“Very few people can offer both artistic talent and considered, agile guidance. Megan is that rare thing – a highly gifted writer and a talented teacher/mentor.” Tamsin Flower
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“Megan was everything I hoped to find in a mentor. Supporting me through a novel-length project, she consistently pushed me to go deeper in my work — guiding me as I sought a level of richness and nuance that I might not otherwise have found.“ Patrick Christie
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“I found Megan extremely quick to tune into my particular writing style and aims, and to tailor feedback accordingly. She shares her experience with generosity, humour, and sensitivity. I looked forward to our online sessions which were fun, engaging and supportive.” K. Lockwood Jefford
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“From the beginning, Megan helped me see the story I was trying to write, helped me find the thread, the themes, the characters. Her advice has been invaluable and insightful, strong and gentle, and more than I could’ve hoped for. She has made me a better writer and a better editor, and she has given me the tools to keep growing as I keep writing.” Amelia Brown
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“ With Megan as my mentor I always felt encouraged, emboldened, freshly confident and understood, whilst I remained challenged, motivated and able to maintain a forward momentum; to forge my own path. Megan's individual and personal approach always comes back to the notions of quality and integrity in my writing as fundamental. It has been a unique and deeply enriching process at a critical stage of my writing development and one which I would choose to seek out again in future stages of my writing.” Carrie Patten
“Very few people can offer both artistic talent and considered, agile guidance. Megan is that rare thing – a highly gifted writer and a talented teacher/mentor.” Tamsin Flower • “Megan was everything I hoped to find in a mentor. Supporting me through a novel-length project, she consistently pushed me to go deeper in my work — guiding me as I sought a level of richness and nuance that I might not otherwise have found.“ Patrick Christie • “I found Megan extremely quick to tune into my particular writing style and aims, and to tailor feedback accordingly. She shares her experience with generosity, humour, and sensitivity. I looked forward to our online sessions which were fun, engaging and supportive.” K. Lockwood Jefford • “From the beginning, Megan helped me see the story I was trying to write, helped me find the thread, the themes, the characters. Her advice has been invaluable and insightful, strong and gentle, and more than I could’ve hoped for. She has made me a better writer and a better editor, and she has given me the tools to keep growing as I keep writing.” Amelia Brown • “ With Megan as my mentor I always felt encouraged, emboldened, freshly confident and understood, whilst I remained challenged, motivated and able to maintain a forward momentum; to forge my own path. Megan's individual and personal approach always comes back to the notions of quality and integrity in my writing as fundamental. It has been a unique and deeply enriching process at a critical stage of my writing development and one which I would choose to seek out again in future stages of my writing.” Carrie Patten
MENTORING
Writing is hard. It’s not always easy to see what’s in front of you. Having the support of another writer, someone to ask questions, cajole, and encourage, can make all the difference between a finished and an unfinished project.
I support prose writers across a range of genres and forms including long-form fiction, short stories, memoir, and hybrid narratives. The support I offer is dependent upon the needs of the writer, but typically consists of detailed feedback, one-to-one mentoring, manuscript assessments on full drafts, or a combination of all three.
I can help you learn how to:
Establish an effective and reliable working practice that fits around your schedule and helps you to write freely, regularly, and without pressure (but with ambition)
Research subjects and incorporate that research into your writing in ways that strengthens ideas, plots, and characters
‘See’ your own work and enhance your individual voice
Grow a long-form project from its conception to its completion
My support is process-led and uniquely tailored to each writer.
Many writers I have worked with have gone on to secure places on prestigious Creative Writing courses, find agents and become published, many being short-listed for and winning prizes, including the Encore Award, the East Anglia Book Award, and the V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize.
I have twenty years’ experience as an editor and creative writing mentor, and I have worked in association with the Ruppin Agency, Curtis Brown Creative, the Literary Consultancy, the University of East Anglia, and Birkbeck University. I am also a Creative Writing tutor for the National Centre for Writing.
See below for testimonials from writers with whom I have previously worked.
For further information including rates, please complete the contact form below.
Now taking bookings from Jan ‘25.
TESTIMONIALS
“What can I say? Simply put, without Megan, I would not have found the confidence to pursue life as a writer.
Over a twelve-month period, Megan fostered a working relationship built on mutual respect and trust. She had the uncanny knack of knowing what to say when, keeping me on track, enthused and committed to the ‘project’ in hand.
Her observations and in-depth commentary on each submission were underpinned by her considerable talent as a writer, editorial skills and extensive knowledge of contemporary literature (the latter resulting in another full bookcase).
So, if you have the opportunity to be mentored by Megan, grasp it with both hands!”
“Megan’s feedback offers the perfect balance of detailed, constructive criticism combined with genuine encouragement. I could not have wished for a better mentor.”
“Megan is a wonderful mentor. I have loved every part of the mentoring process and come out of it a more confident writer. She is an insightful reader and the comments I received in my feedback were always exactly what I needed to hear. Her feedback gave me the confidence to keep going, but also to keep improving. I think Megan knew more about what I was trying to do than I did, and from the beginning had such enthusiasm and energy for the novel I was trying to write. I looked forward to every session because each one filled me with inspiration and I went back to my novel with a clear idea of where to go next, and most of all the confidence that I could do it. Megan is also great company and each hour’s session was invaluable – I have learned so much in such a short time. When I started, I was struggling to make time to write and pretty sure anything I did write was terrible. Having finished the mentoring sessions, I’m determined to get this novel finished, however many drafts that takes. I would recommend Megan to anyone who is trying to write. ”
“Very few people can offer both artistic talent and considered, agile guidance. Megan is that rare thing – a highly gifted writer and a talented teacher/mentor.”
“Megan was everything I hoped to find in a mentor. Supporting me through a novel-length project, she consistently pushed me to go deeper in my work — guiding me as I sought a level of richness and nuance that I might not otherwise have found.
Not only did I feel that Megan was genuinely invested in my work, at times I felt as though she could see more clearly what I was trying to achieve than I could myself. Her feedback was always both constructive and supportive — leaving me enthused to get back to writing after each of our tutorials.
There’s no question that Megan enabled me to produce some of my best writing to date. I will certainly seek her guidance again and would advise her mentoring to anyone that is looking to take their writing to the next level.”
“From the beginning, Megan helped me see the story I was trying to write, helped me find the thread, the themes, the characters. Her advice has been invaluable and insightful, strong and gentle, and more than I could’ve hoped for. She has made me a better writer and a better editor, and she has given me the tools to keep growing as I keep writing.”
““I worked on my debut collection of short stories with Megan as a mentor for a year from July 2021 to July 2022. It’s been an enormously rich and rewarding experience.
Megan draws on her wealth of experience as a writer, reader, and teacher/mentor. She’s reliable and very well-organised: together we drew up a brief list of goals to facilitate priorities and focus for mentoring. She also provided thoughtful, detailed written feedback on my submissions before our ‘face-to-face’ online sessions, thereby allowing space to read, digest and reflect on her comments. These written reports also provide an invaluable record to refer back to once mentoring sessions end.
I found Megan extremely quick to tune into my particular writing style and aims, and to tailor feedback accordingly. She shares her experience with generosity, humour, and sensitivity. I looked forward to our online sessions which were fun, engaging and supportive.
In my work with Megan, I’ve established my reading and writing practice more firmly, gained a deeper understanding of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and feel ready to take new creative risks with the form.”
“Megan Bradbury was my mentor during the National Centre for Writing’s Escalator 2020 scheme. Throughout a really difficult year, Megan kept me writing. Her belief in both my vision and voice nurtured my confidence, going on to open so many doors. I am truly grateful for having such an approachable, insightful, and open-minded mentor. Her feedback was invaluable to the shape of my novel-in-progress as well as my growth as a writer.”
“I hugely enjoyed working with Megan. I always looked forward to our mentoring sessions and I came away feeling positive and inspired. I certainly gained in confidence during the process of working with her. She is knowledgeable, approachable and empathetic.”
“I submitted my draft first novel to Megan on 18 April 2020 and received my feedback on 17 May, exactly as promised. The feedback included both a summary document and a detailed, page-by-page annotation of my entire text. I found her comments both insightful and very helpful. They have certainly given me a steer on where I take this narrative next, and will also feed into the second book of the series which is currently part drafted.
I would heartily recommend Megan if you are genuinely looking to find ways to improve both your writing generally and a specific text. You may not agree with every individual comment – as tastes differ, in my view that is expecting too much. But she will make you look at your writing differently and you will see new things as a result of her feedback.”
“Megan mentored me for nine months on the Escalator Talent Development Scheme and during this time has conducted close editorial reading of all the writing I have submitted to her. Her feedback is precise, constructive, insightful and intuitive. Megan has not imposed her will on my writing, nor tried to bend or shape it to fit her mould. She has identified its strengths and has encouraged its uniqueness. We have approached my writing as art and Megan has helped me to define and articulate my thought processes.
I needed Megan as a sounding board and to be able to hear my thoughts out loud; to speak them rather than simply write them, and to do so in a safe, creative, non-judgemental space. I’ve been able to play with definitions of myself, better understand my choices and see routes through, even at the most subtle editorial stage. Her support has always been in the context of the professional world of writing with all its potential strategies of approach, so that I have an eye on the bigger picture for the collection of stories I have been working on.
Megan has never at any stage simply told me what I want to hear, but has been mindful to tell me what I need to hear in relation to my writing. Because of this trust and respect established early on, I have had complete faith in the mentor/mentee process.
With Megan as my mentor I always felt encouraged, emboldened, freshly confident and understood, whilst I remained challenged, motivated and able to maintain a forward momentum; to forge my own path. Megan’s individual and personal approach always comes back to the notions of quality and integrity in my writing as fundamental. It has been a unique and deeply enriching process at a critical stage of my writing development and one which I would choose to seek out again in future stages of my writing.”
CONTACT