GROW Mentoring
ROUND 4 OF APPLICATIONS TO OUR MENTORING SCHEME IS NOW OPEN!
Mentoring and feedback on drafts of your work in progress can develop your confidence, nurture your imagination, provide guidance and direction and help you to hone your craft.
If you are looking for some writing advice and have a genuine desire to improve the quality and creativity of your writing, then our ‘GROW’ mentoring scheme could be for you.
Round Four of applications is open now until 30th June 2024 at midnight!
You have probably been writing for a while, already done a number of courses, maybe even a creative writing MA, but you still have that unfinished manuscript or a set of not-quite-there poems and don’t know what to do to get them to a point where you’re happy with them. Perhaps you’ve had some agent interest, maybe even some knock backs and you’re feeling disheartened or – worse – like an imposter (happens to us all!).
GROW is about much more than racing to the finish line of publishing and winning book deals to wild acclaim, it’s about giving yourself permission to take your writing seriously, making time for it and empowering yourself to live an enriching life with writing at its heart.
Mentors can help you to clear space, put the work first and engage meaningfully, with calm focus on your imagination and on making connections with a creative community – you may just find that the rest will follow naturally.
How does it work?
GROW offers the opportunity to request a mentor who best fits your needs, someone you can work with on a one-off basis or over a longer period of time. You can decide this – you may simply want a quick initial manuscript assessment or an eye on a few poems and then you’re free to come back for more detailed input down the line if you want to. Many different combinations and durations of support are available – just get in touch to discuss this with us.
Our small team of busy writers have limited space available, so it’s possible that if you apply to GROW you might not the mentor you ask for but we will do our best! Our focus will be on those writers we feel we can really help to nurture and achieve their writing goals. Once accepted, you will work with your mentor to identify what you can achieve together and come up with a plan that will guide your work.
Most meetings with mentors will take place online via Zoom. If mentors and writers agree to meet face to face, this will take place in an appropriate public venue.
Meet the mentors
We are thrilled to have a team of very experienced writer mentors who are able to offer feedback and advice on the fine detail of your work as well as the bigger picture of your life as a writer. Each of our mentors specialises in particular genres and forms of writing, including fiction, poetry, non-fiction and everything in between - see below for further information.
Louisa Adjoa Parker
Madeleine Bunting
Nick Hunt
Ronnie McGrath
JLM Morton
Caleb Parkin
Sarah Steele
Jonny Fluffypunk
Nikki Owen
Kate Potts
Adam Weymouth
What do others say?
Working alongside Sarah Steele was a joy. She understood my writing and creative process and was extremely insightful about the changes and tweaks I could make to my opening chapters, letter and synopsis. The agent package I created with her support was focused and really captured the essence of my novel. Laura Kinnear
This mentoring has been hugely valuable to me. From our first meeting, JLM Morton listened to my priorities, and we designed a mentoring plan tailored to my schedule and budget. Our sessions have been constructive, responsive and closely focused on my goals. Juliette has given really insightful and supportive feedback on my writing, including helping me to strengthen a magical realist story that has since had success in a competition. Sarah Royston
I was desperate to find someone who would inspire and inform both my writing and my wider writing life. When I saw the people working with Dialect to offer mentorship I knew I'd struck gold. I'd already had great experiences with Dialect in workshops, at events, and as publishers, and I trusted them entirely to have grounded their mentorship programme with the same thoroughness and verve. Three months in, it's been brilliant, Nick (Hunt) and I agreed what I needed - encouragement, insight and 'artificial' deadlines to jolly me along - and he's done exactly what it says on the tin. I recommend the programme wholeheartedly, no matter how far along the writing journey you are, everyone could do with a more experienced mentory-friend. Electra Rhodes
How do I apply?
Round Three of applications is open now until midnight on 8th March 2024. The application process is simple, using an online form here. You’ll know within a month if you’ve been successful. If you would like to make a general enquiry in the first instance, please email us at dialectwriters[@]gmail.com and we’ll get back to you soon.
Cost
The cost of mentoring is estimated on a case by case basis and will vary considerably, depending on your project and on the mentor’s own fees. We are always transparent about this when you ask for an estimate and use rates recommended by the Society of Authors.
As a rough guide, reading of 3-5000 words or 4-6 poems and a one-hour feedback meeting would cost approximately £115, half that if there is no feedback meeting. Our experience from the scheme so far suggests that those working in long form may want to have monthly or bi-monthly sessions of 2-3 hours, while those working in shorter form might be looking at 1 hour feedback / 1 hour reading time. Some mentees go for an hour a month at a cost of £57.50 which involves half an hour reading time and then half an hour on Zoom for feedback and discussion. As you can see, the scheme is super flexible and designed to meet your individual needs. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to talk about pricing if you’d like an estimate before you make an application.
We hate red tape as much as the next person but here’s the small print that you really do need to know…
Please note our cancellation policy: we really hate to put this in place but recent last minute cancellations and no-shows to mentoring sessions have prompted us to do this to protect our writers. Late cancellations have a big impact on writers who rely on a freelance income to pay their bills. Cancellations of sessions within 72 hours of the planned meeting which cannot be rearranged within a week will incur a 50% charge. Sessions cancelled less than 48 hours before the session which cannot be rearranged within a week will incur a 100% charge and cannot be refunded. Thanks for your understanding.