Feedback from our clients
“Thank you so much for your appraisal, notations and highlights, and for your thoughts during our discussion.
I very much appreciated your careful attention, and your balance of constructive criticism with positive encouragement. The level of detail was particularly helpful, and has helped me see my writing with fresh eyes.
I’m a happy customer.“
“… I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the last year. As I think I told you, it has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying experiences of my ‘working’ life…due in no small part to your guidance and inspiration.
You are a gifted mentor.”
“The programme provided the necessary impetus for my development as a writer and enabled me to see my work more objectively. At the start of the year, I felt as if I was merely telling a story.
Now that I have reached the end, I am focused on my potential audience and working on what it really takes to get a book published.”
“There’s nothing more useful than having someone who knows what they’re talking about go through your book with a fine-toothed comb – twice! My mentor, Liz Williams is an author I admire and I trusted her completely.
Compared with creative writing courses, which are a lot less focused and often more expensive, the scheme definitely represents value for money.”
“The experience has been breathtaking, bruising, exhilarating… My novel has evolved from being a much-loved but guilty pleasure to being the absolute centre of my working life.
I now feel I could approach an agent with a degree of confidence in my skills and my future that I didn’t possess a year ago.”
“The chance to work with a professional knowledgeable novelist who knows what is required for the job has been invaluable.
I was on a steep learning curve and think I benefited enormously from the straightforward no nonsense approach.
I’d recommend this apprenticeship over MA courses: it’s more practical, constructive and cheaper.”
“The most important lesson that I have learned over the course of the past year is the importance of genre and how this colours every aspect of a novel. With the assistance of Laura Wilson, my mentor, I focused on pruning and strengthening the novel accordingly.
I cannot pretend that the process was easy, but I am convinced that the finished product is greatly improved as a result.”
“I learnt a great deal not only about the technicalities of writing, but also about the business of being a writer and getting published. My novel has grown and developed beyond all recognition and this is certainly not something I could have achieved on my own.
My mentor was able to identify my weak points and address them, while building upon my own particular strengths, with the insight of an experienced writer. I don’t think that there are any courses that can give such personalized attention.”
“Working with Catherine Johnson was the most helpful thing. She was able to see things I couldn’t and taught me a tremendous amount about how to get it right for my market.
When I finally ‘got it’ it was like a light bulb coming on and I know I shall never look back. Also, I know this wasn’t especially part of her remit, but she did look at things more than once and that was the MOST helpful thing for me, because you don’t always get something the first time and to have her feedback was invaluable. She made herself available at pretty much all times and I appreciated that very much.”
“Perhaps the most valuable thing as far as I was concerned was your finding Tom for me – a guy who ‘got’ what I was doing, who had both authorial and editorial experience, with whom I both hit it off and respected.
His close attention, his deep reading, knowledge of the business, generosity of spirit and real attention to detail was the key to my having learned as much as I did.”
“For writers serious about establishing a career, this is an invaluable opportunity to work closely with a professional novelist.
The individualized and flexible attention to story development, the careful reading and considered feedback, the honesty, professionalism and market awareness—these are what made my ‘Apprenticeships in Fiction’ a rewarding and pivotal year.”
“Well, I have to credit Adventures in Fiction. I don’t think I really knew what editing was until I began their apprenticeship course.”
“The generosity of my mentor and the high quality of support and structure of the programme has been exceptional.
The mentoring process has helped to bring out ideas and creativity that I was not aware that I had. I have a clear confidence and knowledge that whatever happens at the end of the course, I will be a better writer for it.”
“…. an individualized training programme shows you what it takes to become a writer. The Apprenticeship helped me develop as a writer by making me see what it was I was trying to achieve and how to surmount the obstructions in my path. I can’t put a value on it, but I know my work has a better chance of success than it ever had before.”