Write Mentor writing events

With details of upcoming writing events:

Calendar of upcoming events 24th June: #WMChat with Helen Corcoran 1st July: #WMChat with Ciara Smyth 15th July: #WMChat with Joseph Elliott 29th July: #WMChat with Kathryn Foxfield 12th August: #WMChat with Maria Kuzniar 4th-11th September: WriteMentor Summer Programme Agent Showcase 23rd September: #PeerPitch 24th September: #WMPitch 25-27th September: WOWCON

Spark ⚡️ mentoring offer Spark mentor Emma Read has offered to give ongoing free critiques to BAME writers - one free package per month of synopsis and 1st page. Sign up here and she will work through the list, at a rate of 1 a month, so the quicker you sign up, the quicker you'll get some feedback. https://forms.gle/g9fWLovv7oGxozYV9 WOWCON Teaser As we work hard behind the scenes to put the programme together for this year, we wanted to give you all a little heads up about what we're planning. First of all, we'll be putting tickets on sale on Monday 29th June (next week!), where you will be able to buy your ticket for £10, plus book into workshops, agent/editor 1-2-1s and our expanded panel selection. In advance of the conference this year, we will be hosting two Twitter events which everyone can participate in, even if you can't attend the conference. 23rd September: #PeerPitch - this is a practice Twitter pitch event, where you can post your own pitch using the hashtag and other can give you some tips and advice. Learn from each other and make friends. It's what WriteMentor is all about. 24th September: #WMPitch - we held our first #WMPitch in May and it was very well attended and so we wanted to run another, so you'll have a chance to pitch to agents via Twitter. Then, we will have our WOWCON weekend, from 25-27th September. We will kick off on the Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday. All online, and via Slack, our preferred platform for almost everything. We have 3 amazing keynote speakers, over 20 workshops and 4 top panels. As well as agent 1-2-1 opportunities with several agents/editors who are keen to read about and give you feedback on your work. You will need to be especially quick with these as they usually sell very fast. Prices for this year, so you can budget are as follows: Entry ticket: £10 (includes all 3 keynotes and our agents panel) Workshop tickets: £10 per workshop (choice of more than 20) Panel ticket: £10 Agent/Editor 1-2-1: £30 (15 minutes video call via Skype on first 10 pages {or full PB text} sent in advance) Our workshops range from PB to YA and include illustration this year! We will also be giving away 5 scholarships this year, funded by Stuart. Each includes: ticket, workshop, panel, 1-2-1 (total cost £60). The following groups of underrepresented writers are encouraged to apply: - BAME writers - disabled/chronically ill writers - low-income/unemployed writers - trans writers - OPEN scholarship for any underrepresented writers (we want to ensure that we don't leave anyone out, so use this one if you're not represented in the 4 specific ones above). Last year we got lots of offers from individuals to sponsor other writers to come along and this year, we wanted to formalise this a little more. So, if you'd like to support another writer to attend, you can make a small donation via the link below - this will go to towards the OPEN scholarship (Stuart will fund the first 4) and if we exceed the £60 for the last scholarship, we will make a 2nd place available for those who apply for the OPEN scholarship. https://write-mentor.com/product/wowconscholarship/ It should be noted that you can apply to more than one scholarship, should you fall into more than one of these groups. We would like to emphasise though, that application should only be from those writers who would otherwise be unable to attend the conference. Eligibility is down the writer themselves, and we do not require any disclosure of personal information. I will put up a post later this week with more information, in advance of Monday, though workload will determine how soon that is. But I wanted the faithful newsletter readers to get the information first.  Success Stories Congratulations to Philip Kavvadias, who signed with Amber Caraveo, of Skylark Literary Agency, this week for his funny Middle Grade novel, Microraptor. He has been mentored by Tasha Harrison, as part of our 2020 summer programme. Congratulations to Philip, from all of us at WriteMentor. 🎉 Author Dale Hannah was a mentee on WriteMentor’s summer mentoring programme who worked on his Middle Grade novel with the help of mentor Emily Critchley. Dale is now represented by Lynnette Novak, literary agent at The Seymour Agency, with his novel currently on submission in the United States. Dale chats to WriteMentor about his experience of the programme, his publishing journey, and why he believes mentoring is important for aspiring writers. What made you apply for the WriteMentor programme? I had always planned to apply for the WriteMentor programme but in the end I didn’t need to because I won a place by being shortlisted in the WriteMentor Children’s Novel Award. It was a great bonus, and I was delighted when Emily Critchley expressed an interest in mentoring me. What was your experience like? Emily was incredibly supportive. She went above and beyond in her support of me and my story. The advice and contacts she shared with me were invaluable. The fact that she was also mentoring two other people, that I had met previously, meant that I never felt alone. It was an enormously supportive time and one I will always remember. Read more here. Online Courses Available for sign up anytime: 12 Month Novel Course The 12 month novel course is for those who need encouragement from first spark to first draft. This course is for everyone, from novice to pro. We’ll build a supportive community who will cheer you on, will offer to share chapters with you and form potential critique partnerships. Every month, we’ll have a special guest on for a chat on that month’s aspect of novel writing. — 15 week courses with Lauren James and Maz Evans Both courses are now open for sign up NOW! We are not doing our usual application process and instead places are available on a first come, first serve basis, so sign up now to secure your place for September. And this round, we have added the something extra - feedback on your submission package from a top agent - click on the links above to find out more! Other Opportunities Spark Mentoring Spark Mentoring is always available if you need extra help or support each month. We have made the Spark mentoring package even better by including access to our 12 month novel course and the self-editing course with Kesia Lupo for all Spark mentees - do contact me if you wish to access either of these and are a current spark mentee. If you wish to sign, hit the link above for all the details. Short Story and Flash competitions NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES! Magazine opportunities (Issue 3, August) CELEBRATION CORNER We want to share your successes! Big or small, send us your writing achievements and any social media handles to be featured in the next issue. Email florianne@write-mentor.com with the subject line 'Celebration Corner'. ADVERTISEMENT We're showcasing writers' new releases. If you want your published work to be promoted to a large audience, such as poetry anthologies, short story collections and published novels, we will help promote it in our magazine. Prices are as follows: £10 quarter page (including image and text) £18 half page (including image, text and a direct hyperlink to an external webpage)  Email florianne@write-mentor.com with the subject line 'Advertisement' for more information. WriteMentor Magazine April 2020 Our second WriteMentor Magazine for Children's Writers is published online. At only £3.00 or £9.99 for an annual subscription, this issue includes an exclusive feature from author, actress and former CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell; an interview with Sam Copeland on balancing life as an agent and an author; insights from authors Perdita and Honor Cargill about writing as mother and daughter; and advice from David Higham Associates agent Christabel McKinley on writing a submission letter. You could be reading all this and more - so grab your copy! We can't wait for you to read it. Final word from the Jedi Master I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote the newsletter and here we are again…days are steadily merging into one and time is passing both both slowly and quickly all at once…March seems an age ago, yet each week quickly falls into the next. So I'm going to chat about TIME this week. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I wish the pandemic hadn't occurred at this time, or in my time at all. And certainly not now, with a 2nd child due soon, 1st child due to start school (and so missing all of her transition) and me (a school teacher) essentially not getting to do much or go anywhere during my summer holiday (which has started now in Scotland). But I also remember this quote from LOTR (a book I couldn't put down and read time and time again, sitting in my unfloored attic - to avoid the rest of my house below - as a teenager). “I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” And this is true, both in how we manage ourselves through this pandemic, but also in terms of our writing. We can sit and wish for better circumstances, for the virus to kindly disappear, or for better leadership from our politicians, but wishing can be fruitless. More often than not, we cannot change much of what happens in the world on a macro-level, such as climate change, but what we can do is make change on a micro-level. So I can separate my rubbish and recycle. I can use less electricity. I can dispose of waste responsibly. We can all control what we do with our time - we may wish certain things hadn't happened in our time which make our lives much more difficult, but while I can't with away the virus, I can control what I do with my spare hour every evening after dinner and before the kids bed-time. Each of us is a small stone being thrown into a lake. Small in comparison to the whole lake, but if the stone is thrown with enough force, the impact upon the water will ripple much further than each of us could imagine, possibly to each corner of the lake. And if many of us throw our stones at the same time, and with the same force, we become a tidal wave of immense power. We can use our spare time (however little that may be) to write, to tell our stories, and you never know, those may well impact the world on a macro-level and we may well come to live in better times in the very near future. Writing can be lonely, but it doesn't need to be. May the Force be with you! Stuart

Copyright © 2020 WriteMentor, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: WriteMentor PO Box 5618 Glasgow, Glg G77 9EJ United Kingdom

Calendar of upcoming events 17th June: #WMChat with Lucy Cuthew 24th June: #WMChat with Helen Corcoran 1st July: #WMChat with Ciara Smyth 15th July: #WMChat with Joseph Elliott 29th July: #WMChat with Kathryn Foxfield 12th August: #WMChat with Maria Kuzniar 4th-11th September: WriteMentor Summer Programme Agent Showcase 23rd September: #PeerPitch 24th September: #WMPitch 25-27th September: WOWCON Success Stories Congratulations to Emily Kenny, who signed with Lauren Gardner, of Bell Lomax Moreton, this week for her Middle Grade novel, Extraordinary Animals. She has been mentored by Lindsay Galvin, through our Spark ⚡️ programme, and did a 1-2-1 with Lauren at our recent Online Writing Weekend. Congratulations to Emily, from all of us at WriteMentor. 🎉 Online Courses Available for sign up anytime: 12 Month Novel Course The 12 month novel course is for those who need encouragement from first spark to first draft. This course is for everyone, from novice to pro. We’ll build a supportive community who will cheer you on, will offer to share chapters with you and form potential critique partnerships. Every month, we’ll have a special guest on for a chat on that month’s aspect of novel writing. — 15 week courses with Lauren James and Maz Evans Both courses are now open for sign up NOW! We are not doing our usual application process and instead places are available on a first come, first serve basis, so sign up now to secure your place for September. And this round, we have added the something extra - feedback on your submission package from a top agent - click on the links above to find out more! 15 week MG course with Maz Evans - Deposit £60.00 View 15 week YA course with Lauren James - Deposit £60.00 View Other Opportunities Spark Mentoring Spark Mentoring is always available if you need extra help or support each month. We have made the Spark mentoring package even better by including access to our 12 month novel course and the self-editing course with Kesia Lupo for all Spark mentees - do contact me if you wish to access either of these and are a current spark mentee. If you wish to sign, hit the link above for all the details. Short Story and Flash competitions NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES! Magazine opportunities (Issue 3, August) CELEBRATION CORNER We want to share your successes! Big or small, send us your writing achievements and any social media handles to be featured in the next issue. Email florianne@write-mentor.com with the subject line 'Celebration Corner'. ADVERTISEMENT We're showcasing writers' new releases. If you want your published work to be promoted to a large audience, such as poetry anthologies, short story collections and published novels, we will help promote it in our magazine. Prices are as follows: £10 quarter page (including image and text) £18 half page (including image, text and a direct hyperlink to an external webpage)  Email florianne@write-mentor.com with the subject line 'Advertisement' for more information. WriteMentor Magazine April 2020 Our second WriteMentor Magazine for Children's Writers is published online. At only £3.00 or £9.99 for an annual subscription, this issue includes an exclusive feature from author, actress and former CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell; an interview with Sam Copeland on balancing life as an agent and an author; insights from authors Perdita and Honor Cargill about writing as mother and daughter; and advice from David Higham Associates agent Christabel McKinley on writing a submission letter. You could be reading all this and more - so grab your copy! We can't wait for you to read it. Final word from the Jedi Master Never put off a task because of the time it will take…because the time will pass anyway and the task just won't be done. I feel this way about my writing all the time - sometimes I don't write because what I need to do next will involve quite a bit of time to sit down and work through it. And so I don't. But then that evening, or week, or month passes, and it's still not done. Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out. I know it. You know it. Even my 4 year-old knows it. And yet I infuriate myself but ignoring it, sometimes. Why are we our own worst enemies? Our own antagonists, our own biggest weakness? Well, before this turns into too much of a self-destructive monologue, I do have a point. We are all deeply flawed, in so many ways, more ways than we would like to admit, or sometimes even realise. I've been thoroughly interrogating my own inherent biases recently, as most of us have probably been doing. Delving deeper within my own character that I feel comfortable with at times. I think of myself as an overall good person, but the deeper I look, the uglier it becomes. We all have flaws and fears beneath the surface that we mostly put in a mental cupboard and ignore, until we have to confront them. And so how does this relate to our writing? Well, this is the same interrogation we should really be putting our characters through when constructing our stories. That thorough analysis of flaw and fear and going way beyond the superficial is so important and essential in developing multi-dimensional characters that ring true and become deeply relatable to our readers. We can sometimes think upon our characters, like we do with ourselves, too kindly and not dig enough to expose what lies beneath. We present these characters, maybe with a bad habit or two, or with a slightly controversial world-view, but how often do we go further and mine our way into the 'good' stuff. The stuff that almost no-one will ever see from you until you're pushed into a corner and forced to expose it. And in some ways, that's all a story is. Digging deep enough into a characters most flawed parts and forcing them to be challenged on those flaws and fears. Asking them to walk along the high-wire, or to dive into the deep end. Making them choose between their wife or daughter, or saving the world or their brother. So this week I challenge you all to look even deeper within your own soul, and draw out the very worst of yourself. Jot down the worst thoughts and fears that are circulating on the bottom tier of your psyche. Acknowledge your flaws and imagine what situation would force you to act on them, to expose them to the whole world. Then do the same to your characters. Whatever you find, amplify it. Make them even more deeply flawed, if possible. But balance it with all the great qualities and attributes they posses - and this goes for antagonists too, make sure they have plenty of good too, along with the flawed view of the world. Dig deep. Draw out the darkness, the parts of you that you'd never want anyone to see. Them expose them in the biggest way possible. And suddenly your story becomes much more compelling and relatable. And you learn a little more about your characters (or yourself - after all, that's where those characters come from). Writing can be lonely, but it doesn't need to be. May the Force be with you! Stuart Copyright © 2020 WriteMentor, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: WriteMentor PO Box 5618 Glasgow, Glg G77 9EJ United Kingdom