Why the world will always need writers
News, events, resources and opportunities
6-week chapter book course with Clare Helen Welsh: starts 20th May. Learn how write and perfect your chapter books with input from Clare and literary agent, Lorna Hemingway.
Spark Mentoring: whether you want to work with one of our experienced mentors on a monthly or one-off basis, we provide an affordable and flexible set of options to help you get the help you need to elevate your manuscript.
The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition (full-length novel for readers aged 7-18) and The Broken Binding Prize (YA sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction) - Both prizes open for entries on 9th January and the deadline for submissions is 1st June 2026.
Sign up for Early Bird Tickets/more information here.
2026 Awards Update
We are approaching the end of the current reads and I reckon we might finish by this weekend, so we’ll be hoping to have a longlist out by early next week - potentially in next week’s newsletter.
We will email everyone who has made the list, and those who haven’t, as well. And we’ll send feedback to those who opted for it within a few days of the list being announced, so next week.
Please do be patient, we had more than 1300 entries and more than 800 people opting for feedback, so it will take a lot of time to compile and send those out.
We will let you know what to do if you haven’t received it in next week’s newsletter (sometimes people have entered an incorrect email or it goes into spam/junk/promotions and they don’t realise it), so hold off on emailing Melissa this week please as she’s had a lot of those emails asking - we promise we will tell you when things are happening.
In the meantime, have a lovely week, relax, and please don’t look out for an email before Sunday 24th, as we will not be emailing before then.
Featured Spark Mentor
“Working with Justin on my novel has given me such a confidence boost and helped me elevate my writing. He’s spotted inconsistencies, questioned wording choices and flagged characterisation issues while also offering solutions and ideas to help me get started. His feedback is thoughtful and constructive and has pushed me to finish my novel’s first draft. I highly recommend WriteMentor and Justin in particular – my middle-grade novel would be nowhere near as polished without his support!” – Noel S.
Hub Calendar (all times GMT/BST)
May
Agent Q&A Monday 18th 7pm with Sandra Sawicka
PB Chat Thursday 21st 7pm with Clare Helen Welsh
Pitchhero Friday 22nd (pitch on the Thursday) with Sandra Sawicka
DACIW chat Friday 29th May 2-3pm with Katina Wright
All sessions are recorded and available to watch back, so don’t fret about being there ‘live’. This is just a few of the many sessions/opportunities that happen every month in the Hub and are all available on catch-up if you join now.
What is the Hub?
The WriteMentor Hub is a group chat you actually want to be in. Writing club meets social hangout, here we cheer each other on, share knowledge and advice, level up our skills, and have fun doing it.
Everyone’s invited and our doors are open all year round. From absolute beginners to multi-published authors, we all have something to share and something to learn. No gatekeeping, no cliques, no secret handshakes. Just a welcoming crew of writers who understand that success is not about perfection, pressure, or pretension. It’s about connection, collaboration, and community.
More than just a space to chat, the Hub is a creative playground of inspiration: live talks and workshops, structured courses, and an ever-growing library of resources to help you hone your craft. Join critique groups for honest, constructive feedback, take part in interactive writing sprints to boost motivation, or pitch your work to agents in our monthly contests.
Whether you’re looking for advice, accountability, or a creative spark, join the Hub today.
The Final Word
Why the world will always need writers
Children need depth, not just 15 second reels.
They need real understanding, not just a click-bait headline and 10 second explanation.
They need empathy, and that only comes from engaging something with is longer, nuanced, and has a journey with all the highs, lows, mistakes and flaws that humanity has to offer.
Imagine if I’d never had gone to Middle-Earth Bilbo and Frodo while I sat on my loft rafters, the book balanced on insulation, as an escape from the chaos in my domestic life below.
Imagine if I’d never have gone to Mars with Mark Watney and been able to relate to feeling alone on a world, with little hope of rescue.
Imagine if I’d never escaped to the many, many worlds, with many, many great characters over the years and been able to see the light, the grey and the dark side of humanity, all from the safety of a book that I could close when it became too much or open again when I needed that exit from the horrors of reality?
Simply put, we need YOU and YOUR STORIES to enable children to engage more deeply with what it means to be human.
You have to engage with a novel for days and days, hours and hours, to get the whole arc, and while we know that input is very much worth the payoff, the allure of technology is to get the cheap dopamine hit much more quickly and with much less effort.
And in some ways, I can understand it - we all have the experience of delayed gratification, due to many of our ages, because we had childhoods without an overwhelming level of tech and social media - I didn’t own a phone until I was 18 (which literally did calls and texts only), and a computer until I was 22 - my access to the addictive algorithms our young people face now was non-existent.
And I am grateful - but I see it in my own children, and with the young people I teach - the temptation to get the quick hit (from the every diversifying and wide-ranging media out there) has never been greater. And it’s not even their fault.
We live in a world designed to drag your attention from X to Y, from A to B, then back again for more of each. They have hijacked our, and our children’s, reward pathway and have them (and us) addicted to cheap dopamine.
But here is my contention.
In an age of AI, technology and fast media, writers still shape culture, preserve stories, and inspire change.
Our world needs less content, but more depth, diversity and engagement in that content.
Our world need writers to do this - to provide excellent, engaging stories that can help develop empathy and teach them about the value of delayed gratification over instant.
Our world needs… YOU and YOUR stories.
So put that phone down and get writing!
Writing can be lonely, but it doesn’t need to be
May the Force be with you!
Stuart, Florianne and Melissa