A UNIQUE ON-LINE WRITING COURSE
The “Oldie” magazine has come up with an exciting new format for helping writers improve their skills and get into print. Their tutors – all distinguished writers – will design a six part course exclusively for you. You will submit a piece of work, they will read it carefully, consider where your strengths lie as a writer, and where you may need help, and write a course tailor-made to develop your work. As co-founder of LifeLines Press I will be administering the course on behalf of the “Oldie”. Check the details out here and contact me if you need more information.
WRITING UP YOUR FAMILY HISTORY
You would not be alone if, after years of research, you found yourself drowning in papers – census forms, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, wills, letters, newspaper cuttings – and wondering how on earth you were going to turn all these facts and figures into a lively story about your ancestors. Help is at hand! Rebecca de Saintonge is not only an experienced writer, she is also a social historian and has considerable experience picking through mountains of data to find the human story buried beneath.
Contact her for a chat if you’ve got stuck with the writing of your family story and would like someone to help you get started or advise you on what you’ve written so far – or even take that pile of papers off your hands and draft a text for you.
“Doing the research was fun, writing it up was a nightmare.Rebecca de Saintonge at LifeLines Press was so helpful. I’m thrilled with the result.”
Richard Johnson
ON LINE MENTORING
Rebecca de Saintonge offers a range of mentoring services to writers at every stage of their craft, from mentoring on line to face to face sessions. There’s no set format. Some writers just want an objective opinion of their work so far, some want help with a particular aspect of their writing and others want more regular sessions , perhaps using a more structured course of assignments to help develop their skills. Every writer talks over the help they’d like with Rebecca or a member of her team at LifeLines Press and a suitable price structure is discussed.
If you’d like to talk over the possibility of help, contact Rebecca on inf0@lifelinespress.co.uk or ring 01892 512323.
“Rebecca de Saintonge is an acute and insightful
literary critic. Her eloquence and love of the written
word combined with the expressive creativity
of her own work make her a lucid and experienced
guide through the writing process”.
Professor Tina Beattie, Roehampton University.
WRITING WORKSHOPS
Some of the most successful workshops we have run have been in private homes where a few people – usually about 6 – get together round the dining room table and enjoy the stimulus of guided exercises and constructive analysis.
A day workshop would usually have four sessions, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The content of these sessions would be discussed with you before hand so that they meet the needs of participants. For example, one might be on the use of dialogue, another on characterisation, another on descriptive writing, another on opening chapters, and so on.
Each session begins with input from Rebecca (or a member of her team) who then sets a writing exercise for the group to complete. The group then read out their work to one another for encouragement and constructive comment, with the workshop leader guiding the critique.
Workshops can be a hugely enjoyable and creative way of developing not just your writing skills, but your confidence. If you’d like to consider putting one together, get in touch with us at LifeLines Press or ring 01892 512323 and we’ll talk through some ideas. As convenor of the workshop, all you have to do is provide a venue and the necessary refreshments.
The cost of workshops depends a little on how many participants there are, but as a guideline, for a full day workshop for between 5 and 8 writers you could expect to pay in the region of £300. This would include written notes. Any travel costs would also have to be met.
We will also read samples of your writing before the workshop and give you a written, or verbal critique, though this service costs a little extra.