GROW
Mentoring
Mentoring and feedback on drafts of your work in progress can develop your confidence, nurture your imagination, provide guidance and direction and help you to hone your craft.
If you are looking for some writing advice and would like to improve the quality and creativity of your writing, then our ‘GROW’ mentoring scheme could be for you.
Further information is available below.
Apply using the form here.
GROW
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Mentoring
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GROW ✳︎ Mentoring ✳︎
How it works
You may have been writing for a while, working on something or a number of projects that never quite get finished.
Maybe you’ve done some courses, perhaps even a creative writing MA (or not!), but you still have that unfinished manuscript or a set of not-quite-there poems and don’t know what to do to get them to a point where you’re happy with them.
Perhaps you’ve had some agent interest, maybe even some knock backs and you’re feeling disheartened or – worse – like an imposter (happens to us all!).
GROW is about giving yourself permission to take your writing seriously, making time for it and empowering yourself to live an enriching life with writing at its heart.
Mentors can help you to clear space, put the work first and engage meaningfully, with calm focus on your imagination and on making connections with a creative community – you may just find that the rest will follow naturally.
How does it work?
GROW offers the opportunity to request a mentor who best fits your needs, someone you can work with on a one-off basis or over a longer period of time. You can decide this – you may simply want a quick initial manuscript assessment or an eye on a few poems and then you’re free to come back for more detailed input down the line if you want to.
Many different combinations and durations of support are available – just get in touch to discuss this with us.
Our small team of busy writers have limited space available, so it’s possible that if you apply to GROW you might not the mentor you ask for but we will do our best! Our focus will be on those writers we feel we can really help to nurture and achieve their writing goals. Once accepted, you will work with your mentor to identify what you can achieve together and come up with a plan that will guide your work.
Most meetings with mentors will take place online via Zoom. If mentors and writers agree to meet face to face, this will take place in an appropriate public venue.
How much does it cost?
Mentoring is charged at a standard rate of £57.50 per hour.
Apply using the form here.
Our Mentoring Team
JLM Morton
Poetry & non-fiction
Nick Hunt
Non-fiction, travel writing, fiction
Sarah Steele
Historical fiction
Melanie Golding
Literary fiction
Tom Sears
Children’s writing, graphic novels, illustration
Nikki Owen
Commercial fiction
Working alongside Sarah Steele was a joy. She understood my writing and creative process and was extremely insightful about the changes and tweaks I could make to my opening chapters, letter and synopsis. The agent package I created with her support was focused and really captured the essence of my novel. Laura Kinnear
This mentoring has been hugely valuable to me. From our first meeting, JLM Morton listened to my priorities, and we designed a mentoring plan tailored to my schedule and budget. Our sessions have been constructive, responsive and closely focused on my goals. Juliette has given really insightful and supportive feedback on my writing, including helping me to strengthen a magical realist story that has since had success in a competition. Sarah Royston
I was desperate to find someone who would inspire and inform both my writing and my wider writing life. When I saw the people working with Dialect to offer mentorship I knew I'd struck gold. I'd already had great experiences with Dialect in workshops, at events, and as publishers, and I trusted them entirely to have grounded their mentorship programme with the same thoroughness and verve. Three months in, it's been brilliant, Nick (Hunt) and I agreed what I needed - encouragement, insight and 'artificial' deadlines to jolly me along - and he's done exactly what it says on the tin. I recommend the programme wholeheartedly, no matter how far along the writing journey you are, everyone could do with a more experienced mentory-friend. Electra Rhodes