it is also an opportunity to plug yourself into the literary festival scene, to make connections, to meet and engage with your readers, and to promote your standing as an author.
Also, we write in isolation and – reviews aside – there isn’t much opportunity to find out what people think.
Tips for Authors who have something to say
– Put in the practice! The more you know your script, the more comfortable you will feel when you’re delivering it.
– Take water with you and make sure you’ve had a snack before you go on. Talking for 30 mins or longer is surprisingly tiring, even if you’re sitting down.
– Don’t be afraid to go off-piste if something fresh occurs to you during the talk. If you know the script well you’ll be able to find your way back.
– Make it personal. There is a place for facts and figures (I use them in my talks), but what holds people’s attention is the personal touch. What happened to you, what did you do about it, what did you learn from it, and what did you do next?
Have spare questions ready for the Q&A, in case people don’t ask anything. Try and make at least one of those questions controversial, and don’t have pat answers. (One of mine was: How much do you earn? It grabbed their attention!)
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