Swanwick 70: Wednesday

I'm posting this a day late as I didn't get a chance yesterday - a Swanwick friend was visiting for one day only so I took the opportunity to spend time with her instead.

Tuesday's speaker Simon nelson was excellent. He went over five-act structure, and how turning points happen at the mid-point of the story. We also looked at the beginnings of TV shows Happy Valley and The 4 O'clock Club to illustrate pacy, grabby openings. I took more notes than for any other evening speaker, more than for some courses!

Wednesday saw the return of the regular run of courses, with our crime investigation turning from preservation of the scene and forensics, to the actual investigation. We took a closer look at the crime scene in the corner, and ran a mock press conference.

The short courses included a look at "wild words", song writing, and editing, and I took the final parts of the Writing as a Business course, which was unusually running as two short courses instead of as a specialist course. We looked at project and time management, something I desperately need to do better at.

In the usual one hour course slot we had a birthday celebration for the school, with a "school photo" (the first since 1956) and birthday cake. 

The evening speaker was Sophie Snell, storyteller, singer, and folkorist. She also has a psychological thriller out in November, based on fairy tales. Something else to add to my wishlist!

I stayed up late in the bar for the first time this week, chatting to my friend. Thursday is the final day, featuring the last of the four part courses, and a mystery instead of a speaker since they never reveal what's going into the farewell.

Swanwick 70: Thursday

Today is the last day. As always the morning is busy, with the final part of the specialist courses and the last short courses. These were incredibly sensible today, with instruction on Scrivener, grammar, worldbuilding, and Succeeding on Purpose.

I took the latter, which was about setting goals and retraining the brain to look for opportunities instead of saying "I can't". The second half had about a third more people than the first, so word had obviously got around about how funny and engaging the first half was.

Instead of a one-hour course, Thursday always sees the AGM and appointment of next year's committee. The officers were standing unopposed, but there was a vote for the remaining committee positions. The following block on the timetable is labelled Time for You but might as well say Pack Now. After this short break, during which I pack and have a cup of tea, there's the Dregs Party where people unload the last of drinks and snacks they don't want to take home. This is officially held on the lawn but as I type looks in danger of being moved indoors.

Dinner is a three-course affair this evening, to celebrate the seventieth year, and after that is the farewell which includes drawing the raffle and possibly the committee humiliating themselves in the name of entertainment. They never reveal the entertainment in advance but i'm sure some old favorites will make an appearance.

The last night disco is back this year, although my disco buddy isn't here so I'll skip it. Although the programme officially ends around eleven, the bar shuts at twelve and no doubt there will be some who keep the Swanwick spirit going until the early hours.