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Inside Story – The Writing Coach Membership

February 11, 2022 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Community, Confidence, Guest post, Inside Story, Literary Consultancy, Membership, The writing coach, The writing life, Writing Exercises Leave a Comment

A guest post by Jacqueline Smith, member of Inside Story.

My first experience of  The Writing Coach was through joining Inside Story, but I’d first met Jacqui many years ago when she was teaching creative writing courses at Richmond College.

Jacqueline Smith

‘Having a Go’

I remember sitting around the tables reading and sharing our work. It was daunting and I was a complete beginner, unlike many of the others, but Jacqui created a warm and welcoming atmosphere and I was happy to bare my soul. It felt like that, particularly when part of you is in the story you’re trying to write. I certainly wouldn’t have considered myself a writer back then, I was just ‘having a go’. I remember meeting a literary agent at a party and she told me that I needed to write a book like The Beach, which had just come out. The problem was, as much as I loved that book ( and film ), my story and writing style was very different.

Fast forward twenty odd years of life, work and family to February 2021 and the launch of Inside Story. This looked like something that could work for me. I was still teaching and life was still full on but Inside Story could fit around all of that, as long as I was prepared to commit to it.

Journals, Journalling

Committing to the Process

So I dug out my old notes and diaries as the original story was still in my head and heart – it just wouldn’t go away, even after all that time – and joined the course. Now, I had been using Zoom for over a year as I was having to teach on it, and, to be honest, my brain associated it with work, with all its frustrations. I’d had to stop my drama and dance classes because I just couldn’t bear to do yet another thing online. Imagine my delight when I had a completely different reaction with Inside Story!

At first I couldn’t attend many of the live classes but, whenever I had some time, I would head to the website and watch the recordings, pen and notebook in hand. I loved it. Slowly, something started to happen to the way I thought about my writing. Through meeting the other members online and listening carefully to Jacqui’s teachings, I started to believe in my ability to write my book. I started to believe I could be a writer. I bought my journals and notebooks, I put the dates on the calendar and I completed the module exercises. In short, I committed to the process.

Ignoring the Doorbell

The way that Inside Story works means that it’s accessible to most people. The expectation is that you will attend maybe one class and one write-in a month and catch up with the rest in your own time. There is however the hard core group of writers who make it to most classes and write-ins and the feeling of community and support is tangible, even with a screen between us. The commitment is infectious – members will listen in on car journeys, while rocking young children to sleep, and so on. I understand why they don’t want to miss it. I’ve  come away feeling inspired and energised, ready to get back to the story growing in my head.

 

The write-ins have been a revelation. The simple deed of committing to a particular time to write is a powerful first step towards accountability. The doorbell may ring, your teenager may need something but some writing will get done. And ultimately, the process is all about getting ‘ Black on White’. It’s about confidence too and Jacqui addresses this in some of her classes, which aren’t all about the craft itself. She looks at challenges and mindset, both when writing and when submitting work.  She’s well placed to do this, being the first traditionally published novelist in the country to have trained as a Life Coach.

The Journey

I don’t know where my writing journey will take me. I want to share the story in my head with the wider world but I’m well aware of the challenges of getting a book published. Indeed, I’ve understood that on a deeper level in recent months, as I was lucky enough to have been chosen by Jacqui to work on The Writing Coach team – so I’m beginning to see the industry more from the inside now. It’s easier for me now to find time for my writing. And my new industry knowledge only makes me all the more determined to complete my book. At the moment, I am content to take one step at a time and I’m grateful to have Inside Story by my side. I’m certain I would not have achieved so much without it.

Fnd out more about Inside Story (doors close Sunday 13th February 2022 at midnight) here:

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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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