The Writing Coach
Literary Consultancy and Coaching for Writers from Jacqui Lofthouse
by Jacqui Lofthouse One morning, in the spring of 1984 – when I was working at my Saturday job in a sweet-shop – something happened that changed my life. I was eighteen years old and about to take my A Levels. My ambition, at the time, was to become an actor, and I was a …
David Lewis, artist and visualiser describes his commission to illustrate eight writers for The Writing Coach website. David writes: My brief was to capture a handful of inspirational literary figures across different practices, cultures and periods. I deliberately avoided drawing anyone too recent, to be sure there was no ambiguity about who The Writing Coach …
By Jacqueline Smith, Client Services Manager at The Writing Coach The Perfect Venue On a beautiful spring day in May, we were delighted to host our first Getting Published Day in London. The choice of venue was a top priority, as we wanted to create an enjoyable day for our attendees, many of whom are …
In October, we were delighted to represent The Writing Coach at the Creative Future Writers’ Award Ceremony and Writers’ Day. Held at the Southbank Centre as part of the London Literature Festival, The Creative Future Writers’ Award was founded in 2013. As an annual development programme, it celebrates talented, under-represented writers from a variety of …
Join us for a discussion exploring the space that literature can offer amidst the current crisis. All proceeds to the charity War Child. Join authors Miranda Gold, Alice Jolly, Fran Lock, and Ana Seferović (see more details below) for Fragile Borders, Fragile Bodies at The Tabernacle Church, London on Friday 8th April from 6.30pm, …
Recently Jacqueline Smith interviewed the Crime Writer PD Viner. Phil Viner is one of our consultants and a Crime Writing Mentor at The Writing Coach. His first novel The Last Winter of Dani Lancing was shortlisted for International Crime Novel of the Year and his most recent work is due for publication in May 2022. …
Discover how The Writing Coach turned my distant dreams of a writing business into an exciting new reality through coaching, writing feedback, and support.
We are delighted to announce that three of our current and former clients will soon be finishing the first term of their Creative Writing MAs at the University of East Anglia (UEA). We are particularly proud this year to witness the success of these clients, two of whom gained places on the MA Creative Writing: …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
A Guest Post by writing coach consultant 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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 Would you love to find out more about routes to publication – from the traditional route to working with …
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 …
Sarah Dickinson was our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse’s first proper ‘boss’ when Jacqui began her career as a graduate in 1988. Here Jacqui interviews Sarah and they reminisce about ‘the old days’, about their relationship and on the nature of business and being a writer. Sarah, when we first met, I was a twenty-two year …
It is with great pleasure that I introduce a new book and Audible recording, Plenty Mango: Postcards from the Caribbean by Sarah Dickinson. This is a very special one for me as Sarah was my first ever proper ‘boss’ after I graduated from University – aged 22, she offered me a role as a radio producer …
A Guest Post on Jane Austen by former writing coach client Caroline Doherty de Novoa At Jane Austen’s house, you certainly get what you came for. A tiny wooden writing desk… a view onto a rose garden… a quill. A dainty tea set… books with gold-lettered spines and peacocks emblazoned on the front… embroidery. A …
We are delighted to announce that former Writing Coach client Carolyn Kirby has won the inaugural Bluepencilagency First Novel Award with her historical thriller Half of You. In addition, she was awarded second place for this novel in the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize.
In this post, our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse interviews her former client, the novelist Stuart Warner, author of The Sound of Everything. They discuss his transition from poet to novelist. When we first met, in your writing life you were primarily a poet. What made you want to transition to novel-writing? I recall telling friends how much …
We are delighted to introduce a guest blog by Miranda Gold, novelist and author of ‘Starlings’ – ‘Writing in the Dark’ explores her experience of working with a writing coach: our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse. I arrived at the British Library for my session with Jacqui on three hours’ sleep, carrying an embryonic first draft and unsure …
Join us on Wednesday 12th July 2017 A panel discussion chaired by Writing Coach founder Jacqui Lofthouse on the subject of Literary Fiction at Waterstones Gower Street Is literary fiction the antidote we need in the modern world? Redundant or more vital than ever? We’d love to see you at this panel event, where Writing …
