STEPHANIE BISHOP
I offer bespoke literary mentorship, working closely with writers to help their work flourish. The mentorship is open to writers at every stage of development, whether you are just beginning to explore an idea or working with a completed manuscript.
Through one-to-one sessions, I offer attentive, personalised feedback and guidance that is tailored to your particular project. Together, we can clarify your ambitions, expand your vision, hone your skills and develop the writing with greater confidence and purpose. Sessions might focus on the specific challenges your work currently presents—from early questions of concept, structure and direction through to the detailed work of revision and the completion of a draft.
I’m an experienced teacher and coach and have worked extensively with authors in Australia and the UK. Many of the writers I have mentored have gone on to publish their work, receiving both critical and commercial recognition.
My aim is to create a thoughtful, supportive space in which you can take your writing further: developing the possibilities of the work while helping you find greater clarity about what you want it to become.
How it works:
The mentorship is offered as either a four- or eight-session programme, with each session lasting one hour. We begin with an initial consultation to discuss your writing and your goals, and to identify the areas where you would most like support during the mentorship. Sessions take place on Zoom and can be scheduled either fortnightly or monthly.
For each mentorship session, you can submit up to 5,000 words (standard mentorship) or 10,000 words (intensive mentorship) of your work in advance. I will read your writing closely, identifying its strengths and possibilities as well as areas that may benefit from further development.
Each mentorship session combines one-to-one discussion with detailed written feedback. Your work will be read with care and attention, and our conversation will focus on the particular possibilities and challenges present in your writing. Each session is accompanied by a written report, with considered feedback and annotations on your submitted pages, giving you practical points to work with as you continue writing and revising.
Sessions can explore any aspect of your writing, including style, voice, character, description, dialogue and structure. We can also discuss creative problem-solving, the broader ambitions of your project and any challenges you may be encountering as a writer. The focus is always tailored to your needs, combining thoughtful discussion with targeted editorial guidance and practical feedback.
The aim is not simply to edit the work in front of us, but to help you develop as a writer and make confident decisions about your project. We can explore the questions your writing raises, work through creative challenges, and consider how individual choices of language, voice, character or structure contribute to the wider ambitions of the work.
The programme is flexible and can be shaped around the development of your work. Depending on the frequency of sessions, a four-session mentorship can run over two or four months, while an eight-session mentorship can run over four or eight months.
How To Apply:
The mentorship program is selective, with limited places available. To enquire about mentorship services and related fees please send a message outlining your project and what you’d hope to gain from the mentorship. A small number of subsidised places are also available. You can contact at: penandink777@gmail.com
Testimonials
'Stephanie's support was invaluable on my journey to publishing The Make-Believe. Being read by her I felt I was being taken seriously as a real writer, and her sharp-eyed, compassionate feedback both challenged and encouraged me. She's very kind, very smart, and immensely perceptive. Being taught by her was truly inspiring. Her statements of wisdom on the craft of writing and the industry of publishing are lessons I return to again and again.'
– Hannah Murray, author of Sunday Times bestselling The Make-Believe
'Stephanie’s guidance is quite simply the only reason my book ever found its feet. Her mentorship is invaluable; she is unbelievably caring, thorough, perceptive and able to see and understand crucial elements of my work that I could never have even noticed myself. This kind of editorial and writerly attention is incredibly rare — to be read as closely and as generously as I have been by Stephanie has been career-altering for me. It has allowed me to feel incredibly seen and understood as a writer, to be challenged when I need to be challenged and encouraged when I need someone I admire to lift me up. Stephanie is an extraordinarily good teacher, and any work of fiction will be incalculably better as a result of her input. I wouldn’t be the writer I am without her.'
– Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of I Choose Elena, My Body Keeps Your Secrets and The Lasting Harm
I loved my time working with Stephanie while she was my mentor during my MA at UEA. She had that rare ability to see what my manuscript was trying to become, to see what I was aiming for before I could see it myself. She took such care with my work and took my messy manuscript so seriously that it increased my confidence in myself as a writer. Also, her reading recommendations based on my work were invaluable. She listened so well during our zooms, it was like the best kind of therapy. After I finished working with her, I sold my novel in a two-book deal to HarperCollins in the UK and Hachette in the US. If you get the chance to work with Stephanie, grab it!
– Sheena Cook, author of All the Things We Buried