Blog | The Writing Coach

An interview with Antony Johnston, author of ‘The Organised Writer’

October 2, 2020 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Inspiration, Interviews, Motivation, Productivity, The writing life Leave a Comment

Our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse is delighted to interview Antony Johnston, author of The Organised Writer, published by Bloomsbury, 1st October. As one who’s fairly obsessed about productivity for writers herself, she was intrigued to find out more about Antony’s viewpoint.

1. What led you to write ‘The Organised Writer’?

My own life and career, first and foremost. When I became a full-time writer I assumed I could just bash out words, send an invoice every now and then, and never have to worry about anything else. How wrong could I have been?

After a few years I was drowning in unfiled paperwork, lost notes, and — the cardinal sin, to my mind — missed deadlines. I knew I had to get myself organised, and it wasn’t an easy journey. That’s what led me to start writing about productivity in the context of being an author, and eventually expanding it all into a book.

2. Tell me about your own writing life – I’d love to hear a little about the type of projects that you typically work on or are currently juggling?

My career has been one of accumulation, in a way — I started out writing magazine articles, moved onto fiction and web comics, then broke into graphic novels before also writing videogames, becoming a regular public speaker, getting into podcasting, and most recently focusing on screenplays and thriller novels. The thing is that whenever I pick up a new strand, I rarely leave the old ones behind!

So, what am I juggling right now? I recently completed the rough draft of a novel, and just this week outlined another. Last month I finished almost two years of working on a big videogame script, and I’m in talks to start on a new game. I have a screenplay doing the rounds in Hollywood, and I’m working with several producers to pitch other screen projects; a couple of movies, a TV show, an animated series. Earlier this year I wrote and directed a short film, and I continue to host and produce two podcasts. Then there’s my work with the Writers’ Guild and the Crime Writers’ Association, both of which I serve as a committee member.

3. Were you always organised?

I was, until I wasn’t, and then I was again! I spent ten years in graphic design, where I was very organised and on top of everything. But as I mentioned, when I became a full-time writer I thought I could leave all that behind, and so became very dis-organised. Realising that was a mistake is what led me to devise the Organised Writer system.

4. There’s a lot of material about productivity out there. How much have you utilised systems you’ve learned from others and how much have you invented systems to suit your own needs?

Learning from other systems, most notably David Allen’s Getting Things Done, is how I started. And there’s some great stuff in GTD, but one of the most valuable things it taught me is that traditional productivity systems don’t work for a writer, or in fact any creative worker.

So I returned to first principles, and challenged myself not to just tweak an existing solution, but to answer more fundamental questions of what I was trying to achieve, and what I as a writer needed from a productivity system.

5. Is this a book only for professional full time writers?

Not at all. That’s my perspective, of course, and it’s how I use the system myself. But it’s ‘modular’, to use a geeky phrase, so you can take different parts and slot them into your existing work practices.

All improvement requires making changes, but if you’re, say, a parent with young children, of course I understand that you can’t spare four hours every day to write. But using The Organised Writer’s principles ensures whatever time you can spare is spent focusing on writing, not worrying about everything else going on in your life.

6. What kind of difference might your systems make in the typical writer’s life? Can you give an example or two?

Two of the biggest problems busy writers face are scheduling and distraction.

Scheduling in the Organised Writer system is about planning ahead while remaining flexible. It helps you create ‘breathing room’ to deal with obstacles and unexpected problems while still hitting deadlines.

Distraction, meanwhile, is a problem in all walks of life but particularly so for writers. We rely on using our imagination to conjure words — but words are also what we use to remember tasks we have to carry out, and things we need to remember, that have nothing to do with writing. When these things clash in our minds, both sides lose. Part of the system is about helping you ‘offload’ non-writing things from your mind so you don’t have to worry about them while you’re working.

7. Tell me more about the concept of ‘clean mind’?

‘Clean mind theory’ is my term for what happens when we can clear our mind of all the non-writing tasks we have to do, enabling us to focus on writing and using our imagination to its fullest.

Sitting down to write with half a dozen tasks preying on our mind — things we need to remember, chores we need to carry out, and so on — is a huge distraction. One of the biggest benefits I myself get from the system is knowing I don’t have to worry about all that stuff when I’m writing. It’s liberating.

8. You write about ‘job sheets’ for projects – what are these and are they useful for writers at all stages of their careers?

I first came across job sheets working as a designer, and since bringing them back into my life as a writer they’ve been a godsend. They’re simply a printed form which you use to keep track of a project’s status; ticking off stages like research, notes, rough draft, revisions, and so on. They enable you to see at a glance exactly what stage all of your projects are at.

They’re useful no matter where you are in your career because it’s never too early to develop a good habit. Veteran writers juggling multiple projects will find them immediately valuable, of course. But even if you’re a beginning writer with only one or two projects, learning to use job sheets now will pay off later as you take on more work.

9. What suggestions do you have for writers who are reading this whilst sitting in an office surrounded by piles of unfiled papers and chaos, wondering how on earth they would begin to become organised?

Take heart, because I was once like you! As I say in The Organised Writer itself: read the book, take a weekend to sort out your workspace, then get back to work and follow the system.

I know that might sound easier said than done. But if you’re prepared to make the effort, and committed to getting organised, within weeks it’ll become second nature.

10. Does being organised affect the quality of the art in your view? For example, let’s imagine Francis Bacon’s painting studio – a supreme mess, yet still the working environment of a genius…

But was that mess inspirational to him? Or was it simply a byproduct of his lifestyle?

In a way this is an impossible question to answer, because we can’t make a direct comparison. I can say without a doubt that I’ve done my best work since using the system. But I acknowledge that I can’t know whether that might have still been the case even if I was disorganised.

What I do know, again without a doubt, is that since using the system I’ve done more work than I otherwise would have… while conversely being much less stressed.

11. Your book also covers aspects of productivity. If you could share one piece of advice here relating to the act of writing itself – what would that be?

‘It’s easier to revise anything, even the worst writing in the world, than it is to write it in the first place.’

That’s a mantra I’ve both preached and practised for years. Again, it might sound easier said than done, but it’s absolutely true. So when in doubt, just write — because you can always come back and revise it later.

12. How can your book help writers who are working on multiple projects?

That’s the core of the first part of the book. Scheduling, task management, memory offloading, job sheets… it’s a holistic way to help you stay on top of your workload.

If you’re in control of your schedule, you know what to work on next; if you have an overview of every project’s status, you know what you need to do next; and if you’re not distracted by chores and tasks, the work you do will be better and allow you to finish each project sooner.

13. You write about organising money as a writer. What about those who are not yet making money from their writing – could your book help that move towards becoming professional?

Yes, absolutely. Talent may be the most important factor in a writing career, but hitting deadlines is a very close second. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, editors love knowing they can rely on a writer.

But besides that, getting a grip on your finances is another good habit worth developing as soon as you can. Start keeping accurate records now so that when you take on more work, and find yourself sending and chasing multiple invoices (and bills!) every month, those good habits will already be in place to help you stay on top of things.

14. What differences have you seen in the writing lives of others who have used your systems to date?

Mainly an increase in productivity and a decrease in stress. One novelist friend didn’t need help with her writing per se, but she took the calendar and scheduling system and adopted it completely to help her stay on track. Conversely, a comics writer friend was already good at juggling projects, but took clean mind theory to heart to help him write more every day.

The Organised Writer is a system that rewards good behaviour with the ultimate writer’s high — knowing you’ve done enough for the day, and can now relax. Every writer knows there’s no better feeling than that.

Thanks so much Antony – I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to explain your system and it’s been an absolute pleasure to read your fascinating book! I know many of my clients and blog readers will benefit from your ideas.

Readers of The Writing Coach blog can buy the book at a discount from Bloomsbury using the code ORGANISEDWRITER20, here: www.bloomsbury.com/theorganisedwriter (codes expires on 30th November)

The Silence of the Archives – A guest post by Pete Langman

February 24, 2020 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Character, Guest post, Inspiration, Literary Consultancy, Reading, The writing coach, The writing life, Writers 4 Comments

Our former client Pete Langman, author of Killing Beauties, met his publisher John Mitchinson of Unbound at our Writing Coach ‘Google Academy’ event

Here he writes about how we transform archival material when writing historical fiction.

If it takes an historian to rediscover an exciting but little-known character’s life, the historical novelist can imagine them a new one. But how does this work, and what are the pitfalls? These questions were brought into sharp relief during the writing of Killing Beauties, a novel that follows the adventures of two female spies, Susan Hyde and Diana Jennings, in 1655/6, when England was a republic under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. These women dealt in information, and the novel begins the delivery of a message that will change their lives.

I was introduced to Susan and Diana by my partner, Dr Nadine Akkerman, as she was researching her (bloody splendid) book Invisible Agents: women and espionage in seventeenth-century Britain. She wasn’t that far into the task before it seemed as if Nadine was operating more as spycatcher than researcher, and it was only in the face of her relentless work that the she-intelligencers slowly gave up their secrets. As Nadine put ever more flesh on their archival bones, we began to realise that they were the perfect protagonists to star in a work of historical fiction. What was so promising about this pair was partially the fact that they were operating in the same circles at the same time, and yet don’t appear to have met, and partially the fact that their lack of excitement about the idea of being caught led to their tracks being pretty well covered over.

These women were slippery characters, and the archives would only give up so much information, making it difficult to work out an absolutely solid and continuous trajectory to their stories. This, of course, is not unusual, however, it’s just how history works. Archives rarely answer every question you put to them.

There are two approaches available to the historical novelist: to fictionalise history or historicise fiction. A fictionalised history is one in which a story is woven around actual events, while historicised fiction is one in which historical detail is inserted into a story. I would say I chose the former, but it would be more accurate to say that the former chose me.

Archives do not tell us everything. There are always gaps. Sometimes you can fill them in by using other sources (though this needs to be approached with care), but sometimes they simply insist on remaining as gaps. The primary site of divergence between the historian and the novelist is in the way they approach these gaps: for the former they are traps; the latter, portals. I could make the gaps work with me rather than against me.

The stories of Susan and Diana were very detailed in certain areas, and utterly obscure in others. Diana practically vanishes until the 1660s following her arrest in 1655, while Susan’s final few days on earth are recorded in a letter that also says her body was spirited away from prison by friends. Edward Hyde, her brother and the author of the History of the Rebellion fails to mention her death at the hands of Parliament. This omission, the reasons for which we can only speculate upon, gave me a great opportunity. I had a solid story of a woman risking all for king and country, and losing. The fact that she then vanishes from the records meant that I could do anything I wanted, within reason.

The opportunity that the archives presents to novelists

Where there is a lack of evidence, the historian must tread carefully, warily avoiding suppositions and remembering not to fall foul of the sin of repeating a ‘perhaps Shakespeare had seen X’ in the form of ‘having seen X, Shakespeare …’. The historian may speculate, but carefully, very, very carefully. Both historian and novelist chart the same territory, but the latter may draw the map that results however they wish.

People in the past appear more reliable, honest, predictable and knowable than we are for one reason – their stories are fixed in the history books. It is in that fixedness that we find the safety of truth. But truth, like the history presented in books, is in large part an illusion.

The stories of Susan and Diana were rich enough in information to show me the way, and yet it was the silence of the archives that allowed me the freedom to play.

Supporting The Creative Future Writers’ Award

November 25, 2019 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Competitions, Inspiration, Publishing, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

Founded in 2013, The Creative Future Writers’ Award is an annual development programme which celebrates talented, under-represented writers from a variety of backgrounds, who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, health or social circumstance. As partners of the Award, along with other leading literary organisations, this is something The Writing Coach are passionate about and Jacqui Lofthouse is delighted to offer an annual prize of mentoring two writers, the Silver Award winners.

On 25th October this year, Jacqui visited the 2019 Creative Futures Writers’ Awards Ceremony, a high profile event held at the Southbank Centre in London as part of the London Literature Festival – and had the pleasure of listening to readings given by many of this year’s prizewinners’ including one of the two winners who will go on to be mentored by Jacqui personally.

Jacqui said:

Once again, I was blown away by the quality of the readings at the ceremony. It was the kind of evening that deepens one’s connection with the act of writing, reminds us of the importance of the spoken word and the necessity of hearing diverse voices. So many of the voices moved me on a very profound level and I felt extremely privileged to be in the room amongst emerging writers of such talent.

Winners are chosen by a panel of industry experts and given the chance to develop their writing through mentoring, training, coaching and assessment. Prizes are awarded for short fiction and poetry and winning submissions are also published in an anthology, alongside work by guest authors, which is available as a hard copy and e-book.

Can you help keep the awards free to enter?

Creative Future are currently running a campaign to raise £2,000 to keep the competition free to enter – something that’s vital for writers in secure mental health units, prisons, without reliable IT access, or even lacking the confidence to stake an entry fee on their own work. Do take the time to watch the video below to find out more about how you could support this fantastic cause. The crowdfunding campaign closes this Friday 29th so do watch today to find out more about the Awards and the wonderful work the organisation do for writers who might otherwise be unable to access mentorship.

To find out more about this campaign, please click here.

And if you are interested in entering next year’s awards to win mentoring from The Writing Coach or another leading organisation, do sign up to the Creative Futures newsletter to keep informed about entry dates here.

Creativity and Leadership – A Guest Post by Trevor Waldock

July 15, 2019 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Guest post, Inspiration, Interviews, Literary Consultancy, Self-publishing, The writing coach, The writing life, Uncategorized, Writers 1 Comment

We are delighted to share this guest post by Trevor Waldock. Trevor is one of the best-known, and best-respected, executive coaches in Europe and has worked at the most senior level in organisations across all sectors. The author of Doing the Right Thing – Getting Fit for Moral Leadership, he is also the founder of Emerging Leaders, a charity, which aims to bring the best of leadership development to the poorest of communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

I have struggled for years with being a writer. Am I a writer? How do I know? How do I judge the answer to that question? I write. Yes. But do I write well and how do I make an honest assessment of myself? I recently published my sixth book on Amazon Kindle Doing The Right Thing, so you could say that makes me a writer. But do the four books published on Amazon Kindle carry the same weight as my books that were published by ‘real’ publishers on real paper? Is Amazon Kindle cheating? I’m sure that every writer has to wrestle with their own demons and these are just a few of mine. One of the great tensions that I have battled to resolve over the past years is the need, the desire, the urge to write, on one side and the fact that I run an international charity on the other side. In my book Jericho & Other Short Stories, I wrote a story called Poets & Engineers. It captured something of this tension. My job often demands me to be an engineer – issues of structure, details, processes, boundaries and delivery – yet by heart, I am a poet.

How to resolve such a tension? One way was to write about my work in developing leaders in both the first and third worlds, in The 18 Challenges of Leadership and To Plant A Walnut Tree. While I was writing about aspects of leadership – like my latest book Doing The Right Thing – then I could tell myself that my writing was part of my job. That way I could justify carrying on leading and carrying on writing. But that doesn’t explain my book about travelling around Rwanda with my son 11 years after the Genocide, or my short stories books, or the short book Am I Really Tired? which could be seen as work or maybe not.

The tension came to a head for me in a dream that I had a few years ago. I was trying to get back home and came to the High Street but a police line cordoned it off. As I tried to find out why I could not go down the normal route home, I discovered that someone had died there. A murder or death of some kind. So I had to find a different way home. The scene then cuts to me talking with my dad who was asking me about my writing and I was telling him how much I wanted to write. He was so overwhelmingly supportive and said he would do anything he could to support me financially and that I should just get on and write. (In real life my dad showed zero interest in my writing. I’m not sure I even told him of my aspirations). The dream was one of those shocking dreams that you know you have to listen to. The meaning of the dream, for me, is summed up by a scrap of paper that I wrote soon afterwards, which still sits on my desk. It simply says,

“Write or die”

So I made some tough changes in my daily routines. Firstly I decided that whatever the risks to my leadership role I had to write and so I set aside each morning to write and read things that would fertilise my writing. The next thing I did was talk through my ‘real’ job with a coach. What he helped me see was that I had segregated the idea of leader from that of creativity. It had become an either-or, in my mind. He came up with this idea that my strength was as a creative leader. Creativity can show itself in coming up with ideas, shaping strategy, forming new ideas and… writing about them. Reforming my identity in this way led me back to the definition of leadership that I love most and use across the world.

“Leadership is the ability to create a story that affects the thoughts, feelings and actions of others ” (‘Leading mind’ – Howard Gardner, 2011)

Leaders are authors. They create stories and they can do that with thoughts, with actions, with inventions, with innovations, with imagination and vision and with words.

So, armed with these liberating insights I am trying to be kinder to myself. To embrace the totality of who I am as a writer, rather than segment myself in someway. Writing has become like a thermometer or warning light. When I’m not writing and caught up in the operational realities of leading an organisation (the engineer) then I know that I am out of balance and very soon I will feel the ‘soul death’, as I call it, creeping upon me. So when I see that happening I stop and I write (the poet). This is no theory for me. I write this on the first afternoon of three days vacation that I’ve taken. Taking the vacation was a last minute decision, made only the night before, because I knew I was out of balance. So I stopped and I’m writing and I feel some new blood flowing through my veins today. I write because it’s who I am.

Teaching Writing: Editing vs. Coaching

February 8, 2019 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Editing, Guest post, Inspiration, Literary Consultancy, The writing coach, The writing life, Writers Leave a Comment

A Guest Post by writing coach consultant Delia Lloyd.

Delia Lloyd

There’s a scene in one of my all-time favourite films, All that Jazz, that addresses the perennial question about innate talent vs. learned ability. In the scene, the protagonist – a choreographer modelled on the legendary Bob Fosse – confronts a ballerina in his company who’s crying because she knows she’s not as good as the other dancers.

“I can’t make you a great dancer,” Fosse consoles her. “But I can make you a better dancer.”

That’s how I feel when I work with writers.

I don’t know if there’s such a thing as being a “natural talent” in writing. You can definitely see when a writer has a gift – David Foster Wallace, Amos Oz, and my new idol – Anna Burns – all come to mind. But, as we all know, years of half-written sentences and crumpled up drafts – not to mention gallons of self-doubt – lie behind any prose that looks effortless.

For most of us mere mortals, however, writing is mostly about putting your bum in the chair and being willing to write shitty first drafts. So then the question becomes: how do you help people become “better dancers?”

For a long time, I worked with writers primarily as an editor. Someone would give me a draft of a paper and I would fill it with red ink, altering word choice, verb tenses and sentence length. Invariably, I would also recommend that they completely rewrite their introductions so as to hint at the entire shape of things to come. I’m a firm believer that if you get the introduction right, the whole paper writes itself.

These days, I spend more time as a writing coach. My advice still boils down to some combination of exhorting them to work on both style and structure. But the process is quite different. For starters, I don’t “fix” anything. I mark up clients’ drafts to show them where they might improve their writing. Mostly, however, what we do is talk.

We talk through their arguments to clarify what they are trying to say. I try to show them that even if they feel confused, they actually know what they wish to say. They just need to move what’s in their heads onto the page.

Sometimes, we do exercises together to practice various aspects of good writing. We look at how to experiment with “strong starts,” how to identify one’s audience and meet its needs, and how to use mind maps to organise key points and supporting evidence.

Other times, we simply talk about why they feel under-confident in their writing. They tell me about a boss who told them that they weren’t any good at writing, so they should just avoid it. Or about a thesis adviser who abandoned them, interested only in seeing the final product, not guiding them through the process.

For me, editing and coaching both constitute helping professions. The primary difference is that with coaching, you get more insight into the whole person who sits behind the written word. And you don’t so much “do something” to their writing as empower them to do it themselves.

I’m not sure if I am producing any prima ballerinas. But I certainly enjoy helping the writers I work with become better dancers.

Routes to Publication – our Google Academy event

August 25, 2018 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Community, Motivation, Networking, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

We were recently lucky enough to host our Routes to Publication event at Google Academy in central London. On the evening, our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse chaired a discussion with special guests Louise Doughty, John Mitchinson, Clare Morgan and Stephanie Zia. It was a fascinating opportunity to meet many of our clients and community at the Writing Coach and what a wonderful discussion it was, offering a fresh and positive perspective on the publishing industry.

Our chair, Jacqui Lofthouse (centre) with guests (from left to right) Louise Doughty, John Mitchinson, Stephanie Zia and Clare Morgan

Our aim was to enable our audience to discover more about routes to publication – from the traditional route to working with smaller innovative publishers to self-publishing. We wanted to explore how one might maintain one’s integrity and individuality as a writer, whilst also having one eye on the marketplace. In addition, guests also had an opportunity to network over drinks and nibbles, courtesy of Google Academy.

A wonderful opportunity for our Writing Coach community to come together

We were delighted to have such a distinguished panel of guests: Louise Doughty the bestselling author of eight novels, including the number one bestseller Apple Tree Yard; John Mitchinson, the co-founder of Unbound, the award-winning crowdfunding platform for books; Clare Morgan, novelist and founder and director of Oxford University’s Creative Writing programme and Stephanie Zia, novelist and Founder of Blackbird Digital Books. The evening was chaired by the Founder of The Writing Coach, novelist, and coach Jacqui Lofthouse.

Our panel at the Google Academy event

Jacqui Lofthouse introduces the evening

The panel, together with special guests novelist Roopa Farooki and Alice Jolly

It was a privilege to be able to host such a special event for our clients and subscribers. If you’d like to keep up to date with our events, do sign up to our newsletter. All of our clients at The Writing Coach get direct access to Jacqui for general advice and we also host quarterly London based meet-ups which are open to all of our clients and past clients. Do take a look at this post about our community outings to find out more. We look forward to meeting you!

Carolyn Kirby’s compelling debut: The Conviction of Cora Burns

August 7, 2018 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Inspiration, Publishing, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

We are excited to share the news that one of Jacqui’s former clients at The Writing Coach, Carolyn Kirby now has a two book deal with No Exit Press.

Carolyn Kirby

Carolyn worked with Jacqui on her first novel and we’re delighted that a revised version of that novel will also be published by No Exit. Jacqui introduced Carolyn to her agent, so is particularly thrilled to learn of this fantastic outcome.

UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The Conviction of Cora Burns and a second novel by Carolyn were acquired from David Haviland at Andrew Lownie Associates.

Carolyn at The Bridport Prize ceremony

The Conviction of Cora Burns (originally entitled Half of You) is set in Birmingham in the 1880s and explores the theme of nature versus nurture through the story of Cora Burns, a young woman who finds herself faced with the difficult challenge of overcoming her unalterable biology and troubled upbringing if she has any hope of creating a better future for herself. This compelling historical thriller won the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award, was a runner up for the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Award and shortlisted for the Mslexia Novel Prize.

Ion Mills, managing director of No Exit Press, said:

We are thrilled to be publishing such an exciting new voice in this genre. Kirby’s gripping historical thriller explores so many contemporary issues such as madness, motherhood, criminality and medical research that we are certain it will be a huge success next summer.

Carolyn said:

I am delighted that the lovely team at No Exit Press has taken on The Conviction of Cora Burns, a novel that asks difficult questions about childrens’ morality and the influence on our sympathies of ideas about nature versus nurture. It’s fantastic to know that they will be bringing my next historical thriller to life as well.

Originally from Sunderland, Carolyn studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before working in social housing and as a teacher.

Inspired by Carolyn’s story?

If you’d like to follow in Carolyn’s footsteps and consider how your book will reach publication, do join us at The Writing Coach and become part of our community.

Come along to our ‘Routes to Publication’ event at Google Academy on 16th August – a panel discussion with special guests Louise Doughty, John Mitchinson, Clare Morgan and Stephanie Zia. We’ll be sure to make you very welcome and introduce you to other writers in our community. And you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask questions about your own route to publication.

All of us at The Writing Coach wish Carolyn huge success with The Conviction of Cora Burns – we can’t wait to see it in the bookshops!

Our Writers’ Community: Group outings

July 29, 2018 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Community, Events, Inspiration, Networking, The writing coach, The writing life, Writers 1 Comment

One of the most unique aspects of The Writing Coach is the strong sense of a writers’ community that we foster amongst all of our clients. We really pride ourselves on this and our community events are open to all our clients from those who enrol in our online course Get Black on White to those who enrol in one of our literary consultancy or coaching and mentoring programmes.

We’re also excited to announce an event which is open to all – our Routes to Publication event at Google Academy on 16th August – a panel event with novelist Louise Doughty, founder of Unbound Books John Mitchinson, Director of the Creative Writing MSt at Oxford University Clare Morgan and founder of Blackbird Digital Books Stephanie Zia. To find out more, click here.

Outing to The Charles Dickens Museum – May 2018

This year we had a truly wonderful day at The Dickens Museum. We also had a lovely Carluccio’s lunch prior to our visit where we shared many stories about our writing lives and our writing goals.

: In the courtyard garden cafe at The Dickens Museum

: Perusing manuscripts

Our writers’ community is also really deepened by our fantastic Facebook group – open to clients only – so that when we do meet our clients often feel as if they know each other already. The Facebook community is a fantastic place for asking questions of others and Jacqui – and also a place where we keep each other accountable to our writing goals.

Outing to The Tate Britain – January 2018

Members of The Writing Coach community at the Tate Britain

Outing to Kew Gardens – Summer 2017

A writers’ summer picnic at Kew Gardens

If you’d like to be a part of our community, you can sign up for our online course Get Black on White which gives you permanent instant access or enrol in any of our writing programmes. To find out more do contact us.

Or come along to our Routes to Publication event at Google Academy on 16th August – a panel event where Jacqui Lofthouse will interview novelist Louise Doughty, founder of Unbound Books John Mitchinson, Director of the Creative Writing MSt at Oxford University Clare Morgan and founder of Blackbird Digital Books Stephanie Zia. To find out more, click here. All attendees will also gain access to our community.

Jacqui says,

What I love about our community is how incredibly supportive the members are to each other. Many of our clients are published writers and our outings are attended by our consultants too, so you get to meet and network with experienced writers and to share your thoughts and discuss your ideas about writing with so many like-minded people. One of my aims here at The Writing Coach is to truly support our members in the deepest possible way and I hope these images give a real sense of how we do this. I attend all of the events personally and get to know everyone. There’s no charge for the events beyond your own expenses for the day – so this really is an invaluable resource for everyone who works with us. I’d love to meet you at a future event!

Routes to Publication: our Event at Google Academy

July 18, 2018 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Bookselling, Community, Corporate, Events, Inspiration, Motivation, Publishing, Self-publishing, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

A Panel Event at Google Academy exploring routes to publication and writerly integrity in the process

Thursday August 16th at 6.30pm- 9.30pm

Jacqui Lofthouse interviews special guests Louise Doughty, John Mitchinson, Clare Morgan and Stephanie Zia

: Louise Doughty

: John Mitchinson

: Jacqui Lofthouse – Founder of The Writing Coach

: Clare Morgan

: Stephanie Zia

Would you love to find out more about routes to publication – from the traditional route to working with smaller innovative publishers to self-publishing? Are you keen to discuss how to maintain your integrity and individuality as a writer, whilst also having one eye on the marketplace?

We are delighted to announce this one-off special event at Google Digital Academy where you will have an opportunity to network with writers and industry specialists whilst also considering your own best route to market.

Price: £20 Limited to an audience of 60

Our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse is thrilled to chair this special panel discussion on 16th August, featuring guests who, between them, know the publishing industry inside-out. Our aim is to help you to unravel the possibilities for your writing – and also to inspire you with a real vision that will enable you to write your very best work – and also to find an audience for it. Our discussion will be full of information and advice to help you make the right choices for your writing – with advice on how to stay true to yourself as a writer and how to choose the ideal route to publication.

Whatever genre you work in, our panel discussion aims to give you the tools to write with confidence and to clarify your vision for publication.

Schedule:

18.30-19.15: Reception drinks, nibbles and Google Virtual Reality Hub

19.15-20.45: Routes to Publication Panel with Jacqui Lofthouse (chair), Louise Doughty, John Mitchinson, Clare Morgan and Stephanie Zia. To be followed by Q & A

20.45-21.30: Networking drinks

Location:

Google Digital Academy, 123 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, London, SW1W 9SH

Doors open at 18.30pm, with drinks and nibbles kindly provided by Google

Booking & Payment

The price for this event is £20.

This is not a ticketed event – once you have booked, you don’t need to bring a ticket on the day as your name will be on our guestlist.

Our Speakers:

Our speakers have been chosen to give you the broadest view of routes to publication.

Louise Doughty

Louise Doughty is the bestselling author of eight novels, one work of non-fiction and five plays for radio. Her latest book, Black Water was nominated as one of the New York Times Book Review Top 100 Notable Books of 2016. Her previous book was the number one bestseller Apple Tree Yard, shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award and the National Book Award Thriller of the Year and has sold in thirty territories worldwide. A four-part TV adaptation with Emily Watson in the lead role was broadcast on on BBC1. She is a critic and cultural commentator, broadcasts regularly for the BBC and has been the judge for many prizes and awards including the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Novel Award. See: www.louisedoughty.com

John Mitchinson

John Mitchinson is a writer and publisher and the co-founder of Unbound, the award-winning crowdfunding platform for books. He helped to create the award-winning BBCTV show QI and co-wrote the best-selling series of QI books. As a publisher he worked in senior positions at Harvill, Orion and Cassell. Before that he was Waterstone’s first marketing director. He is co-host of Unbound’s books podcast Backlisted (@BacklistedPod) and a Vice-President of the Hay Festival of Arts & Literature. See www.unbound.com

Clare Morgan

Clare Morgan is founder and director of Oxford University’s Creative Writing programme. Her most recent novel A Book for All and None (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best Novel award, and was described as ‘a spell-binding, effortlessly propulsive unity’ by the Independent; ‘written with eloquence and artistry’ by the Mail on Sunday; and ‘too tantalizing to resist’ by Time Out. She has published a collection of stories, An Affair of the Heart, and her short fiction been widely anthologized, and commissioned by BBC Radio 4. Clare gained her D.Phil. from Oxford University, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from U.E.A. She has chaired the Literature Bursaries Panel of the Arts Council of Wales, been Literary Mentor for Southern Arts and Literature Wales, and a literary assessor for publications funded by the Welsh Books Council. She is now an Academician for the Folio Academy. See www.claremorgan.co.uk

Stephanie Zia

Stephanie Zia has worked in the arts all her life: at the BBC, the Guardian and as a published novelist. She is the Founder of Blackbird Digital Books which publishes rights-reverted titles by established authors alongside exciting new talent and has sold over 100,000 books, sharing over £100,000 in royalties 50/50 with her authors. She strongly believes in the on-going promotion of titles rather than the traditional 3-month window, nurturing the creativity of her #authorpower authors and promoting them with the latest, ever-changing, digital marketing techniques. See www.blackbird-books.com

Jacqui Lofthouse

Our chair, Jacqui Lofthouse is a novelist and founder of The Writing Coach. In 1992 she studied for her MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. She is the author of four novels, The Temple of Hymen, Bluethroat Morning, Een Stille Verdwijning and The Modigliani Girl. Her novels have sold over 100,000 copies in the UK, the USA and Europe. She is currently working on her first YA novel. Jacqui has taught creative writing in a broad variety of settings from City University to Feltham Young Offenders Institution. She is also an actor, training at Identity School of Acting (IDSA). She continues to mentor writers at The Writing Coach where her mission is to help writers to be confident and productive, producing their best work and getting it into print.

We can’t wait to meet you at this very special evening for The Writing Coach!

Blog Tour: ‘Bluethroat Morning’

May 14, 2018 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Blogging, Books, Inspiration, Reading, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

We’re delighted to announce that the official ‘Blog Tour’ for the first digital edition of our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse’s novel ‘Bluethroat Morning’ (originally published by Bloomsbury in 2000) begins tomorrow on May 15th.

There will be daily posts including exclusive extracts, interviews with Jacqui Lofthouse and reviews of the novel, leading up to official publication day on 22nd May.

We’d love it if you could help us to celebrate this new edition of the novel by sharing this post or other posts from the blog tour.

Jacqui writes:

This book is close to my heart and I’d love to reach as many new readers as possible. Set on the North Coast of Norfolk, this is a literary mystery with a nineteenth century subplot. I hope it will entice you and keep you turning the pages.

In writing the novel, I researched deeply on the subject of the links between creativity and despair. It was my findings in that area that led me to develop ways that we might break such links and move towards a more positive vision of the creative life – and eventually to my founding of The Writing Coach.

I hope you will be drawn into Harry’s world, as he investigates the suicide of his wife Alison Bliss – a tale that had been generations in the making.

The poster above shows where the novel will be featured each day. Do help us to spread the word by following the tour. We’d love to know what you make of the novel!

Bluethroat Morning by Jacqui Lofthouse

To entice you, here are a few earlier quotes on ‘Bluethroat Morning’ from its initial publication in 2000. The digital edition is available at a special pre-publication price of 99p/99c until May 21st and you can find the book here.

‘A thriller full of twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing. Every word is magical, almost luminous.’ – Daily Mail

‘A moving read, threaded through with mystery and excitement.’ – Good Housekeeping Magazine

‘A classic tale of longing.’ – Time Out

‘There are many elements to savour in this novel: the intertwining of past and present; the struggle to write and the responsibility of writing about others’ lives. Best of all, Lofthouse has a fine eye for the bleak Norfolk landscape and how it both reflects and affects characters’ moods.’ – Tracy Chevalier author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

‘Captures the spacey feel of Norfolk well – an engaging read, intriguingly structured, tough in some of its insights, and sexy too.’ – Lindsay Clarke, author of The Chymical Wedding, winner of the Whitbread Prize for Fiction

‘Those who feel the reading public’s love of the 19th century Gothic mystery may be abating will be given pause by this latest entry in the field of pastiche. This is a considerable piece, full of subtle characterization and a well-chosen raft of literary underpinnings.’ – Publishing News

‘The intertwining of the two main stories is very skilfully done, as is the delicacy and understanding she brings to the key themes – suicide, creativity, love and especially paternal love. Very moving.’ – Henry Sutton, novelist and co-director MA Creative Writing, UEA