MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT AND EDITORIAL ADVICE SINCE 1996
Blog
In 2016, TLC’s 20th anniversary year, we launched a blog as a space for thoughtful, non-promotional pieces on all things writing, editing and publishing. If you’d like to pitch a piece, please email Aki Schilz on .
We’d love to hear from you, and please feel free to comment on the blogs here.
Being an Indie Author does not mean you should go it alone
September 01, 2020 | Blog
In 2018 I achieved my lifelong dream. After several (i.e. many) casual efforts I had sat down, taken it seriously, and written a novel. My science-fantasy epic Vile had not one but three offers from publishing houses. So why did it feel wrong? Why did I make the decision to turn down all three and go Indie?
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Home Is An Act of Creativity
August 01, 2020 | Blog
Wherever I have felt truly at home, I have felt the presence of the house of my childhood – my grandparents’ home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, shimmering through the reality of the present. The desire to capture it and to give it life, so that I might linger there once more is perhaps the single most important thing that drives me.
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My Mentor and Me
July 01, 2020 | Blog, Other News
Here, TLC Mentee and Creative Future Writing Award winner Pauline Walker conducts an interview with her TLC Mentor, Tom Bromley. And, to mix things up, we thought it would be fun to let Tom ask Pauline some questions too!
Pauline Walker: You’re a published author, editor,
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Breakfast at Bronzefield: A Book from Inside Britain's Largest Women's Prison
This month, former TLC Free Read recipient Sophie Campbell shares the story of her journey to self-publication for her powerful memoir, ‘Breakfast at Bronzefield’, which depicts her experiences inside HMP Bronzefield, the UK’s largest women’s prison.
When I made the decision to write about my experiences inside the UK’s largest women’s prison – HMP Bronzefield – the road ahead seemed pretty clear.
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The Need for Narrative
May 04, 2020 | Blog
The need for a narrative is hard-wired into we humans, the emotional significance encoded in the acts of telling and reading stories imprinted on our conscious and unconscious minds. We accord great importance to narratives, and to the ordering and understanding of a sequence of events. If you consider the multitude of ways in which we experience stories –
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A Survival Guide to Remote Working
April 07, 2020 | Blog
Freelance writer and remote work veteran Maxine Roper shares her tips for remote working and adjusting to difficult times…
Accept you’re getting used to something differentMany of us are either adjusting to remote working for the first time, or trying to fit regular jobs around writing in a very different way than usual.
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My First Year at TLC
March 01, 2020 | Blog
It’s been a whole year since I started working at The Literary Consultancy and I’m in awe at just how quickly it’s gone. Time really does fly when you’re having fun – no, my manager is not looking over my shoulder and making me type this. When I applied for the role of Editorial &
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Who said what now?
February 01, 2020 | Blog
This month, experienced author, editor and TLC Reader Mischa Hiller guides us through his top five tips on dialogue.
After reading my fair share of manuscripts I thought I would distill the five most common things that can be problematic with dialogue. These are not hard-and-fast rules but guidance to avoid losing the reader’s attention.
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How do you Write a Play about the Menopause?
January 01, 2020 | Blog, Other News
Last year I was commissioned by Diverse City to work in collaboration with a director and three performers to create a play about menopause.
This was a tremendous opportunity and I grasped it notwithstanding that I had no answer to two fundamental questions. The first – how do you write a play?
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A TLC Thank You
December 01, 2019 | Blog
I have been thinking about where we are, the times we are in, and the position and relevance of The Literary Consultancy as we move, somewhat astonishingly, into our 24th year as a company working with and for writers at all levels. In 2017 I took over direction of TLC from its founder,
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