Writing Mentors: What they do and how to select one

Why hire a professional writing mentor or coach? Isn’t it enough to attend a class/workshop or a writing group? Or ask a friend or relative to help you for free?

It all depends what you’re looking for.

If you want  lots of opinions—and don’t mind that they are often conflicting—stick with your group or send your material out to friends and relatives.

But do be prepared to receive a wide range of comments, some helpful and others confusing or even demoralising. Getting this range of feedback does have a positive side in terms of your growth as a writer. How?  The experience can build up your resilience for receiving criticism and clarify what YOU want to do with your writing. If you slavishly follow everyone’s  suggestions you risk losing your vision of your story and ending up with a dog’s breakfast.

What good mentors do

Using a good writing mentor is a step up from the group experience, both in terms of the kind of feedback you get and how it is presented. Like a  art teacher, good mentors help you learn to chip away at the block of marble  to find the form you have in your mind’s eye.

• Good mentors provide  expert, specific advice about improving your writing. They focus on major issues: how your story hangs together, what your characters are doing or could be doing,  what is affecting  the story’s momentum, and where story elements are not pulling their weight. They point out your writing strengths. They not only identify weaknesses in your work but educate you,  explaining why these are weaknesses and how you can fix them.
• Good mentors do not rewrite your material to suit their own style or interests. They allow you to retain ownership of your work and decide what you want to do with it.
• Good mentors ignore the nit-picky final-draft issues that are picked up when  line editing/proofreading.
• Good mentors help you set writing goals and stick to them. Your personal writing goals may concern the kind of material you want to  write, and the writing habits you want to establish.|
• Good mentors help you stay motivated. They motivate  by providing regular, quality comments about your writing and particularly, in helping you identify and develop your strengths.
• Good mentors give you ideas about markets for your work.

How to choose a writing mentor

A professional writing mentor, like a freelance editor or writer, is a gun for hire.  If you decide you want a mentor,  exercise as much care in choosing one as you would with any professional.

• Identify your aims.  It may help you to put your aims in writing. Example: I am writing a crime novel, set in the Outback. So far I have my characters, the plot and the first chapter. But I’m running out of steam. My writing group says I need to develop the characters more but I’m not sure how. Also,  I find it hard to stay motivated.
• See who’s available and shortlist. Collect names of possible mentors. Ask around. Query writers you meet, writing centres, people at writing conferences, people who run writing groups. It’s wortwhile checking out some of the many writing mentors who advertise their services on the Web. Many give a rundown of their professional background and rates.  However, you need to decide if you”d be happy with distance mentoring or prefer talking to a mentor face-to-face. Even if you don’t select any of the mentors you find online, this research helps you build up a sense of what’s normally provided and gives you  a sense of how much you may expect to pay.
• Find out the mentor’s services and costs. Someone told me about paying a large sum for a critique and receiving  a 1-sentence comment on her story.  It pays to check what’s included in the person’s mentoring  fee.  Other questions:  How often can you send material? How much and what kind of  feedback will you get and when? How and how often can you contact the mentor? Will the contact be face-to-face, via email or via the telephone?
• Probe the mentor’s background.
  Ask about areas of expertise. A writing mentor cannot be expert in everything so consider your greatest need. For example, if you’re writing experimental sci-fi short stories, is it better for you to work with a mentor who is a sci-fi expert? Or someone experienced in helping short story writers? If you are writing poetry, doesn’t it make sense to find a mentor whose expertise is poetry rather than novels?

  Ask about experience. Some mentors are published writers; others are not.

  • Writers as mentors. What kinds of material has s/he  published–and where and when? Ask for a resume or at least the details of the person’s relevant experiences and publications. If potential mentors say they are ‘internationally published writers,’ what does that mean? And remember, being an active writer does not mean the person can function as a supportive, professional mentor.
  • Non-writers as mentors. A great mentor does not need to be an active writer.  Some mentors come from an editing background, others from teaching.  When assessing these mentors, determine  their strengths. For example, how long have they been mentoring? What successes have their mentees achieved? What is their experience and expertise in mentoring  in the genre or form you are working in?
• Assess the chemistry. It’s important that the chemistry is right between you and a mentor. You could suggest an initial free meeting to discuss a potential mentoring relationship. You could ask for a short evaluation of one of your pieces so that you can assess the mentor’s feedback. When you get the feedback, oral or written, ask yourself the following: Are the comments helpful? Clear, or not?  Too picky? Do they help me see my work in a new light? Do they address the issues I asked about?

  Another option is to take advantage of feedback sessions with an experienced writer. Some writing centres and individuals offer a one-hour feedback session about your submitted work. Usually you must pay for this. Not only do you get feedback but in talking at length with the person about your work,  you can assess whether the person seems helpful, knowledgeable and aware of your writing aims. Don’t rush this–wait a few weeks until you’ve had a chance to reflect on the person’s comments about your work. If you now think that working with that person would be useful, get in touch and ask if they mentor.

• Go for a short-term arrangement. Beware of entering a long-term agreement. It’s better to sign up for a short mentorship or have a pay-as-you-go arrangement, the same way you’d pay your music or yoga teacher. You can start small, e.g., ask your chosen mentor to work with you on one story or one chapter. If things seem fine, you can go on from there.
• Get a mentor early. Because mentors can do much to help your writing, hire one early on.  Don’t  wait to find one until after you have put the finishing touches to the first draft of your huge novel.

What about ‘free’ mentors?

Of course you can sometimes get a relative or friend to  provide comments on your work, and what’s more, it’s free.  But think it through.

• Professional mentors draw on their writing and editing expertise (as writers, teachers, editors and readers) to assess your work. Does your free mentor have this kind of experience?
• Professionals  know how to give feedback, how to nurture writers, and what limits to set on their interactions with you. They ensure that you always keep control of your ideas and writing. Will this happen with the person you’ve chosen?