PREVIOUS EVE EDUCATES EVENT

Write Your Own Novel

There’s a novel inside us all, discovered 100 lucky eve readers at our eve educates - Write Your Own Novel workshop. At the glamorous Penguin headquarters, and with author Lisa Jewell at the helm, the budding writers left brimming with inspiration and ideas...

Sighs of relief filled the whitecarpeted Penguin boardroom. Best-selling author Lisa Jewell had just confessed that, on a sunny day, she prefers ‘Hobnobs and hoovering’ to knuckling down to writing.

The 100 readers at the latest eve educates workshop were clearly grateful to hear that even the professionals have off-days. ‘I didn’t go to university, have no famous relatives and had been made redundant when my friend challenged me to write the book I’d always dreamed of,’ admitted the former PA who, nine years ago, won a £120,000 two-book deal. Aaah, she’s one of us, readers smiled. If she can write a novel, then so can we.

Lunch and literature
The third eve educates workshop, Write Your Own Novel, sold out in a day. One excited reader flew in from Germany.

It wasn’t just a sneaky peek inside Penguin’s swanky head office – all fresh flowers, contemporary art and shiny board tables overlooking the London Eye – that lured them, or even the warm croissants and lunch of delicious salads. No, it was the A-class literati line-up, including Lisa, her agent, Judith Murdoch, her publisher, Mari Evans, and her marketing director, Elizabeth Smith.

Insider know-how
The morning kicked off with an inspiring panel discussion with top tips for creating the next best-selling phenomenon. ‘I’m looking for the X-factor,’ advised Judith, an agent for 30 years who receives five unsolicited manuscripts a day. ‘Finish your novel. Send three chapters and a synopsis to an agent in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. You’ve got to tell your story your way. The only way you’ll do it is to start,’ urged Mari, a publisher with 13 years’ experience. ‘What’s the USP of your book, which we can market to the press, stores and readers?’ Elizabeth asked eve’s scribes, perched excitedly on the edge of their seats.

Bubbling with ideas
Lunch was a golden opportunity for one-to-one chats with Lisa and her team before Penguin editors led enthusiastic team workshops developing characters and plot structures. Love of a good storyline brought women from across the country together, from a Manchester yummy mummy to a stylish Slough security guard, all bonding in the brainstorming sessions.

So, has eve created budding best-selling writers? Absolutely. ‘What an inspiring day,’ sighed Frances White, 45, from Farnham, as readers celebrated their hard work with bubbly and goody bags packed with Lisa’s books. ‘It’s amazing to watch so many happy women buzzing! I can see the imagination bubbles coming out of their heads now full of best-selling novel ideas. Cheers, eve!’