#WriteCBC tip and task from Lucy Barker
BY Katie Smart
7th Sep 2023
Welcome to our Sept 2023 #WriteCBC prompt challenge. I hope you’re ready to be inspired by our latest writing tip and task! If you haven’t taken part in a #WriteCBC Twitter competition before, we’re excited to welcome you to our writing community. Get up to speed by reading our blog full of information about how to play and the prizes on offer. It’s a lot of fun, and you might just win a free place on one of our six-week online writing courses.
This month’s special guest is Lucy Barker, former student and author of The Other Side of Mrs Wood. Lucy took our six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2014 and went on to be named the runner-up in the 2019 Curtis Brown First Novel Prize. She is represented by Curtis Brown literary agent Lucy Morris and her debut novel is out now from 4th Estate.
LUCY’S WRITING TIP:
I love writing about the idiosyncrasies of people and the minutiae of the human experience. Small gestures and mannerisms help convey personality and emotions. What your characters hold back and don’t do or say can also reveal a lot.
Nuanced behaviour is integral to Lucy’s debut novel. The Other Side of Mrs Wood is about two rival Victorian mediums. In the novel Lucy deftly describes the ways in which the mediums ‘read’ the clients in their séances to provide the best spectacle possible.
Read this passage from the opening of the novel, in which Mrs Wood assesses the crowd at her Grand Séance to locate the grieving newcomers.
‘Tonight, Mrs Wood looked for those carefully selected eight for whom she had tailored the evening […] A well-padded woman sat in the back row, fanning herself with a ringless left hand. And there, in the far corner, a young couple.
Ah
There they were. So easy to spot in the end: the only two people in the entire room not staring back at her. Instead, they sat pressed together staring silently into their laps, their sadness so captivating that for a moment she was snared, unable to look away.’
Not only does this close third-person passage reveal lots about the people attending the séance but we are also getting to know Mrs Wood. Every observed detail serves a purpose in this scene, we see a widow with her wedding band removed, and a pair whose genuine grief sets them apart from the rest by acting differently from the captivated crowd – in fact their sadness is so raw that it almost pulls the experienced medium out of her performance. This passage brilliantly helps us get to know Mrs Wood – a top medium, who is an expert at reading people as she easily spots the mourners ready to perform to them. We now know that she is clever, manipulative and in tune with the emotions of others.
We leave the scene knowing that Mrs Wood is a master of her craft – which sets her character up nicely for a fall. This makes the introduction of a new, rival medium more enticing.
This leads us nicely onto Lucy’s task...
LUCY’S WRITING TASK:
Two characters meet in a crowded place. They are rivals. There are lots of people around, forcing them to behave. Show us the tension through their body language and mannerisms. Don’t make it too obvious that their relationship is antagonistic.
We’d love for you to write a tweet-length scene in response to Lucy’s task. Here is some more advice to help you get the ball rolling.
Remember this task is about the tension between two rivals. We want to know that something is off between them, but this must be subtle (or at least the characters should think they are being subtle) because they are in a crowded place.
First make sure you decide why the characters dislike each other. Are they professional rivals, exes, competitors in a sport or competition, love rivals? Or perhaps one of the characters doesn’t even know that the other character considers them the opposition. You do not need to tell the reader why they dislike each other, we should be able to infer why from the clues you leave us.
Some more things to think about:
•Action versus thought. A great way to show tension is if your characters are acting in opposition to the way they feel. Maybe they are being overly polite to each other because they are in a public setting.
•Don’t rely too heavily on speech, make just as much use of what is left unsaid. The way your characters talk (and what they leave unsaid) can be a great tool. Are they nervously rambling? Or cool, calm and collected? What topic are they avoiding – can you hint at the reason the characters are rivals?
•Think about your characters’ idiosyncrasies. Every gesture your character makes offers an opportunity to convey their personality and get vital information across to the reader – every habit, every twitch… The way someone fiddles with their jewellery; the way they bite their lip; the way the ends of their sentences turn upward, like a question – these all provide clues into their thoughts.
We can’t wait to read your tweet-length scenes. Tweet @cbcreative with your responses to Lucy’s task and you might win a free six-week online writing course place. Competition closes Fri 7 Jul, 10am (winner announced at 11am).
Congratulations to this month’s winner, Sarah is revising @sarahwriteaway
- Amy was last to arrive at book club, despite living next door. Judy sat at the head of the table, as straight, tall and immovable as the new fence. Amy nudged her bookmark deeper into chapter ten, and took the seat next to her. Judy’s shadow fell across the pages.
We loved Sarah's tense book club scene which reveals so much about Amy and Judy's antagonistic relationship just through their body language. The scene really got to the heart of this month's writing task by making use of what is left unsaid and focusing on the characters' idiosyncrasies. Are they new neighbours who have started off on the wrong foot or long-term rivals? And for what reason? We were left desperate to read on! Well done, Sarah– you get a free place on a £220 online course.
And this month’s runners-up – each getting a £50 course discount – are Craig Young @craig_young_uk and JuliaofallTrades @joobyju. Congratulations, all!
To redeem your prizes please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
Brilliant fun – hope you all enjoyed it and see you next month. #WriteCBC will be back on Thursday 5 Oct.