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Literary Consultancy and Coaching for Writers from Jacqui Lofthouse

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An interview with author Bryony Pearce

November 30, 2021 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Interviews, Teaching, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

Mary Fletcher, one of our clients, interviews Bryony Pearce, writer and consultant at The Writing Coach.

It’s difficult not to be charmed by Bryony Pearce. Dressed in a faintly sparkling jumper and a simple necklace, she answers the video call with a bright smile and a warmth that is infectious. It doesn’t take long for her motherly nature to ooze through the video call even as she admits just where she’s speaking from.

Bryony Pearce

“I live in a forest,” she says. “I literally have wild boar and deer wandering into the driveway and there’s a lot of mist—could do with more pubs or shops, though!”

It is a surreal setting which suits her writing style nicely—her vast array of dark adult and young adult fiction includes thrillers, horror, science fiction and dystopia. She proudly presents her most recent novel, Raising Hell, and talks about her new one, Little Rumours (out March 2022) as she discusses her successes, including the awards she has won. She makes particular mention of her 2008 win of Undiscovered Voices—a competition run by the SCBWI that takes place every two years. The twelve winners have the openings of their novels compiled into an anthology, which is sent out to every agent and editor in the country. This was what got her an agent.

Surely all of her success has done wonders for her confidence then?

She grimaces, her face pulled into well-humoured embarrassment. “I’m more confident now, but when I won Undiscovered Voices, part of the prize was to go to a party with agents and editors. I should have been selling myself and my book, but I just hid in the corner because I was too terrified to speak to any of them! Now I’ve been doing this for a long time, I know that publishing people are just people.”

It’s this humility and compassion which helped her to become a writing coach.

“I wanted to share what I knew and what I loved. I love bringing people to their potential,” she admits. “It makes me feel like a proud mama!”

Her client history is impressive in itself— people she has helped in the past include Scott Bain, the Bath Novel Award shortlisted author of the YA novel, The God Bullet, and Muhammed Khan, author of I am Thunder. Her pride in her clients is evident in how she talks about them—from her wide grin to the way she gushes over their writing growth.

So, what makes you agree to work with a client? What catches your interest?

“I want to work with people who have lots of potential, even if they’re a little embarrassed or unsure! Though I can’t guarantee that clients will get a book deal, I know that I can help them to improve their writing and brighten that spark again, but they need to be willing to listen and put the work in. We’re working together and I want clients who are excited about the writing journey!”

With her enthusiasm, it would be hard not to be.

As someone with an impressive resume, who’s been a part of the publishing industry for as long as she has, she must have plenty of wisdom to share with clients—especially when it comes to the writing?

“I hope so!”

And if she could give only one piece of advice?

Her brow scrunches as she considers before responding with a firm nod. “Spend time on your character development. A good character can save a bad story, but a good story can’t be saved by a badly-written character.”

Wise words, indeed.

Empathetic, compassionate and fuelled with the patience of raising two teenagers— Bryony Pearce is a pleasure to speak to and leaves a residual warmth long after the video call ends.

 

If you’re interested in working with Bryony via The Writing Coach you can see her profile here and use our contact form to get in touch.

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✨Join us this Saturday for our Workshop "Writer' ✨Join us this Saturday for our Workshop "Writer's Devotion"✨

If you are a writer who desires to connect deeply to your writing work – to understand your motivation and utilise it so that you are truly drawn to your writing desk – our online workshop on Saturday 7th May “Writer’s Devotion” is perfect for you. 📚

🖋📖 This workshop will support you as you commit to your writing in an entirely new way. In our time together, we’ll examine our individual relationship with our writing work and we’ll consider how we can become more connected with our writing, so that we write with a sense of ease and flow. 

✨ The first workshop ‘Writer’s Devotion’ covers:
• The full blueprint relating to Mindset as a writer
• How to leverage your unique writing purpose
• Developing deep self-belief that will sustain your practice
• Practical steps to enable you to commit to your writing
• How to develop a writing ritual
• Knowing we are working on the ‘right’ project
• How to use these tools to become a serious writer
• Resilience as a writer
• Commitment to your craft
• Q & A with Jacqui Lofthouse

I would love to meet you there! You can discover more about our follow up workshops on Writer's Alchemy and Writer's Connection here too... ✨

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#writingcoach #writingworkshop #amwriting #writinglife #writinghabits #writingritual #writersofinstagram
We love these sketches of our ‘Fragile Borders,F We love these sketches of our ‘Fragile Borders,Fragile Bodies’ event last Friday by our Founder @jacquilofthouse’s husband, live-illustrator @davidlewiscartoons.

It was such a fascinating evening with Miranda Gold, @alicejolly_  @ana.sefer and #FranLock @sunseekerspoetry raising £780 which we will be donating to @warchilduk 

#literature #liveillustration #visualiser #graphicfacilitation #warchild #literaryevents #tintabernacle
We’re thrilled to welcome @annasianjeffersonauth We’re thrilled to welcome @annasianjeffersonauthor to our team - she is a qualified coach, published author, playwright and strategic thinker. Who will be her first client via us, I wonder? 

 “Anna is a fiction writer and playwright. She has written for stage and screen since 2005. She has had two novels published with Orion, Winging It and Nailing It and is currently working on her third novel. She is the founder and co-director of Broken Leg Theatre and has written and toured five plays. Anna is an experienced workshop leader and facilitator. She is Co-Director of Writing Around the Kids. The project enables mothers of young children to write creatively, working in partnership with regional museums and a network of published female authors.

As a trained Life Coach with Relation Dynamics 1st, Anna incorporates coaching into her practice. Anna works part-time as Theatre Relationship Manager at Arts Council England and lives in Brighton with her husband and two children.”

#lifecoaching #writing #writingcommunity #writerssupportingwriters #authorssupportingauthors #writingcoach
Posted @withregram • @ana.sefer Thanks so much t Posted @withregram • @ana.sefer Thanks so much to everyone who came to Fragile Borders, Fragile Bodies on Friday, which raised £780 for #warchild Illuminating discussion and great readings from @alicejolly_  Fran Lock, Miranda Gold and myself :) .. beautifully chaired by @jacquilofthouse 
And what a wonderful venue The Tin Tabernacle Church in Kilburn is!
We are really looking forward to tomorrow's event We are really looking forward to tomorrow's event 'Fragile Borders, Fragile Bodies', at The Tin Tabernacle church in London at 6.30pm. 

This week we wanted to introduce our guest speakers who will be joining us tomorrow, and today we'd like to introduce Ana Seferović.

Ana is a poet and writer from Belgrade, interested in the relationship between systems and the individual.  She is especially fascinated by outcasts, particularly the outcast in each and every one of us, because an outcast is where either a system or an individual (or both) are breaking. She has co-authored a radio show and art platform PornoPop, examining sex and body as a battlefield of politics, art, literature and culture.

Find out more about Ana, Fragile Borders, Fragile Bodies and book tickets via the link in our bio. All proceeds will be donated to the charity War Child @warchilduk

In addition, the Laura Kinsella Foundation has generously agreed to double any donations we receive up to a limit of £300.

#RefugeeCrisis #UkraineConflict
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