It's often said that we all have book inside us, just waiting to get out. However, the thought of jumping straight in and writing an entire book might be a bit much, so why not start with something more manageable. This Norfolk Life is a virtual story-writing festival - a project from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Voices and CSV Media that celebrates story-writing across in the county. The project is open to anyone who lives or works in Norfolk. Supported by the Arts Council, the stories can be fact or fiction, traditional or unconventional - they just need to be written by you, in your own style. This Norfolk Life Inspired by the title This Norfolk Life, during Spring 2005, hundreds of people wrote about life, careers and families. Many of the short-stories are showcased on the pages of bbc.co.uk/norfolk where readers can now comment on the work. Others were narrated for broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Norfolk and can be heard on this website. "We were overwhelmed by the number of stories that were submitted and the in the number of people who were writing for the first time, some since school," said Gary Standley, senior producer at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Voices centre. "There was a really wide range of stories. Everything from people talking about themselves and their experiences, through to some really unusual and inventive pieces of fiction.
 | | Sue Welfare |
"What we realised was just how much talent there is and how much people wanted to write," he added. Story laureate This Norfolk Life takes place under the watchful eye of Sue Welfare, Norfolk's first ever story laureate. An established author, Sue lives in Downham Market and has published 25 novels since she started writing in the early '90s. She hopes that everyone in the county will give story-writing a go. "This Norfolk Life is about finding your voice and I'll be trying to help you do that. Everyone has it within them to write.ΜύI left school with just three O-Levels and it wasn't until I was in my thirties that I put pen to paper," she said.Μύ More stories The range and depth of stories submitted to This Norfolk Life was huge and many writers have gone on to take part in the newly formed This Writing World partnership, launched in June 2005. Due to the huge interesting in writing from the people of Norfolk, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Voices and bbc.co.uk/norfolk will be hosting more opportunities to contribute new works in the future. "The project has been so successful, it would be hard to stop. This Norfolk Life will definitely be making a come back later in the year," said Gary Standley. To find out more about taking part in future This Norfolk Life projects, send an e-mail to bbcvoices@bbc.co.uk | 
