Speed Pitching - The Dragon's Den

I went to an excellent event in Tauranga the other night – Speed Pitching.  Organised by the Tauranga Writer’s Group, it was highly entertaining.

Twelve anxious contestants took the stage to pitch their various fiction and non-fiction writing projects and were then queried by the judges.  There was none of the sarcasm, superiority or cruel questions of the televised Dragon’s Den and all the pitches were presented with enthusiasm.

The judges/dragons were a polite panel of learned New Zealanders: 

Joanne Rye McGregor, a local film director who also organised the local film collective to film the event.   

Sue Emms, author and creative writing tutor at Waiariki Institute of Technology.  Read about their excellent online writing courses  at www.waiariki.ac.nz  - I took the Focus on Fiction course there last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 

The last judge was Mark Houlahan, described as an academic, literary expert and reviewer.  He also happens to be a senior lecturer at Waikato university.

Chairing the night and cheering the nervous contestants was the charming Tommy ‘Kapai’ Wilson – writer and columnist - who not only introduced us to each person pitching, told us hilarious anecdotes and teased the dragons, but threw in a Te Reo Maori lesson in the process. I loved the way he kept encouraging us, the reserved kiwi audience, to pakipaki (clap).

The audience of sixty or so people voted, the scores were tallied and a people’s choice award was given to Tauranga Writer’s group member Lee Murray for her sassy presentation which included a happy mix of running, pigtails and chick lit.

The overall winner, awarded guaranteed reading by a publisher and a year’s free mentoring to finish the project, was Suzanne Hansen.  Her non-fiction project is a book based on her involvement and sightings of UFO’s in New Zealand.  She appeared on 60 minutes and has been lobbying the Defence Minister to release NZ's classified UFO files. After more than a year these files have been declassified and sent to archives. 

Although the public will not have access, there is the possibility that she may be allowed to view them at some stage under certain conditions. Check out her website: www.ufocusnz.org.nz

She has an excellent platform for a non-fiction book and the judges made a fair decision. 

We're hoping speed pitching will become an annual event and who knows, I might even give it a go next year!

Getting Started: Part Two

Stuck for writing ideas? Need some inspiration to reboot the old brain? Try these for size:






Idea bank

Get yourself a notebook and pen or get thee to an iPhone/iPad. Take it with you everywhere and become an eavesdropping, snippet-pinching thief.

I'm not talking about plagiarism. Just record your impressions of the public realm:

-Eavesdrop on people's conversations and write down the weird things they talk about.
-Watch people in cafes and describe their facial expressions.
-Listen to conversations on the bus or in shops and pilfer words and colloquialisms and mannerisms.

If it’s interesting to you now, no doubt it will still be interesting to you when you go to develop a character for your next short story or novel.

Expose yourself...to other forms of art:

-go to an art or photography exhibition. Picture trumps words, or so they say.
-Attend the ballet, opera or a play
-Watch television. I know, what an ordeal! But some television programmes have excellent plot lines, snappy dialogue and really hot guys. What’s not to like?

Read

Sounds so obvious but reading books, especially those outside your comfort zone, will almost always get you through a dry spot. Other people’s ideas kick start yours.

If you don’t like romances, or fantasy or thrillers – read one. There’s a reason why these books sell millions of copies and while you may struggle to get beyond the first chapter, persevere and you might just learn something.

Live

Do yoga, meet and talk to people who are different to you, travel, explore, discover…

Getting Started: Part One

Getting started on a writing project of any kind is often the hardest part.

Sometimes it’s because you can’t come up with any ideas, despite really wanting to write.


At other times you have a zillion great ideas but after a page, a paragraph or even one sentence, they fizzle out in to nothing and you lose interest.

For me, it was about self-doubt in my ability not just to write fiction but to finish fiction. I kept thinking about the huge, monstrous, time-consuming enormity of a novel. How on earth was I going to manage it?

Sometimes a check list of questions can be just the thing to give you a creativity kickstart.

1) Where is my story set? Setting can be central to a story or lurking in the background. Will your setting impact on your characters in some way? What time of the year is it? Will your story be set in present, the past or the future?

2) Who are my characters? Give your characters one of those quirky job interviews – ‘if you were an animal, what would you be? What’s your strongest trait? What is your weakness? What’s your star sign? Are you a team player?

3) Now combine what you've learned about setting and characters...What’s happening around your characters? Breathe in; use your senses – what are the smells, sights, sounds and tastes of your scene or story. How do your characters reaact to the setting you've created?

Wrap your head around these three for a starter and see where it takes you...