w r it ing
FREE
RANGE
Fun
with
facts
30 NOVEMBER 2019 http://www.writers-online.co.uk
N
ational Non-Fiction
November is a
celebration of all things
factual, set up by the
wonderful Federation
of Children’s Book Groups to try to
balance things out in a publishing world
where virtually all the publicity and
prizes go to fiction.
Join the celebration with this month’s
free-range writing, focusing on facts across
the different genres. There’s only one rule- stick to the timings. Short, timed pieces
are perfect practice for the great writing
rule: don’t get it right, get it written!
Memoir
Two different elements make up our
understanding of the past: objective facts
and subjective memories. Other people
may disagree with the way you remember
things – that’s one of the challenges of
writing memoir, and one of the things
that give it value – but no one can contest
the objective facts.
Thinking about the facts of your life,
write a timeline of dates and places for the
history of your body. Include accidents,
illnesses and anything else that springs to
mind, such as menarche, pregnancy or
first sexual experience.
Take about twenty minutes. If you have
time to spare, do the same thing on a
different theme, for example, the history
of your Christmases, the places you have
lived or the jobs you have done.- Memoir tip: Focusing on a theme that
runs through your life is a great way of
approaching memoir writing. Themed
memoirs can have double the reader
appeal, attracting both those who love a
true life story and those who are interested
in the theme.
Fiction
In this story, someone has been wrongly
accused of something. For example, a
shopper accused of shoplifting, a partneraccused of cheating or a neighbour of
antisocial behaviour. Who has been
accused? What have they been accused of,
and by whom? Jot down some ideas.
Choose one scenario and make some
character sketches for the people involved,
starting with their names, ages and
something about their appearance. What
really matters to them? What doesn’t
matter at all? Take ten minutes.
Write a letter or email from the accused
person, explaining what really happened.
The form and language will depend on
who they are writing to – a letter to the
paper won’t adopt the same tone as an
email to a friend. Include a phrase such as,
‘The fact is...’
A lot of people nowadays wouldn’t
think of writing letters or long emails, so if
it feels more appropriate to the protagonist
and their situation, you could write this
as a dialogue, either face-to-face or on the
phone, or an exchange of text messages.
Take ten minutes.- Fiction tip: Writing a letter or email
from your protagonist, as part of your
character notes, can really help you to find
their voice.
Non-fiction
One of the joys of writing non-fiction is
that it makes you aware of all the amazing
things you know and encourages you to
build on that knowledge. For example,
my next children’s book is about looking
after the planet and, as well as deepening
my understanding of the science of climate
change, I’ve been discovering fascinating
facts about all sorts of things, from hippos
and hedgehogs to nature clubs and nurdles.
Choose an animal, a place and a person
(either famous, or someone you know).
Write a list for each one of interesting
things you know about them. Take the
one you already know most about and do
some research. Build up your knowledge
with at least three new fascinating facts.
Take twenty minutes.If you were writing an article or book
on this topic, who would your target
reader be? What kind of publication
or publisher might be interested in
publishing it?- Non-fiction tip: As non-fiction can
include visual features such as bullet
points, lists, boxes, charts, maps and
illustrations, it can be really helpful to
imagine what your work will look like in a
book or magazine.
Poetry
We learn from our mistakes. What
life lessons have you learnt from bitter
experience? Include some big important
lessons such as learning, through losing
someone close to you, that love never dies,
and some trivial ones such as not to try
and argue with your wife about how to
load the dishwasher. Jot down some ideas.
Think about who you would like to
address your poem to, and what tone you
might adopt – for example, philosophical,
bemused, angry, ironic, teacherly.
Especially if you are going for humour
or outrage, consider giving your poem
a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
Otherwise, follow your instincts; rhyme
it or keep it free, whatever feels more
natural. Give it a title that expresses the
tone and content.
Take twenty minutes.Focus on the factual in this month’s creative
writing exercises from Jenny AlexanderIf you’re a parent or teacher
and haven’t heard of the Federation
of Children’s Book Groups, see their
website: http://www.fcbg.org.uk