Slides from the Writers' Workshop at Arts4Every1 in High Wycombe, on December 12th 2015! http://www.arts4every1.com

1. Words4Every1
Writers’ Group:
December 12th

2. Introduction
Words4Every1 Writers’ Group: DECEMBER 12th
TIMINGS:
- 3:00 PM: Dane’s Writing Journey
- 3:30 PM: Writing Activity
- 4:00 PM: Editing Workshops
- 4:30 PM: Guest Speaker: Dave Ford

3. Introduction
Words4Every1 Writers’ Group: DECEMBER 12th
TIMINGS:
- 5:15 PM: Break/Networking
- 5:30 PM: Readings/Performances
- 6:00 PM: Pub!

4. Introduction
Your Host
Hi, I’m Dane
- Social media marketing specialist of four years
- Author, poet and musician
- Debut novella – No Rest for the Wicked – available now
- Industry speaker/commentator
- General Arts4Every1 busybody

5. Last Time
Last Time
- Writing Challenge: Childhood
- Author Elaine Will talked graphic novels and Look Straight Ahead
- Live-writing in the church
- Writing activities from Dane and Lorraine
- Awesome performances

6. Dane’s Writing Journey

7. Dane’s Writing Journey
The Early Years
- I was born in June 1989, with jaundice! 
- Grew up in Tamworth, Staffordshire
- We once ranked #3 on ChavTowns.co.uk!
- Dad’s an accountant, mom’s a nurse
- That’s me on the right – more awkward photos are
coming…

8. Dane’s Writing Journey
First Forays into songwriting
- I always loved music
- When I was five, I started writing ‘songs’
- These were just lyrics and melodies, often based on
existing songs
- There are some recordings, but I’m not going to play them
- Lyrical gems include: “Well my gran’s 54, she sits on the
floor.” She’s now 72.

9. Dane’s Writing Journey
Learning to play guitar
- Started at about thirteen
- My dad taught me to read guitar tab and I went from there
- This renewed my interest in music and allowed me to add
music to my lyrics and melodies
- The first song I ever learned: Where Did You Sleep Last
Night?
- The first song I wrote on guitar: Tonight

10. Dane’s Writing Journey
The Results
- Released ‘Nocturne’ in 2010
- All home recorded, exactly 72 minutes long
- A follow up, ‘Sketches’, is pretty much ready to go
- Approx. 200 songs written
- Also covered over 100 songs as part of my ‘One Man
Band’ series

11. Dane’s Writing Journey
Moving into Poetry
- Poems came as a natural evolution from lyrics
- Started writing cliché stuff – rhyming stuff about
how much I hated life
- Continued writing them and got slowly better,
and then I developed anxiety disorder
- ‘Anxious Words’ was born – I started writing a
poem every day on my cigarette breaks, and
memorising them

12. Dane’s Writing Journey
The Results
- Still writing poems every day
- Work almost complete on Eyes Like Lighthouses
When the Boats Come Home
- Approximately 7,000 words memorised and
counting
- Aiming to have memorised the whole book in time
for the launch

13. Dane’s Writing Journey
Getting into Fiction
- The next natural step!
- First major project was ‘Annie’, a novel
that I wrote whilst at college
- Hand wrote the whole thing – 100,000
words
- At the time, I was studying computing;
this made me reconsider and apply for
writing courses at university

14. Dane’s Writing Journey
University
- I wanted to study in London, and Roehampton
University was the only London uni offering
single honours creative writing
- We were taught techniques in the lectures, and
then left to get on with them
- I had my uni notes and assignments printed
into books, but they’re not generally available
- This is where I started being a proper writer!

15. Dane’s Writing Journey
Virtual Festivals
- In my third year, I did an unpaid internship at VirtualFestivals.com
- I maintained their website listings and got to interview some
(fairly) well-known musicians, including Jamie Woon, Ghostpoet,
Dan Le Sac and some others
- Also got a free press pass (worth £200) to go to Hop Farm
Festival and report live from the site, as well as a few other gig
tickets
- Kick-started a career in content marketing

16. Dane’s Writing Journey
Nobull
- That’s why I’m here!
- A PR agency – my first ever job interview, and
they offered it to me
- I learned a trade, but hated it
- This is when I started blogging etc.
- Worked on my writing in the evenings, but kept
it sharp through writing for work projects

17. Dane’s Writing Journey
fst
- This is where I work now, in Marlow
- Basically, I do digital marketing – pretty
good job for a writer to be in, because all
writers need to be good at digital marketing,
these days
- Being able to write is the number one skill
for digital marketers

18. Dane’s Writing Journey
Where that led me
- They say you should write what you know, so my career has led to two books:
- SOCIAL PARANOIA:
- Non-fiction book about how social networking makes you paranoid, and how to
protect yourself. Coming mid 2016.
- FORMER.LY:
- Literary fiction about a social networking site for the dead, with a sinister twist.
Coming early 2016.

19. Dane’s Writing Journey
Blogging / Publication
- My book blog, which I created and maintain
purely because I love books, led to my book
deal
- I got to know Jesse James Freeman, the VP
of Community Management at Booktrope,
through my blog
- It’s also helped me to make numerous
contacts within the international independent
writing community through interviews etc.

20. Dane’s Writing Journey
No Rest for the Wicked
- Supernatural thriller
- Released through Booktrope in June 2015
- Over 20 reviews on Amazon (average 4.5/5)
- Available today, £7.50
- Launched it here at Arts4Every1
- Feedback so far has been awesome

21. Dane’s Writing Journey
The Projects That Never Made It
- Annie
- Come On Up to the House
- Inverted Commas
- Oceanus
- Revolution
- Scarlet Sins
- The Lexicologist’s Handbook
- The First Year
- The Second Year
- The Third Year

22. Dane’s Writing Journey
Plans for 2016
Lots of new releases:
- Former.ly: Spring 2016
- Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home: Spring 2016
- Social Paranoia: Summer 2016
Some potential projects:
- Tammityville: Memoirs of growing up in the Midlands
- Robots V.S. Zombies: A trilogy, does exactly what it says on the tin

23. Dane’s Writing Journey
Top Ten Tips
1. Write, write, write!
2. Read, read, read!
3. Edit, edit, edit!
4. Learn from everywhere – random Wikipedia pages!
5. Make friends

24. Dane’s Writing Journey
Top Ten Tips
6. Go outside your comfort zone
7. Don’t be scared to submit your work
8. Attend events (of course!)
9. Support everyone else
10.Don’t expect to be an overnight success

25. QUESTIONS?

26. Slam Night
Slam Night:
- Guess what? We’re organising a slam night!
- Friday 22nd January: Get it in the diary
- Details coming soon, but let me know if you’d like to participate
- This is to remind me to tell you what a slam is
- Let’s do it!

27. Activity
Writing Challenge:
- Find yourself a buddy – we need groups of two
- Brainstorm ideas together to create a simple story line
- Write your story, but…
- …you have to take it in turns to write each sentence!

28. EDITING
WORKSHOPS

29. GUEST SPEAKER:
Dave Ford
Couldn’t be bothered to write or ask for a
bio. It’s Dave – he doesn’t need one!

30. BREAK:
Please speak to Dane if you’d like to do a reading!

31. This Month’s Theme
This Month’s Theme
- Love
- All interpretations welcome
- No particular word count – as many or as few as you need
- All genres and formats welcome!
- E-mail your work to dane.cobain@booktrope.com before the next session to be
considered for the anthology

32. READINGS:
Next Workshop:
3 PM – 6 PM On Saturday 9th January
Guest Speaker:
Oli Jacobs

33. THANKS FOR
COMING