A while ago, I was asked if I’d like to do some author training.
Author training? I already knew how to be an author (Step one: boil kettle…)
But this was training to do author events. I’m pretty terrified of doing author
events, and glad of any help to soothe those nerves. So I attended the
21stCentury Authors programme, run by the National Literacy Trust in partnership
with Author Profile and Arts Council England.
The idea was to equip us with some basic skills that authors
(particularly children’s authors) might find useful when doing events for their
readership. As with the rest of the writing career stuff, I’d sort of assumed
that I’d have to make this up as I went along. The idea of getting formal
training to talk about my book seemed a bit bizarre, but when we got down to
it, I was surprised that this sort of course doesn’t seem to be more widely
available to authors. It gave me a huge amount of useful, practical advice,
that I think most authors would find both helpful and confidence-boosting.
The first workshop was about creating an event – we were
asked to think about why we might like to do events, and what an audience
member might hope for from us. We had to consider the idealistic, educational
and business aspects of events, then we had to think about which ideas from our
books we might like to discuss, and pick a single one to stand and enthuse
about. We had to plan the phases of our event, down to the minute. While this
might not suit the author who is a natural at giving entertaining speeches
completely ad hoc, it’s very useful for those of us who prefer something to
lean on if we’re standing in front of a room of restless but eager kids. The idea
was that tight planning gives you a structure from which you can deviate if you
want to, but which helps you keep the basic core of an event clear and easy to
follow.
The second workshop was on performance techniques. That was
something I’d never given any thought to – nobody had ever pointed out to me
that if you put your book between you and your audience, it actually gets in
the way (I think I tend to do this purposefully, in order that I can hide
behind the book). But put the book lower down and turn sideways, and your
audience gets the story, straight from you. Prepare. Gargle. Warm up your
voice. Make eye contact with your audience when you enter – it’s all stage
stuff, for actors. But it makes a huge difference to how well your audience
connects with you, so whatever you’re talking about – books or astrology or the
ingredients of a fidget pie – if you’re warm, relaxed and confident, they’ll
probably find you more engaging.
The last workshop was about how to manage your events – how to
negotiate with the people who are hiring you, how to work with groups of
different sizes, how to structure your visits, legal stuff, etc etc... All very
technical, but to be taken step by step through the whole process – what bliss!
Equipped with our new skills, we were given the opportunity
to do a gig – I was lucky enough to be sent to Leicester City FC, to do one of
their ‘stadium days’, where groups from local schools come in for author talks
and tours round the stadium. It was my first insight into the work of the brilliant
Premier League Reading Stars programme. I wanted to do writing workshops
slightly based on my first book – in my head I just assumed that the kids would
find this fun (who wouldn’t find writing fun?), and it would show them that not
all writing was work. Was I right? The majority of the kids took pity on me and
gave it a go. And they came up with some great stuff – llamas fell down
chimneys, people fell down toilets, and a couple of the teachers came up to me
afterwards and said that they’d done the exercises and enjoyed them too.
The whole author training experience was overwhelmingly
positive for me – they were effectively saying, if you are an author nowadays,
a good way to make a career is also to think of yourself as a performer. But
they recognise that people who want to sit and write books aren’t always naturals
at getting up in front of dozens of people and proclaiming how great their books
are, hence the idea of specialised author training.
I wonder why it hasn't been more widely available before. Probably because this
is a new world for authors, in which they need new skills to survive. And
although that sounds a bit doom-laden – it’s actually, I think, a wonderful
thing that authors are being pushed out of their turrets and into the hands of
their readership. I find it terrifying to contemplate doing events, but as I make
my characters face terror and walk through fire all the time – it’s probably a
good thing to keep reminding myself what fear feels like!
