#LoveWritingMCR

On Saturday, I attended the 'Love Writing Manchester' event put on by the Research in Arts and Humanities department at Manchester Met university in collaboration with the RNA. It was part of the association's 60th Anniversary and the special guest author was Debbie Johnson. 

After introductions, Alison May as chair of the RNA gave an excellent presentation entitled 'Then, Now and into the Future'. She gave us insight into why the RNA was formed and the original aims of the organisation which were to:

• to raise the prestige of Romantic Fiction, a genre sometimes views with prejudice and outdated stereo types
• to nurture authors
  

Presently, there are over 1000 members of which 300+ are members on the New Writers' Scheme. There are now annual awards recognising authors writing across all sub-genres - from traditional romance, historical fiction, sagas, fantasy, romantic comedy, romantic thrillers. In all these different genres, there is a love story thread. Looking to the future, the RNA is becoming more inclusive. Alison encouraged us to be proud of the breadth of authors and their fiction. and to celebrate what we do. 

Next was Jeevani Charika/Rhoda Baxter who writes romantic comedy. She took us through some tips for writing in this genre. One of these was, she suggested, 'the bigger the build up or tension, the bigger the laugh.' All the basic rules of romance such as the happy ever after ending will still apply in a rom. com. She said that when comedy arises organically from the characters that is far better than trying to force it. Her message to us was to have fun!

Liam Livings, gay romance author and RNA Diversity and Inclusion Officer, spoke about his life in writing giving insight into how he developed his writer's voice. As well as photographs of his early life, he treated us to some excerpts of his diaries and poetry that were part of his journey to becoming the multi published author he is today. 

After lunch, Kirsty Bunting of Manchester Met, who writes as Kiley Dunbar, was in conversation with the special guest, Debbie Johnson. We learned of Debbie's journey from writing short stories to winning the Harry Bowling prize for New Writing in 2010, joining the RNA through to becoming a highly successful author of romantic fiction. She was asked what she likes about being a writer and she explained how satisfying it is when fans message her and readers get in touch. She deals with big life issues in her books and readers often contact her to say how her books have helped them when dealing with the same things. 

'Troubleshooting Tips for Writers' by Katherine Fox of Manchester Met was another excellent session. Her talk centred on the following points:

• the slow start
• not enough tension
• the backstory
• cliches
• show don't tell
• keeping it real

As she went through each one and gave examples, I found myself reflecting back to my own writing to identify if and when I'd been guilty of them.  


A very interesting session was chaired by Alison May when she asked questions of members of Hera Books, a new all female publishing house established in 2018. The panel consisted of Lindsay Mooney and Keshini Naidoo, the publishers, and Jeevani Charika and Kiley Dunbar, two of their authors. They gave an insight into the world of publishing from submission through to publication. 

When the Writing School's One Thousand Word Meets Cute Competition winners were announced, it was great to hear that fellow ChocLit/Ruby Fiction author, Lucy Keeling was highly commended with her story, 'Getting the Shot'. Congratulations, Lucy!

All too quickly, the day came to an end. All that was left was to sample a glass of bubbly and some delicious cup cakes and say our  goodbyes. Congratulations to the organisers for such an enjoyable and informative day.  

Thank you for reading. Have you and your writer friends have any plans to celebrate the RNA's 60th anniversary in 2020? I'd love to hear what they are. 

You may aslo follow me on Twitter @JanBaynham and on my Jan Baynham Writer page.