#WriteCBC tip and task Rosie Talbot
BY Katie Smart
3rd Nov 2022
Welcome to our November edition of #WriteCBC. I hope you’re ready to be inspired by our latest writing challenge! If you haven’t taken part in a #WriteCBC competition before, we’re excited to welcome you to our writing community – and you can quickly get up to speed by reading this blog with information about how to play. 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 former student, Waterstones bookseller and YA author Rosie Talbot. Rosie’s debut YA novel Sixteen Souls became a TikTok sensation (generating more than 250,000 views) and garnered the attention of publisher Yasmin Morrissey at Scholastic. Rosie now has a two-book deal with Scholastic, and Sixteen Souls was published in October this year.
Rosie’s tip:
- A setting should ground your narrative in a specific place and time, as well as create an atmosphere that contributes to the overall vibe of the book. The way your setting is experienced can also be used to reveal details about your characters.
In Rosie’s debut novel Sixteen Souls the setting of York is integral to the story and the development of her protagonist Charlie Firth, a 16-year-old seer. York is often lauded as the UK’s most haunted city, so Rosie’s choice to follow someone who can see ghosts in a setting populated by lots of haunted souls provides such an intriguing backdrop full of material for the story.
Protagonist Charlie's description of The Shambles (a medieval street) in the opening chapter is very much rooted in his fear and mistrust:
‘I don’t go rambling around the old part of York more than I have to, and I never go on my own.’
‘History hangs in the air like a stink I can't escape.'
Charlie's experience of the setting enhances the oppressive, claustrophobic nature of the busy space, and shows the reader how the history of York, evident in every grubby beam and worn cobble, is a problem for Charlie. Both because of his physical challenges as an amputee, but also because of the threat of ghosts. A different character would experience the same setting very differently.
Rosie’s task:
- Write about one setting from two very different points of view. The discrepancies between the descriptions should reveal something important about the two characters. Write one sentence from each perspective (both lines should fit in one tweet).
We’d love you to write a tweet-length response prompted by Rosie’s task. Here are few more tips to inspire you:
- Let the setting influence your story. If you’re writing about a cold cabin deep in the forest in the middle of winter perhaps one of your characters is enjoying the cosy escape and freedom away from a busy city whilst your other character is feeling isolated and trapped.
- Remember to experience your specific time and place through more than one sensory detail. Sight is a useful tool for writers but the other senses can help transport your reader into the character’s shoes in a more visceral way – scent and taste are particularly helpful.
- It can be helpful to think about the landscape of your story as another character with its own personality. Settings can be wild and dangerous or safe and welcoming. The possibilities are endless.
We can't wait to read your responses to Rosie’s task! Tweet @cbcreative with your tweet-length scene and you might win a free six-week course place. Competition closes Fri 4 Nov, 10am (winner announced at 11am).
Winner
This month's winner is.... Chloe Ford @chloefwrites
- It's where my childhood trauma lies, once buried, now bulging at the walls, as if it has learnt to breathe and wishes to escape.
- She never appreciated the crumbling-walls in which I watched her grow, shivering as if the cottage itself was alive wanting to eat her.
The personification of both the carnivorous cottage and the protagonist’s childhood trauma, desperately seeking to escape and causing the walls to bulge and crumble is very striking here. The introduction of the bitter second perspective of the home/homeowner adds a deeper level to the dark, gothic atmosphere of the scene. Chloe expertly juxtaposes the reader’s expectation of a home being a safe a nurturing safe with the reality of the home itself becoming a devourer.
Well done to our runners-up!
@clodaghhayes29, @taslinp and @StephMades have each won a £50 discount to be used on the six-week creative writing course of their choice.
Please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk to claim your prizes.