After a minor diversion (to drop off my dog), I arrived at the University of Herfordshire’s campus just in time to grab a cup of (fruit) tea before going into the main hall for the first of a series of talks. I’d been on workshops in previous years and now that I teach, I decided to have a day off. Not that I still wouldn’t learn something, we all do, but I enjoyed staying in one place this time.

After introductions by VWC leads Dave Weaver and John Spencer, Ian Skillicorn talked about National Short Story Week and the reason behind it; to get people writing and reading short stories. He started NSSW as he was doing short story radio and wanted to…