Tim Lott: Award-winning novelist and writing teacher joins the team.

Sunday, May 29th, 2016

Have started, or want to start, writing a novel or memoir? Are you trying to finish a piece of fiction that is defeating you?  Writing at book length is a daunting prospect – both in terms of the skills required and the commitment necessary to keep going through tricky patches and ‘writer’s block’.

Now you can get individual, bespoke help with your work from award winning novelist and writing teacher Tim Lott.

Tim has successfully taught and mentored dozens of authors, including Ben McPherson whose novel, A Line of Blood, was published to acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic in 2015, and Rebecca Thornton, whose The Exclusives was published in 2016.

McPherson commented “I started out very cynical about the idea of mentoring (but) my novel is a much stronger novel for Tim’s involvement. I’m extremely grateful to him, and would recommend the experience highly. “

Thornton writes. “Without Tim’s words, I can safely say I would still be flailing around in piles of rejection slips. If you are looking for a mentor that will get you out of that, you must call him. But be prepared. He will challenge you.”

What authors Tim has help over the years say:

Kirsteen Tait, “Tim is a wise and encouraging teacher as well as a talented writer. He has the sense of humour so needed by those doomed to trying to write. It is always interesting working with him and he manages to make you feel supported, whatever is going badly.”

Paul Gould who has just been taken on by the Curtis Brown literary agency writes, “On my difficult journey to completing a first draft and starting on my second, Tim has been a merciful source of encouragement and guidance. I found Tim to be an exacting tutor (which is just what you want!). As a mentor, he is also nurturing, offering encouragement and – crucially – the insight of an experience published novelist:

In his own right Tim has published ten books over the last 20 years, won both the PEN/JR Ackerley for autobiography for his memoir The Scent of Dried Roses (now a Penguin Modern Classic) as well as the Whitbread (now the Costa) First Novel Award for White City Blue.

Tim spent three years teaching at the Faber Academy, and now teaches the Guardian Masterclass/University of East Anglia course on ‘How to Tell A Story’.

Tim is offering his services on a one-to-one mentoring basis, which means he will assess your work personally, and meet with you face to face to discuss how to move forward. He can come to your home, or you to his office in Kensington – or you can Skype. This can be offered either on a periodic basis – ten assessments and visits over the course of a year – or on a one-off basis where you will meet him for a day or half day and be taken, step by step, through the basic techniques of novel or memoir writing, as well as the best way to sell your work to publishers and agents.

Kirsteen Tait, puts it in a nutshell when she says, ‘Tim is a wise and encouraging teacher as well as a talented writer. He has the sense of humour so needed by those doomed to trying to write.”

Tim offers a variety of services to writer through The Oxford Editors:

1. Manuscript assessment and personal tutoring with TimTim will assess your manuscript or what you have written so far, at a rate of £200 per 7,500 word (minimum fee £600) (plus VAT). He will mark up the manuscript with notes and write a brief report/summary on what has been written so far.
2. Personal consultationTim can also meet you for either a morning (3 hours) or a day (6 hours) to talk to you about your manuscript and teach the craft of writing in general, including character, plot, dialogue, structure, voice, theme etc. He will brainstorm your book with you, helping to develop new ideas and ways forward.  If you meet in Oxford there will be extra travel fees for Tim, or you can meet at his London offices.The cost of this would be £900 for a half day, £1850 (plus VAT) for a full day plus the cost of any reading. Tim will include a reading of up to 7,500 words in the service, but for longer pieces, there will be a charge of £200 (+VAT) per additional 7,500 words.
3. Manuscript assessment and single consultationTim will assess manuscripts at rate of £200 (plus VAT) per 7,500 words (minimum fee £600).  He will then spend an hour either on Skype or in person to discuss the work. This session will cost £500 (plus VAT).
4. Mentoring over six-monthsTim would read and assess up to six submissions of up to 7,500 words each, and meet/Skype with student for an hour after each submission to discuss and come up with creative ways forward.The fee would be £2,500 (plus VAT).
5. Mentoring over 12-months:Tim would read and assess up to ten submissions of up to 7,500 words each and meet/Skype with student for up to an hour after each submission to discuss.The fee would be £3,400 (plus VAT).

Places to work with Tim are limited but you can pay and book in advance to save a place.