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Autobiographical novelist, William Fiennes, author of ‘The Music Room’ and ‘The Snow Geese’, gave a talk in the library on Wednesday, 29th April.
The rows of chairs filled with aspiring writers, English teachers, curious students and eager readers, all of whom found the talk fascinating.
It was indeed fascinating to be able to hear an actual writer talk about his career and what it entails.
We listened in awe of his “ridiculous obsession” with bird migrations (which led to ‘The Snow Geese’), the beautiful castle he grew up in as a child, and the relationship between him and his much-loved brother who suffered from epilepsy (which inspired the publication of ‘The Music Room’).
What I found most riveting was his theory that writers have two voices; one being the creative voice that concocts the storyline and the imagery, and the other being the voice of authority and sophistication that makes the piece of writing work and sound right.
Instead of simply asking newspapers for jobs, Fiennes sat in a library for a few days and wrote a 1000 word essay on two new books, sent it to a few newspapers and got a job.
Many of us in the audience found this very motivating.
After an informative and exciting “ramble”, as he modestly called it, he answered a bunch of our queries and then we, reluctantly, returned to lessons, some speculating the advantages of being an author, some mulling over their own designs for writing a novel in the future, some just delighted by his success story.
It was indeed a thought-provoking experience.
Joanna, Year 12