Thanks to Joan Geraghty and the team at The Mayo Advertiser for featuring me – and plugging my book-signings on Dec. 22 and 23 – in this week’s edition.
Month: December 2022
Deeply personal read reflecting many people’s circumstances – Connaught Telegraph
“One theme commonly recurs through this fine collection of work: that of seeing beyond the present and into the weeks and years ahead. We all suffer knockdowns, none more than through the last few difficult years. At times it takes courage to stand straight. In Second Chance and Other Stories we have real, believable heroes who set out not to save the world, but to save themselves and their friends and to make a distinctly human connection even with total strangers” – Michael Kingdon, Connaught Telegraph. Read full review HERE
‘A story takes on its own life when it’s published’ – Western People
“Each story is a delightful read that immerses you and leaves you wanting more, before plunging you into the next one. The book deals with loss to central figures in your life, nostalgia, battles with existential crisis and our mortality” – Tomás Keating, Western People. Read full review and interview HERE
Access Liam Horan’s permanent company-wide Zoom meeting room
This is how you access Liam Horan’s company-wide permanent Zoom meeting room
Three steps:
1: This is the passcode: 22Lounge
(Copy it, you may need to paste it in Step 3 below. Or, if you prefer, write it down and type it in if you’re asked to at Step 3 below)
2: Join the meeting by clicking HERE – or by copying and pasting this info into your browser: https://bit.ly/2SYNjbf
3: When you do that, you may be asked to enter the passcode. Paste or type it and away you go. Your coach will meet you in the meeting at the appointed time.
Any difficulties, contact Liam on liam@liamhoran.info
Resources & Thoughts
Sharing your work
Your work is very personal to you. Nobody will be forced to share their work in our group. However, we would encourage it – critique and be critiqued, both exercises can be very worthwhile.
Giving feedback
Offer feedback, don’t force it. It’s not your story. Respect the writer’s overall aim for the piece.
Receiving feedback
Receive feedback silently, taking notes. Mull on the feedback. If asked a specific question, answer it. Feedback is a gift. Sometimes it can hurt. But try to sit tight and think about the value that may be in it. Use feedback that you feel has merit.
There is no right or wrong way. The only wrong is not to explore the potential in your story. Work at it until you get it just the right place.
Show, don’t tell
Sometimes you’ve got to tell. But showing is the preferred option. Showing paints pictures, allows the reader into the scene, lets them feel the emotions. It’s more powerful and memorable. Shaelin Bishop (great mentor – search on YouTube for loads of great videos) has a good video on this topic HERE.
This VIDEO is related – emotion in writing.
I also like to talk about Describe, Don’t Report. I will elaborate on this.
Here’s another really good VIDEO
Why
Why is a great question to ask. Why is the main character acting this way? Why is a peripheral character acting this way?
Let the handbrake off
Write your first draft – some call it a zero draft – as if no-one will ever read it. Release the handbrake. Let the engineers run wild. We can tweak and tighten later, but in the zero draft, write what you want to write simply because you want to write it.
Write fast, edit slow (not for everyone)
This is not advice everyone will value. Some people like to get each sentence right before moving to the next one. If that’s your style, that’s great. However, others may find ‘write fast, edit slow’ to be useful advice. Get the idea out of your head and down onto the paper. Once it’s there, you can work on it, come back to it, tweak it, tear parts out, bring parts in and so on.
Why do you write?
People ask me if I write to tell stories. No, I tell them, I write to find stories. (That’s my own quote actually – sad to be quoting myself, but I’m sort of proud of it).
Why do you write?
Assert pressure / create tension
As writers, we can tend towards the episodic – the nice scene, the well-written words to capture something. However, to keep people reading, we must thinking about asserting pressure on the story. We can call this tension or conflict. What is happening on page 1 that makes the reader want to go to page 2; what happens in chapter 1 that makes them want to go to chapter 2?
This short VIDEO may help. Search online for similar videos.
What is writing about?
Change? Curiosity? Exploration? Movement?
Free daily writing sessions
London Writers Salon (8am and 9pm)
Mentoring
Irish Writers Centre have a mentoring programme (encourage someone to buy a mentor for your birthday…)
Book signings
I’m doing two book signings in the run-up to Christmas 2022:
Castle Books, Main St (i.e., not their sister store on Castle St), Castlebar, Co. Mayo – Thursday, December 22, 2-4pm
Martin Murphy’s Newsagency & Book Shop, Main St, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo – Friday, December 23, 2-4pm
Might see you on one of those days.