About individual mentoring:

Can I request a specific mentor?

Once you have signed up, we will ask for a short description of your project/goals and use this to allocate a suitable mentor. Please let us know if you think a particular mentor would be best suited to your project and we will endeavour to match them with you. However, due to their busy schedules, we cannot guarantee first choice.

Do you offer in-person meetings?

All writing groups run online. For individual mentoring, whether to meet in-person or online is mutually agreed upon between the mentor and mentee. If meeting in-person, this will generally be in Oxford.

About online writing groups:

I’ve never written before, will I be welcome in the writing groups?

Absolutely! Our groups welcome everyone, and offer a tight-knit and supportive community (as well as a routine and timeframe) which can be really helpful for newcomers to make writing seem less intimidating.

I’m a published author, will the writing groups be useful for me?

Yes! As every writer knows: having a dedicated time to work on your projects and check in with others is always helpful. However, if you have a draft that you’d like detailed feedback on, we suggest also booking to help advance or revise a project.

Can I try attending a writing group session before paying to see if it suits me?

We used to offer this, but found it too disruptive having people attend one-off sessions without committing: other writers were sharing their work with new participants every week rather than the group gelling over a term. Therefore we now ask that you book a minimum of 4 sessions to try the group.

Do I have to commit to all 8 sessions in a block?

No, we simply ask that you attend a minimum of 4 sessions in a term, so that we can get to know you and the group can gel. If you cannot attend every week you can book 4 sessions and let us know which 4 you would like to attend.

Will I have the opportunity to share my work? Will I have to share my work?

Our writing groups offer an opportunity to share work and receive feedback from the group. We cap participation at 12 people to ensure everyone has a chance to get feedback on their work across the 8 weeks of each term: we like to dedicate each session to one person’s work, but sometimes need to include two people to allow everyone a chance to have feedback if more than 8 people are submitting. There is absolutely no obligation to share your work if you are not comfortable: you will still get a lot of insight, enjoyment, and development from the writing groups.

What technology/equipment will I need?

You will need access to a computer or device with an internet connection reliable enough to join Zoom sessions. If you have any technical issues, please get in touch.

What time zones will the writing groups be suited for?

The group runs 3pm-4.30pm UK time, Tuesdays during Oxford term time (8 weeks, 3 times a year). In March and October our clocks move forward/back, the group leader will remind you of this in case our countries are not in sync! If there is enough demand we will set up additional groups at different times to allow participation from multiple time zones.

I’ve signed up and now cannot attend. What should I do?

We will endeavour to make every accommodation to enable your attendance. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds if you sign up and then can no longer make the commitment. However, we may be able to arrange for you to have individual mentoring sessions instead or join in later writing group sessions.

General information:

Will these services help me make contacts in the publishing industry?

We have not designed these programs with the goal of introducing participants to agents, editors, or publishers. We aim to help make your work as good as it can be and develop good writing habits—which we believe is the most important step towards publication. In addition, our community offers tight-knit peer support, and our participants will benefit from useful advice from experienced writers. Many books written by our writing group members/mentees do go on to be published and cite OCLW’s involvement as a major contributor to this.

Do I get any accreditation from the University of Oxford for participating in writing groups/mentoring?

No. Although the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing is an official Oxford University research group, these courses are run by Oxford Writing Mentors, which is not part of the university, therefore these services do not equate to undertaking a course at the University of Oxford.