A fresh direction for The Writing Coach

“Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.” – W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge, 1943

As you may already know, The Writing Coach is about to enter a new phase of development. Having been running the business for seven years now, I have recently realised that a change was necessary.  I’ll be writing more in future posts about how that change came about for me (and lessons that I can draw from this process) but for the moment, suffice to say that from September 2012 I will be returning to full time education and embarking on a new stage of my career.  I will be studying for a PGCE in English with Drama at London’s Institute of Education with a view to teaching drama, literature and creative writing to teenagers, whilst continuing to pursue my own writing.  I am immensely excited about this new direction.  It does, however, mean that from the end of July this year, I will no longer be personally available as coach; indeed, I have already closed my books to new clients.

Will the Writing Coach website still be running?

Absolutely.  In order to fully focus on my new studies, I will no longer be running a literary consultancy here at the Writing Coach – at least for the time being (if that changes, readers of this blog will be the first to know). However, this is not the end of The Writing Coach website; instead it marks a fresh beginning.  The blog will be very much alive and I will continue to send out the newsletter so do sign up for regular updates and subscribe to the RSS feed or email updates on the blog.

In the coming months, it is my intention to publish both my latest novel and my backlist (previously published by Penguin and Bloomsbury) on Kindle and iPad and I’d like you to join me on this self-publishing journey.  I will continue to update this blog by publishing all archive articles and I will be writing fresh posts that I hope will be useful to new and established writers, whatever stage you are at and however you decide to publish.

In coming weeks I will streamline this website as the focus will increasingly be on the blog.  I have yet to take a final decision on the membership aspect of the site but I am not closed to the idea of a membership aspect/forum.  An announcement will follow in due course though I may wait until October before taking this decision.

What will be the focus of the blog in coming months?

As ever, my aim is to bring you inspiration and motivation relating to all aspects of your writing work and life.  I will continue to post on the subject of traditional publishing and how to approach agents and publishers.  I will also be documenting my own epublishing journey and sharing what I learn in the process as well as offering advice and guidance to those who are also considering this path.  My current interests in theatre and in education will doubtless impact on this blog.  I will share what I learn about how drama and writing interact, for example what I learn about character development and story structure as I study drama.  I will also be reflecting on the process of writing fiction for young adults (YA fiction) as I embark upon a YA novel and work with teenagers.  My hope is that I can bring my own continuing education into my writing here – with the intention of sharing, encouraging conversation and, I hope, continuing to inspire your writing in the months ahead.  I will also write about change: how we recognise the need for it and how we act upon that impulse.

How can I stay up to date with The Writing Coach?

Aside from signing up for the newsletter and RSS or email updates to the blog, you can also ‘like’ The Writing Coach on Facebook here or follow me on Twitter here and here. If you have any questions about the future of the site/the business, do feel free to ask them in the comments below and I will be posting a FAQ soon too.  I’m looking forward to all that lies ahead and to sharing it with you.