Being a writer of any kind can be a lonely occupation, with hours spent every day concentrating on nothing other than the words you are committing to screen or paper. That’s partly why it was so good to step away from the computer and return to a BPA (Blue Pencil Agency) Away Day last weekend. 

Such a beautiful setting, and we were blessed with equally beautiful weather, which meant we were able to take full advantage of it during breaks. The workshops built around storytelling and plot, led by Emma Darwin (author and creative writing mentor) were inspiring, and the Q&A with literary agent Marina de Pass (Soho Agency) that ended the day was most informative. It was lovely to meet other authors and discuss their writing projects, share our experiences of the publishing world, and of course, talk about our favourite books. 

The process of building a story, step by step and frame by frame, from nothing, is one that I will certainly apply again. Note to self though – next time I do a writer’s workshop that begins with randomly thinking of a character or a setting, to choose carefully! I had not set out to write about a fisherman whose catch of crab escapes across the beach because he hadn’t repaired his nets, but it just happened. I suppose that’s all part of the creative journey – but I won’t be finishing that one.

I’m now attempting to complete the five act breakdown of the novel I am working on at the moment (set in Berwick upon Tweed in 1559), and hoping that my ‘tipping point’, the moment when everything starts to shift for my protagonist, is indeed close to the middle of the book.