Two-thirds in to my mentorship through the Curtis Brown Creative mechanism. Mentorship is something one can apply for, once graduating from any of the novel-writing courses they run. The novel courses select around 16 participants, split between two tutors, so there’s a couple of hurdles to getting to the point of launching with a mentor.
The second being you can apply for a mentor, but the mentors get the chance to take a look at what you’re writing and take a view on whether it’s for them; whether it’s something they chime with and feel that they can contribute to. I feel really fortunate therefore to have been accepted onto the scheme.
Before signing up, it looked like a risk- a gamble. It’s a chunk of money and you’ve no idea who you’re going to get or what they’ll make of your work – whether they’ll see a way through that has evaded you to the point that you feel you need at mentor in the first place. In hindsight though, it was the best thing I could have done.
I’ve now had two of my scheduled three sessions across a nine-month period and can safely say the book is in a far better place than it could ever have been if left to my own devices. I’m impatient now to finish, because I’ve been working on it for so long and yearn -rather as a marathon runner- for the finish line. However, I want to reach it with my best work and not rush just for the sake of finishing, for what is the point in that? Again, this is also something a mentor will help with. Having that outside pair of eyes, that dispassionate overview, is invaluable.
My last session is not scheduled until April and I’ve a bit of work to get done for then, applying the notes I’ve received in my latest session. Thereafter, it’ll be a case of reassessing my synopsis and query letter and then… seeing what happens.
