9.29°C I invited Emma Kittle-Pey of Colchester WriteNight to tell us more about her WriteNight meet-ups.
Ben Howard
WriteNight came about because I was looking for a writing group for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in October 2012.
NaNoWriMo takes place each November, with ‘write-ins’ held in pubs, cafés and libraries across the country. These sessions encourage writers to reach the personal goal of producing a 50,000-word novel in a month, motivating each other along the way.
The nearest meeting I could find was at Chelmsford Library, where I met NaNo organisers Stuart Wakefield and Emma Biddulph, both of whom were – and continue to be – hugely supportive. I also met Nick Barlow and Sonya Holmes, writers from Colchester, who said they’d be interested in attending something more local.
Alex Davis at 15 Queen Street, a community working and meeting space, was enthusiastic about hosting a group, so we agreed to meet there. We began advertising online and putting posters up around town, arranging Thursday evening sessions throughout November. The turnout was higher than expected – around 20 people – and we soon settled into silent typing and scribbling, broken up by coffee and biscuit breaks. Some of us completed the 50,000 words, some of us didn’t, but we all agreed that writing together and meeting fellow local writers had been a great experience.
So we carried on and called the group WriteNight.
WriteNight now meets on the fourth Monday of each month at 7.30pm, still at 15 Queen Street. Over time we’ve welcomed special guests. Novelist Liz Trenow spoke about writing The Forgotten Seamstress. Allen Zuk discussed self-publishing. Local poet Mark Brayley ran a poetry workshop for non-poets. Artist and photographer Polly Alderton captivated us with a pictorial story about a dying pigeon. We’ve enjoyed integrating with local creative talent for writerly purposes – perhaps some musical inspiration next?
This summer marks our fourth year of writing together, and we’ve celebrated some real successes. Village Green by Phaedra Bishop, written in WriteNight’s early days, appeared in The Flash Flood Journal. We self-published our own anthology, Colchester. Doug Smith produced The Great Idea Generator. Sarah Armstrong had her first novel, The Insect Rosary, published by Sandstone Press, with several sections written during WriteNight sessions. Sue Dawes and Sarah Baxter both won the AM Heath prize for crime writing. Some of my own stories, inspired by the group, have been published in Fat Maggie and Other Stories.
Everyone who comes to WriteNight plays their part – helping with the anthology, suggesting activities, providing IT support, making coffee or bringing biscuits. We have experienced writers who generously share their knowledge and beginners keen to learn. Most people enjoy reading their work aloud at the end of a session, though there’s never any pressure to do so.
I’m really proud of what WriteNight has become. After every session, I head home with that warm feeling of belonging to a kind, supportive group – and usually with new writing to develop further. We’re constantly evolving our activities and ideas, but the core aim remains the same: to write together.
Emma Kittle-Pey
Join WriteNight on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for updates.
Publications include:
Village Green by Phaedra Bishop
Colchester: The Anthology
The Insect Rosary by Sarah Armstrong
The Great Idea Generator by Doug Smith
Fat Maggie and Other Stories by Emma Kittle-Pey
