Apprenticeships 1

A one-year professional development programme

Set up in 2005, Apprenticeships in Fiction was the first mentoring scheme for writers in the UK and the only one solely dedicated to fiction. The original boot camp for writers – the scheme had an unprecedented success rate with over eight debut publications and many writers now firmly established. 

Introduction

Apprenticeships in Fiction remains a cornerstone of our work. It provides a template for all our services and is based on established professional practice. We are immensely proud of all the mentors and apprentices who took part. 

Though the scheme is no longer available, we are pleased to be able to offer a first stage apprenticeship, Apprenticeships 2: Writers Toolkit for new writers starting out.

Archive Material

Our unique six-stage developmental programme is designed to prepare writers for publication. Over the course of the year, we will be grappling with the key elements of successful fiction (plot, premise and character development), taking a rigorous approach to technical issues such as structure and point of view, as well as tackling what constitutes the perfect submission package.

Apprenticeships in Fiction aims to encourage diversity, excellence and originality.

The programme

Apprenticeships in Fiction is a structured, supervised year-long individual development programme. Apprentices benefit from engaging directly with an experienced writer who will guide them through the process of writing a first novel, from first draft to completion.

It includes:

• Individual attention from a writer working in the same genre.
• Four one-to-one sessions via Zoom, FaceTime or phone.
• Four progressive written appraisals at key stages.
• A detailed guide to writing the perfect submission package.

At the end of the year, apprentices ‘graduate’ with an objective overview of their own work and a clear grasp of the requirements of the publishing industry.

 Apprenticeships In Fiction is a non-profit making scheme designed to support writers, both as apprentices and mentors.

Ten good reasons for choosing the scheme

• We focus exclusively on the particular demands of writing a novel. We are the only programme in the UK solely dedicated to this form.

• We deal with the complete manuscript. (Other programmes and MA’s read and/or workshop short sections of 5000 words. We read and appraise the complete manuscript twice with a further two partial readings of sections of up to 160,000 words.)

• The duration of the programme is a full year. (An academic year is nine months.)

• We offer unprecedented value for money. Our year long programme provides twice as much input as any other scheme or programme. (More than 78 hours individual attention in the form of reading/assessment and one-to-one’s.)

• We offer a writer-oriented approach. Our programme has been devised for novelists – by novelists who fully understand every stage of the creative process.

• We are the market leader in mentoring for writers. We have invested over ten years experience in the development of our unique six-stage programme.

• We only use experienced mentors. In addition to expertise in teaching and consultancy, our mentors have a proven commitment to nurturing new talent.

• All our mentors are distinguished mid-career novelists.

• We will only offer you a placement if we genuinely feel that you will benefit.

• We make a personal commitment to all the apprentices we work with.