Services for Writers
Work with Lynn
I offer a flexible range of options to help writers. Writing is a famously solitary activity, but sometimes all writers need someone (other than their family and friends) to read their work and talk to them about how to make it go in the direction they want. In my writing life I have often been on the receiving end of mentoring support and input times, and that input has been a huge part of my development as a writer.
If you think you might like to involve me as a mentor, or to assess your manuscript and give you feedback on it, just get in touch and we can discuss what you are looking for and how you would like the arrangement to work. Some writers like feedback in written form. Others prefer to talk on Zoom. Some writers have very specific questions. Others want an impartial and supportive reader to give feedback on the strengths of the writing and what can be improved.
It’s a big step to show your writing to a reader and ask for their feedback. I understand how that feels because I do that with my own writing. You can rely on me to be supportive of your project, whatever it is. You can also rely on me to be honest in my feedback.
I charge an hourly rate for mentoring and manuscript assessment. I understand that writers are often not earning a lot. Once you tell me what you want, I can give you a clear idea of the cost that would be involved. We can always find a way to work within your budget.
Options to Develop Your Writing
Writing Services
In our minds, on good days, writers have a picture of what we hope a writing project will become. But sometimes it is hard to see a finished shape amongst all the words. If you are lucky you might have friends, colleagues and relatives who will cast an eye over your work and tell you what they think. But what if they all say different things? How do you know which piece of advice to follow? And how do you make your writing more like its best parts? If you have a writing project underway and you want to develop it further, you may reach a point where you need a response from a professional who will help you take your writing in the direction you are aiming for.
There might be something you want to focus on right now, like an application for a course, or maybe you want to assemble your manuscript for submission to a publisher, or you might be looking for the support of an interested critical friend for your project to help you develop it over a longer time. Pinklight Writing Services offers two services to give you a professional view of how your work is progressing and help you make it the best it can be.
Manuscript Assessment
A Manuscript Assessment is designed to help you with a project that needs a thorough read, an unbiased assessment, and constructive criticism about how to make it better. A Manuscript Assessment begins with a free half hour discussion with Lynn about your goals, your views of the manuscript as it stands and the focus for the assessment. After that a contract is developed to specify the focus and the cost. You will receive written feedback on general writing technique in the manuscript and how to get closer to your goals. If you would like you can also have a follow-up conversation to discuss the feedback. You can choose whether to send a sample of your manuscript or the whole. Cost is based on time required.
Mentoring
One-to-one Mentoring gives you access to an experienced writer and teacher who will work with you over time to help you develop your writing project to the next stage. You choose what aspects of your writing project you and the mentor will focus on and you choose the time period.
Mentoring starts with a free half hour discussion with Lynn about your writing project, what you want to work on and how you want to do this. After this a contract is developed. Cost is based on the time required. Mentoring ends with a written report on progress, suggesting where you might take your work next. If you would like you can also have a follow-up conversation to discuss the feedback.
Happy Clients
Reviews
I have known Lynn Jenner for many years, and respect her as a writer, and as a generous and acute reader of my own work. Most recently, Lynn did a manuscript assessment for my memoir, Do you still have time for chaos? Her suggestions and observations were excellent, and the memoir is better for her input. She was particularly helpful in tightening the structure of the opening chapters, helping me to lay the foundations for the main themes of my quite complex memoir. Lynn is open to experiment in her own work, and brings that openness to her assessments. She meets writers where they are, but also has an eye out for where a story could be deepened or unfolded just a bit more.
Lynn was the first person I thought of to read my memoir because she reads widely across that genre, because I knew she would think hard about it, and because she brings a very insightful writerly eye to the task.
Lynn is interested in the work of others. This is precious.
A few years after successfully completing my MA in creative writing, I revisited my themed, mixed-genre manuscript with a view to preparing it for publication. Liberated from the formal requirements of the MA thesis, I felt able to include earlier pieces, as well as some new work that I’d created since. I started sending it out to publishers and their feedback generally looked something like beautiful writing, but not marketable. After several such replies, I approached Lynn with the question: what would it take to make this collection marketable? Or, looking at it from the other direction: what is it about this collection that pushes readers away? I personally felt that the manuscript missed the mark too, but could not identify how, so I needed her critique to be brutally honest as well as constructive.
Lynn confirmed that my manuscript offers little welcome to readers and thus is unlikely to be picked up by a publisher in its current form. Her report was straight to the point and articulate, yet empathic and thoughtful at the same time. It was just what I needed to hear. She also offered excellent advice and a way forward. As well as providing answers to my questions, her report was a catalyst for deep thinking about what I wanted to achieve in publishing this book – a process that was both challenging and motivating. I cannot thank her enough and I have no hesitation in referring other writers to her services.