They say that you’re much more likely to review something if you’ve had a bad experience. I guess it’s like most newsworthy stuff being shocking, or horrible, or shockingly horrible. However I’m a sucker for a good news story, so today I’m going write a review about something wonderful.
Being a writer (or rather trying to be a writer) is hard. It can also be quite lonely, especially if like me you never actually tell anyone you’re a writer for fear of failure. That’s why being part of something like Jericho writers is so important. Aside from the awesome video’s, the courses, the brilliant festival in September and all the advice, it’s the being part of something that I think is really important.
Being a member at Jericho makes you part of a writing community. Apart from anything else that definitely makes you feel more writerly. It also makes the dream feel a bit less abstract, and if I got five minutes away from the day job, two small children, cooking, shopping etc, and actually used my membership to it’s full potential, I think the forums and community would be a huge help.
Going back to the awesome video’s – I can”t recommend them enough. I actually came across Jericho Writers because I bought Harry Bingham’s ‘How to Write’ book, which was a total revelation. I was almost 80% through my manuscript and I ended up doing a complete rewrite – it’s so much better now (and still I haven’t sent it to a single agent!). I’m currently working my way through the videos (albeit more slowly than I would like) and they are equally as good. In addition you can listen to then on journeys, so if like me you have no free time and have to fit in writing while feeding the baby at 3am or on travelling to and from school pick up, this is perfect.
I’m yet to use the agent match, community, courses etc but I can’t wait. My New Years resolution for 2019 is very definitely going to be about carving out more time to actually finish my poor book. Armed with all of the things I learnt at the festival of writing I know there are so many improvements to make and it’s exciting. The next step is to book onto Debi Alper’s self editing course – perhaps that will spark another review!
Find out more about Jericho writers.