The Writing Room provides a structured system to help writers who want to become authors. We build a relationship through this creative process by community, connections and friendship. We have many ways we can work together.
As a literary agency we like books to be commercially publishable - and over 100 published authors will show you that it works. At the end of our process, and if you really commit to it, you will have a book ready to submit or to publish.
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Sarah Bullen is a multi-published author, international writing coach and literary agent. Founder of The Writing Room and Kent Literary, she has had over 100 books published by writers she has mentored and has 17 years working with authors. As well as being a regular guest at literary festivals, on talk shows, podcasts and in writers’ circles, Sarah also leads international writing retreats and adventures and consults as a publishing advisor to top publishing houses.
"I know after working with and teaching over 1,000 authors over 17 years that writing a book is both a deeply creative journey, and an investment in your future. It is a big, brave and bold move to share yourself with the world, to gather all your thoughts, lessons and expertise in one place - a book. It can be a madcap writing adventure, or a slow and steady build to create your brand. I like writers to understand the market into which they are writing, to position their book in a niche and to deliver a world class product." It takes time, hours of work and a good writing strategy. It takes a deep calling to share a story. We can start at any point in the writing process. Most often I work with an author for 6-12 months to get a book from IDEA to publication. Some books take longer. Some take less time. The way we work is initially over 6 months. "Writing a book is no small thing. It is not a poem, a short story, or an article. It is not 10,000 or even 40,000 words. It is going to take you a year at least to write, and another year to get it to market." Writing a book is such a leap of faith. It may never get published. It may sell 10 copies. It may also fly, change your life, and open doors to a new future. In The Writing Room we work together for the long duration it may take to get your story told." |
Write your NOVEL in 100 Days Online Course DIY VERSION
This is a 3.5 month course with The Writing Room that will prompt, push and hold you to your promise to write your NOVEL.
First up you need to know that I am a huge fan of structure and plotting. I am book editor and literary agent as well as a writing coach so I know that all stories need the architecture to hold them for the length of a full novel. I will want you to give your story into a rough outline, so my first step is to get that down on paper. I have a very tight plotting method we will use.
In 100 Days you will end up with up to 80,000 words if you do the work as it is laid out in the course. I have been running this course for eight years in various forms. It will teach you to write a novel and push you the entire way to your first draft with daily emails, lessons and deadlines.
You will have FREE access to The Writing Room community, which will include the weekly Wednesday Writing Sprints and the At Home Retreats for the 3.5 months.
* This is the DIY version, which means you don't have any personal sessions with a book coach, but you can book those. If you want to do the supported version in which you have 4 x 45 min sessions with a novel coach you can book that here. That price is $450.*
HOW DOES IT PRACTICALLY WORK?
* Every day for the first month you will be given a short 2 min lesson via email to read, or to watch.
* Each day has exercises that takes you systematically through how to plot your book.
* At key points you will be asked to send some work for feedback and review.
* The lessons will show you how to plot your story, step by step, beginning to end, going over what the story is about, who the characters are, where the story starts, how it reveals itself and how it ends.
* The format of the course will make sure your story is set up right (the beginning hook) and has the dramatic momentum (the middle build) to carry it through to a fulfilling ending.
* You start actually writing after Day 10 and then the course will take you deeper into advanced plotting, storytelling, characters, dialogue, style, theme, genre and writing.
* Each stage of the mentorship has a task and word count targets for you to reach.
* You block book your own writing time when it suits you, using the prompts that I send you to know how far your writing should be at each point.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Write your Novel in 100 Days course has a 7 day refund policy. After 7 days there are no refunds.
REVIEWS
There is an entire page of reviews here but some are listed below
"I did your 100-day writing course in 2015 for my novel, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses. It's getting published! A small publishing house in Wales picked it up and will be publishing it. I have already signed the contract and they have sent their edits. I just wanted to say a big thank you so much. The 100-Day course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and "action" they loved in the book.
Jenny Kling, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses, Gomer Publishing 2019
It almost feels like a dream - like I had 20,000 words, then woke up four months later and now have nearly 80,000. This course has been exactly what I needed and wanted - and more.Sarah and Kate’s writing mentorship is the stick of dynamite you need to stop gazing at your own navel and instead gaze at a finish line that gets steadily closer. If you’ve been struggling to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page, this mentorship will prove invaluable.
Meg Chronis 2018
Sarah and Kate’s writing mentorship is the stick of dynamite you need to stop gazing at your own navel and instead gaze at a finish line that gets steadily closer. If you’ve been struggling to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page, this mentorship will prove invaluable.
Meg Chronis 2018
This is the course I did in 2008/9 and I wrote my first novel. I was sick of thinking about writing a novel and making false starts for years, so I took a week off work and did this course. By the end, I'd trashed the novel I'd been wheel-spinning on, and had a new idea. A month later I had a very dodgy first draft, which later became A Million Miles from Normal, published by Penguin Random House in 2010. Today I'm working on my 9th novel, and pretty much still using the same techniques Sarah taught me.
So, if you're thinking of doing a writing course, stop thinking about it and do it. I can't imagine you'll regret it. Paige Nick, Million Miles from Normal
“This was a very useful course to do, particularly the early modules that actually got me plotting and writing in two weeks. I had no clue how to even start writing and the clear information that you provided just mapped the way forward.’
Maria Phalime, author of Second Chances and Postmortem: The Doctor who Walked Away - Winner of the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award in 2013.
Write your NOVEL in 100 Days (Gold Version)
Four 45 mins personal sessions with a mentor will get your book to the end of this more personal version of the fast-paced novel writing course.
First up you need to know that I am a huge fan of structure and plotting. I am book editor and literary agent as well as a writing coach so I know that all stories need the architecture to hold them for the length of a full novel. I will want you to give your story into a rough outline, so my first step is to get that down on paper. I have a very tight plotting method we will use.
In 100 Days you will end up with up to 80,000 words if you do the work as it is laid out in the course. I have been running this course for eight years in various forms. It will teach you to write a novel and push you the entire way to your first draft with daily emails, lessons and deadlines.
You will have FREE access to The Writing Room community, which will include the weekly Wednesday Writing Sprints and the At Home Retreats for the 3.5 months.
* This is the Gold VERSION of the course, which means you have 4 x 45 min sessions with a novel coach over the process to work on your book. Prefer the DIY version with no sessions? Book that here rather.
HOW DOES IT PRACTICALLY WORK?
* Every day for the first month you will be given a short 2 min lesson via email to read, or to watch.
* Each day has exercises that takes you systematically through how to plot your book.
* At key points you will be asked to send some work for feedback and review.
* The lessons will show you how to plot your story, step by step, beginning to end, going over what the story is about, who the characters are, where the story starts, how it reveals itself and how it ends.
* The format of the course will make sure your story is set up right (the beginning hook) and has the dramatic momentum (the middle build) to carry it through to a fulfilling ending.
* You start actually writing after Day 10 and then the course will take you deeper into advanced plotting, storytelling, characters, dialogue, style, theme, genre and writing.
* Each stage of the mentorship has a task and word count targets for you to reach.
* You block book your own writing time when it suits you, using the prompts that I send you to know how far your writing should be at each point.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Write your Novel in 100 Days course has a 7 day refund policy. After 7 days there are no refunds.
REVIEWS
There is an entire page of reviews here but some are listed below
"I did your 100-day writing course in 2015 for my novel, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses. It's getting published! A small publishing house in Wales picked it up and will be publishing it. I have already signed the contract and they have sent their edits. I just wanted to say a big thank you so much. The 100-Day course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and "action" they loved in the book.
Jenny Kling, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses, Gomer Publishing 2019
It almost feels like a dream - like I had 20,000 words, then woke up four months later and now have nearly 80,000. This course has been exactly what I needed and wanted - and more.Sarah and Kate’s writing mentorship is the stick of dynamite you need to stop gazing at your own navel and instead gaze at a finish line that gets steadily closer. If you’ve been struggling to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page, this mentorship will prove invaluable.
Meg Chronis 2018
Sarah and Kate’s writing mentorship is the stick of dynamite you need to stop gazing at your own navel and instead gaze at a finish line that gets steadily closer. If you’ve been struggling to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page, this mentorship will prove invaluable.
Meg Chronis 2018
This is the course I did in 2008/9 and I wrote my first novel. I was sick of thinking about writing a novel and making false starts for years, so I took a week off work and did this course. By the end, I'd trashed the novel I'd been wheel-spinning on, and had a new idea. A month later I had a very dodgy first draft, which later became A Million Miles from Normal, published by Penguin Random House in 2010. Today I'm working on my 9th novel, and pretty much still using the same techniques Sarah taught me.
So, if you're thinking of doing a writing course, stop thinking about it and do it. I can't imagine you'll regret it.
Paige Nick, Million Miles from Normal
“This was a very useful course to do, particularly the early modules that actually got me plotting and writing in two weeks. I had no clue how to even start writing and the clear information that you provided just mapped the way forward.’
Maria Phalime, author of Second Chances and Postmortem: The Doctor who Walked Away - Winner of the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award in 2013.
Professional Manuscript Appraisal
You have written your best possible version of your book, and now you need someone to make it better. The good news is that there are other people (professionals) who can take your book to the 'next level'.
Please note that a manuscript (MS) appraisal is not an EDIT, but is a high-level structural assessment of the MS. The onus is then on the writer to 'fix' the structural suggestions and accept and work on the changes.
This is for writers who have completed a full draft of a book and feel it needs input / improvement or a professional eye to assess it and give critical feedback. A MS appraisal report is a professional assessment of all aspects of the structure of the MS such as plot, character, dialogue etc . It is a commercial assessment that gives you a fresh, objective outsider's perspective done by a qualified editor The overall aim of this high-level assessment is to improve your MS and give you real ways to make it better and more publishable. During the process they will make significant notes and changes. At the end of the process you will get a full written report. The report will make suggestions, changes and act as an overall assessment. It will suggest specific large-scale changes / improvements / refinements (plotting changes, structure changes, pace, characters and overall novel read).
Some editors will also make detailed edit notes on your manuscript, or comments, for you to work with.
In a novel a manuscript appraisal focuses on structural strengths and weaknesses: Character. Setting. Plot.
The process will be completed in 3-4 weeks.
Beta Reader Report
A Beta Reader report is highly useful and honest report by someone who knows and loves books. It will be someone who we know will give you an honest report and feed back to you what a reader thinks of the book, with some ways to make it more readable.
This is not a professional Manuscript Appraisal (see below for that link).
As an author you are looking for fresh eyes and honest feedback.
The reader report needs to be objective, honest and constructive.
An author will use this beta feedback to re-assess, re-write the next draft and take the book forward.
It will cover
1. Overall impression
2. Beginning of the book / hook
3. Characters (general, lead character, other main characters)
4. The middle
5. The ending
6. Plot progression or argument development (this is about the book structure)
7. Language use
8. Weaknesses
9. Strengths
Do you need a more professional review?
Then look at rather booking a Professional Manuscript Appraisal here
https://www.thewritingroom.co.za/store/p15/manuscriptappraisal.html#/
Non Fiction and Memoir Book Mentorship
The full course description is here
Writing a book is a big deal. It can (and should) change your life. It takes time, investment, sweat, hours of work and a good writing strategy. Some books take longer. Few books take less time. It will depend on your own writing speed, the amount of material you already have, and the genre of book you are writing.
This is a very structured four month programme I use that runs with a series of emails, calls and key lessons over these months. Over 100 published authors over 15 years shows it works.
What does the mentorship include?
* A structured programme with a series of emails, calls and key lessons over these months. You get tasks to complete each week for review.
* A Wednesday Weekly writing group 4 hours a week
* Once a month Three-Day Writing Binge (online) where we write for 8 hours a day x 3 days.
We know most writers need a few things to make real progress in their writing:
- An experienced mentor to give you the right advice at the right time
- Someone to hold you accountable and make sure you get it done.
- A place to ask experts questions when you get stuck
WHAT HAPPENS - PRACTICALLY?
In a nutshell, you will plan, write and produce your first draft over 100 days (realistically about 4 months with all the planning)
This is a leaner version of our intense personal mentorships.
What will you learn?
- BOOK STRUCTURE: This is both a course and a mentorship and Sarah is a structure fanatic who will show you that a strong structure is the gift that sets your writing free.
- What is your STORY? Let’s find it together.
- The basics of planning a compelling book
- The key elements of structure / plotting/ planning
- Finding your hook, genre and message
- How to build your book - chapter by chapter
- Titles and log lines
- Develop your characters and events
- Working with dialogue
- Knowing what to include and exclude
- Adding depth and layers, tone and voice
- Dealing with EMOTIONS of writing, procrastination or overwhelm that will kick you to touch if you don’t know how to handle it.
If you want to be mentored by Sarah Bullen only, please email directly and I will send an application form
WHAT WRITERS SAY
"I LOVED everything. The structure and the accountability. I loved the combination of Kate's inspiration and Sarah's taskmaster writing challenges. I loved hearing other people's progress and stories – it inspired me to carry on. Also was great as a forum to discuss some of the structural aspects of writing and really narrowing the focus of your book's core. The one-on-one sessions were brilliant as it really kept me believing I could do it and gave me good ideas to implement going forward. For someone who wants to do it but isn’t sure how or if they have it in them, this is the perfect way to test yourself.
Leigh Taylor
I did your 100-day writing course in 2015. Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses is getting published! A small publishing house in Wales picked it up and will be publishing it. I have already signed the contract and they have sent their edits. I just wanted to say a big thank you so much. The course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and "action" they loved in the book. Thank you!
Jenny Kling, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses, Gomer Publishing 2019
HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER?
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CONNECTION
You want a personal, honest and upfront connection while your formulate your story COMMUNITY Writing is a solo journey, but being able to reach out to others who are on the same journey is important TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST A mentor who can guide you and bring out the best in you, and your book. GUIDANCE You are open to a creative method that is rich and deep and to work with someone you can relate to and trust. RESULTS You want to go from thinking about your book, to writing it and getting it published. I like books to be commercially viable - and over 100 published authors will show you that it works. At the end of our process, and if you really commit to it, you will have a book ready to publish. |
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With all the content for my book in hand and a message I wanted to share, I needed someone to help me structure my thoughts and give life to my ideas. Sarah Bullen and her team masterfully brought all the words together into a completed manuscript with patience, persistence, integrity and professionalism. |
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I’m no writer but had a story I needed to tell. If you have a book “inside” you and you have determination then catch a ride. The mentorship is gold. Sarah's wealth of knowledge on the craft of writing, the industry, and process and the motivation around it all was priceless. |
AS SEEN ON ....
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