The Conference inspired an array of reactions and comments from writers working both within publications, and also from delegates inspired to create their own articles. Browse the links below to get a sense of the event, and for further write-ups about what happened within the sessions, see Event Write-ups tab above.
Traditional linear narrative was not about to disappear, but new technology offered scope for a host of original ideas, said Hari Kunzru, setting the tone as the keynote speaker at the Writing for a Digital Age conference (8, 9 June)…continued.
What worked for Sterne, Proust and others is now being done on the internet by a host of aspiring authors, says Christina Patterson
Proust did it. Sterne did it. Luther, Whitman, and Pound did it. Dickinson, Hawthorne and Austen did it. So did Walcott and Woolf. And what Marcel Proust, and Laurence Sterne, and Martin Luther, and Walt Whitman, and Ezra Pound, and Emily Dickinson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Jane Austen, and Derek Walcott, and Virginia Woolf all did, at least according to an exhibition newly opened in York, was publish, or pay to publish, their own work…continued.
The novelist Hari Kunzru has a concern. And no, it isn’t about the death of publishing. Or piracy, or plagiarism, or even the thought of computers writing novels all by themselves. In fact, in his keynote speech this month for “Writing in a Digital Age”, the Literary Consultancy’s two-day conference for aspiring writers, Kunzru eschewed the industry’s usual worries in favour of a paean to the internet’s linguistic and formal possibilities…continued
The Japanese practice of “Pecha Kucha” (literally “chit chat”) in which architects rapidly present their work in 20 images for 20 seconds each, will be adopted at a new digital conference in London this summer. And that won’t be the only aspect of this conference that is different. Unlike so many previous events, Writing in a the Digital Age is aimed at authors, both those hoping to find a publisher and those writers who are already published but who need advice about the new digital landscape…continued
There have been plenty of conferences about the future of publishing, but few, if any, have been aimed at writers. The Literary Consultancy remedied this recently with a two-day conference – Writing in the Digital Age – held at the Free Word Centre in Farringdon…continued
The Literary Consultancy’s recent conference, Writing in a Digital Age, addressed many of the issues facing writers in our increasingly digital age and how writers can use this technology to their advantage. …continued
For more from Richard Skinner see here.
“I got up at 7.30 and wrote for an hour before I got on my train. I wrote on the train for two and a half hours. I went out there during the lunch break and wrote for another hour. And I’ll do two and a half on the way back.”
This casual comment burrowed into my brain like a burr at June’s Writing In A Digital Age conference (which I covered for Bookdiva here), and I still can’t get it out. It came from the young author Kerry Wilkinson, and back then, there was plenty of uncomfortable shuffling around me as he explained his day’s writing schedule. The shuffling turned to audible squeaks as Wilkinson shared that his output averaged “around 1,000 words an hour”. His message, delivered with no trace of a boast, was blunt. He loves to write, he lives to write, and nothing – not travelling from Lancashire to London, not sitting on a panel, and certainly not schmoozing with industry bigwigs over pinot – was going to get in his way…continued
Contrary to the claims made by critics of enhanced ebooks, text in its traditional form still has primacy among kids
Recently, a study suggested that enhanced ebooks, which allow kids to interact with stories by swiping or tapping text, may be detrimental to developing literacy and memory…continued
Self-promotion through social networking has become a huge issue for aspiring authors.
I am just back from The Literary Consultancy’s (TLC) https://www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk/ revolutionary Writing in a Digital Age conference. Organised by the inimitable Rebecca Swift–the speakers included leading authors and industry figures such as @harikunzru @lindasgrant, @nicolamorgan, @zubaanbooks (Urvashi Butalia), @simontrewin, @caroleagent (Carole Blake), @gavinjamesbower, @saqibooks (Rukhsana Yasmin), @karolinasutton and many more–#TLC12 brought together the traditional and the Indie on the same stage, a first of firsts.…continued
I still love bookshops, I’ll still have my own little library and I’ll always feel like I’m turning a page rather than merely sliding the screen of my iPad
“Bring a book, write a note inside before you take another in exchange,” I read as I stand inside a charming little bookshop, only it’s not a bookshop — it is a book exchange, curated by MA students at London College of Fashion. …continued
Self-promotion through social networking has become a huge issue for aspiring authors.
I spent last Friday and Saturday at Writing in a Digital Age, a conference organised by The Literary Consultancy at which the likes of Hari Kunzru and Kate Mosse discussed the opportunities and challenges of being a novelist in a networked world. One question that came up again and again was: how do I get people to read and buy my book using social media? It was an understandable preoccupation…continued
Last Friday morning, an eager audience of aspiring authors, editors, agents and publishers sat gripping cups of strong coffee and gazing upon a veritable smorgasbord of literary goodness. International best-selling author Kate Mosse, Orange Prize winner Linda Grant and award-winning young adult author Nicola Morgan were assembled to confess the joys and terrors of ‘Writing in a Digital Age’, the topic of a two-day conference from The Literary Consultancy – and confess they did…continued
The net is a wonderful invention but I cannot be social all the time. The sheer quantity of information can overwhelm me. I need to concentrate on my work and I also want free time for the rest of my life. I know I am not alone in this preoccupation. At a recent conference run by The Literary Consultancy I heard writer after writer discuss this question of privacy…continued