The Writing Coach
Literary Consultancy and Coaching for Writers from Jacqui Lofthouse
I had the great pleasure recently to lead a branding workshop for content creation at The Shard, London. What a wonderful venue for a workshop this was, with a glorious panoramic view of London. This short video put together by Tom Hewitson gives a flavour of the event. The workshop for Tom’s Content Lab was …
I am delighted to announce the launch of my new publishing imprint, Nightingale Editions, an imprint of Blackbird Digital Books. The imprint has been founded by me Jacqui Lofthouse together with Stephanie Zia of Blackbird Digital Books. For some time, I’d considered the idea of publishing the work of others, but when I read Sara Bailey’s haunting and lyrical …
It is always such a thrill when clients of The Writing Coach have success in their writing lives, so it is with great pleasure that I announce Nan Bovington‘s achievement. She has recently been longlisted for the prestigious Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. This is the first time that a longlist has been announced for the …
I’m delighted to welcome playwright Stephen Brown to The Writing Coach team as a mentor for playwrights. Stephen is now available as a consultant through The Writing Coach. Stephen was my own tutor in playwriting, so it gives me particular pleasure to welcome him. I interviewed Stephen about his approach to playwriting and mentoring and do …
There’s no doubt about it, networking for writers matters. Luckily, for most of us, meeting other writers is also a hugely enjoyable pastime. But even if you’re an introvert who would prefer to spend his/her life in a library or at the writing desk, I’d suggest that you do carefully consider the benefits of meeting your peers …
Guest Post on memoir writing from new Writing Coach consultant Jon Magidsohn I once heard an interview with musician Melissa Etheridge, who discovered, while listening to the lyrics of a song she’d written and recorded several years earlier, ‘Oh … that’s what I meant by that line.’ I understood immediately, because I’d experienced such moments while writing, …
What was it about the Charroux Literary Festival that made it special? Why do we go to any Literary Festival and what can we learn from these occasions? Held in the Medieval town of Charroux, this was the first Charroux Litfest: a memorable occasion, where I not only met a number of other wonderful authors, but …
This summer, I’m delighted to have been invited to appear at the first Charroux Literary Festival in France – and I’d love to see you there! The Festival, a bilingual literary festival,will take place in the medieval town of Charroux in the Poitou-Charentes region of South West France from Thursday 27th to Saturday 29th August – the August Bank …
Many freelancers, like myself, are used to working individually: making all the decisions and relying entirely on self-motivation to keep going. But what happens when you collaborate and build a project with another entrepreneur (or another writer, another artist)? Is there power in teamwork or is it difficult to relinquish control? Yesterday, fellow writer and …
This month, the novelist Louise Doughty and I are delighted to feature on the blog Something Rhymed being interviewed there about our literary friendship. Louise and I first met in 1995 at the celebration of 25 years of the MA Creative Writing course at UEA, when we both featured in the anthology Class Work, edited by …
This month, I’m delighted to continue my relationship with The Asian Writer website by contributing a guest post on Common Mistakes in Writing Fiction and how to avoid them. Here’s an excerpt from the post, which I hope you’ll enjoy: Is there such a thing as a ‘mistake’ in writing? It’s a curious question, as …
In those heady days, back in 1995, when I achieved my dream and had my first novel The Temple of Hymen published by Penguin, it was easy to take myself seriously as a writer. How could I not, when I had my name on an orange spine next to that iconic logo? Here I am, shortly after publication, onstage …
If you are looking for a literary consultant, I know you’ll be delighted to read about my new team of literary consultants, here at The Writing Coach. The demand for my Literary Consultancy service has grown and I have now formed a team of brilliant mentors and consultants to work with me, to help you create books …
Reading Jane Harris’s wonderful historical novel The Observationsthis week reminded me of one of my favourite writing exercises which I call ‘The Observer’. Here’s your writing prompt this Monday morning: A character stands in the street, looking up at a lighted window. The character observes the person through the lighted window and reflects on the …
I first discovered the story of Jeanne Hebuterne from Linda Lappin’s wonderful essay ‘Missing Person in Montparnasse: the case of Jeanne Hebuterne’. I was already a Modigliani fan and was researching his life, shortly after the publication of my novel ‘Een Stille Verdwijning’ (Dutch publication), considering what to write next. Lappin’s writing drew me in …
Sometimes life can get in the way of writing, so I thought I’d help to get you in the writing zone each week by offering you a regular writing prompt. There are no rules. You may choose to free-write, to get as many words as possible down on the page (for later editing), or you …
When I first met novelist and playwright Alice Jolly, she was between projects, uncertain about her future direction as a writer. We worked together only briefly, but I have been so delighted to witness her recent success, winning the V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize – and also to see that she is so close to having …
In his wonderful book The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, David Ulin writes that reading is “an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction, a matter of engagement in a society that seems to want nothing more than for us to disengage. It connects us at the deepest …
On January 22nd 2015, I will be celebrating the publication of my novel The Modigliani Girl. I’m really excited about this publication by Blackbird Books. To celebrate this news, I’ve decided to run a competition and to offer two sessions on the Writing Coach’s Full Mentor Programme, including appraisal of 50 pages of writing work as a prize. Essentially, …
When Sharon Zink launched her book Welcome to Sharonville at New Writing South in Brighton, we were lucky enough to have Nicola Joy recording the event on video. If you enjoyed the previous post about Sharon’s publishing success and our mentoring journey, I hope you’ll also enjoy listening to Sharon speak in this video: UFOs, ghosts, grafitti …
We often hear of the novel that sits ‘under the bed’ for years, and in most cases, that is where it stays. I know that I have one of those (it really is under my bed, it’s called ‘The Age of the Fish’) and whilst mine got me an agent and was read by publishers, I …
In 2012, I decided to make an enormous change in my life. After a freelance career spanning twenty years, as a novelist, a teacher of creative writing, a writing coach and literary consultant, I figured it was time for something different. It was time, I thought, to do something that might be more socially useful in …
I would like to take a moment to share a few recent success stories from my former clients. This list is by no means exhaustive and if I haven’t included your publication, do give me a nudge and I’ll include you in the next update. Here’s to all those I have worked with and all …
If you have completed (or are very close to completing) a novel for children or young adults, the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition is the perfect opportunity to get your work noticed. Mslexia are hoping to discover a fantastic new children’s writer who has been overlooked by the usual submission process. In the current climate, where …
