Association of Christian Writers

AskAboutWriting
Resource for writers of all abilities in Britain and Ireland.
They include general writing news and news of writing, events, and competitions, and a growing list of reviewed writer-relevant websites.

WritersReign
Site for aspiring writers which aims to encourage new writers and point them towards useful resources, competitions, training and other opportunities, particularly in the areas of self-publishing and publishing on-line.

Write to Inspire
Useful American site for Christian writers

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Project Gutenburg
Classic texts on-line as soon as they are out of copyright

Writers Market
Where and how to sell what you write

The Arts Centre Group
The group supports and encourages Christians working professionally in the arts.

The Jubilate Group
Site for hymn and worship song writers

Association for Church Editors

Green Pastures
Site designed to encourage other Christians when feeling low. Stories wanted showing personal experience of God’s help.

Scottish Fellowship of Christian Writers
Our sister organisation, devoted specifically to writers in Scotland.

The Writers’ Guild

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is the trade union representing writers in TV, radio, theatre, books, poetry, film and video games.

Bible Reading Fellowship

The Society of Authors

The Society of Authors has been serving the interests of professional writers for more than a century. Today it has more than 8,500 members writing in all areas of the profession. Whatever your specialisation, from novelists to doctors, textbook writers to ghost writers, broadcasters to academics, illustrators to translators, you are eligible as soon as you have been offered a contract. Services include the confidential, individual vetting of contracts, and help with professional disputes. In addition, the Society holds meetings and seminars, publishes a quarterly journal, The Author, and maintains a database of members’ specialisations. It administers a wide range of prizes, as well as the Authors’ Foundation, which is one of the very few bodies making grants to help with work in progress for established writers.

Media Associates International

National Association of Writers in Education
NAWE aim to promote and develop the educational ideals of writers and to make the benefits of their work available to a wider cross section of students, and to open up a dialogue between teachers, writers and organisers which would actively develop those ideals.
They have a detailed database currently featuring over 900 writers which is funded by six of the Regional Arts Boards of England. They publish a magazine, Writing in Education, three times per year. Each issue features an interview with an eminent writer and articles on critical issues and workshop techniques. Also they provide training for writers and teachers in residential schemes, by apprenticeship and in workshops.

Ronald Clements

Gaynor Cobb

Penny Culliford

Colin Duriez

Janet Evans (Dernier Publishing)

Pamela Evans

Veronica Heley

Vicki Howie

Chris Leonard

Mel Menzies

Jennifer Minney

Marion Osgood

Lance Pierson

Pam Pointer

Annie Porthouse

David Rhodes (Turbulent Books)

David Rhodes (Sparrow Story)

Fay Sampson

Roger Steer

Marion Stroud

John Thomas

Nick White

Helena Wilkinson

Veronica Zundel

A highly successful Writers’ Day was held at  Regent Hall, W1, on Saturday 7 March. With three inspirational speakers leading talks and workshops, and two commissioning editors offering one-to-one interviews, the day was packed with opportunities.

Delegates thought so, too:

“I had a really useful interview. This organisation constantly surprises me with what it offers its members.” David Rhodes

“Today has been really inspiring – it’s as if everything is coming together to encourage my writing. The tips and advice were so useful. Writing alone can be very isolating, so it’s great to meet all these other writers who are doing such different things.” Katie Todd

“God’s timing is always perfect, but the timing of this event has been wonderful for me. Everything fell into place for me today.” Rachel Snell

Our first speaker, Susan Titus Osborn, is the author of 29 books and  numerous articles; she is Director of the Christian Communicator Manuscript Service in America, as well as being a judge for the Christy Awards for Christian fiction each year. She gave two sessions on Writing from the heart (stopping to listen to our own feelings and to God so that we can write effectively for others) and Writing with fiction techniques (adding interest to your non-fiction articles and books by using good fiction techniques).

Jo Swinney (www.joswinney.com ) spoke on Inside out: your life in story. Jo’s book Through the Dark Woods, published by Monarch, is an account of her experiences with long-term depression; it looks at issues such as spirituality, relationships, healing and support.  Jo explained how she felt about going public with her struggles and where she set the boundaries of privacy.   

The afternoon session on Writing Biography was led by Marion Field, who  has just completed her fourth biography, about John Nelson Darby, the founder of the Brethren movement.  Unlike her previous three popular biographies, this is an ‘academic’ biography. 

Throughout the day Tony Collins, Editorial Director at Monarch, part of Lion Hudson, and Philip Ralli, Commissioning Editor at Highland Books, both gave ten-minute interviews on a first-come, first-served basis; around eighteen members took up the offer.  

In the final talks of the day, Tony and Philip each spoke about My dream manuscript. Then the panel of Susan Titus Osborn, Marion Field, Tony Collins and Philip Ralli took questions from the floor, delivering yet more helpful tips and advice.

A regional event organised by South Dorset Christian Writers

Friday 20th March at Emmanuel Church, Southill, Weymouth

This highly successful event attracted some 35 writers from all over the south-west region, many of whom were not ACW members but now intend to join!

Leader Chris Leonard is a versatile writer who runs workshops and writing holidays at Lee Abbey and elsewhere, as well as several writing groups in Surrey. Her 17 published books include biographies, a children’s novel and devotional books.  (See www.chris-leonard-writing.co.uk.)

She shared her own story during the introductory session, using it to demonstrate several key elements of story-telling.  In small groups the participants got to know each other and wrote short pieces in different genres which they shared, along with considering their own writing projects and having time to reflect and pray together.

Huge thanks are due to Joy Piper and the South Dorset Area Group for planning and organising this event, and the wonderful people of Emmanuel Church who gave their time and energy to serve tea, coffee and lunch, put out furniture and set up the sound systems.

Joy will be writing a Tip Sheet on how to organise such a regional meeting, which we hope will be used by other Area Groups to make  Writers’ Days available to many more of our members.

New writer Sara shares with the rest of the hard-of-hearing group

ACW Writers’ Day Saturday 3 October 2009

10.00 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. at  The Salvation Army, Regent Hall, Oxford Street, W1

The morning began with a  short AGM, but the business was  rapidly completed.

It was followed by two partners in crime:  Lesley Horton,  author of many bestselling  crime novels  including Snares of Guilt and Devils in the Mirror, and Veronica Heley, author of The Ellie Quicke Mysteries and The Abbot Agency series. They compared notes on Lesley’s ‘police procedurals’ set in the North of England  and Veronica’s ‘cosies’ set in the South.

Both Veronica and Lesley offered ten-minute one-to-one interviews during the afternoon, and these were enthusiastically received by a number of aspiring crime novelists.

In the afternoon, Dorothy Stewart, experienced features editor, publishing director and author (most recently of It’s Hard to Hurry When You’re a Snail) led a highly practical session entitled Publish every article you write.

Churches and writers’ groups often contact us asking for advice on finding speakers for meetings and workshops. To support them, we invite our experienced writers to join our speakers’ register, telling us about their preferred speaking and teaching topics. We can then put the parties in touch with each other.

This is especially useful outside the London area, where we may be able to find a local speaker, cutting down on travelling expenses for everyone.

For those who cannot travel to training events, there are postal workshops (and sometimes email workshops) covering such genres as poetry, non-fiction, adult fiction and children’s fiction. These are organised by a member of ACW especially to assist members to develop their talents.

Each group has around five members.  The first member encloses a piece of work and sends the parcel (or email) to Writer no.2 . He or she writes a short critique of the first piece of work, adds his or her own writing, and sends it on to no. 3, and so on. When the parcel (or cumulative email) returns to the first writer, the first piece is removed and another inserted.

This is a useful way of gaining the benefits of the workshop environment without travelling: you have a reason to get on and write something to submit, and you have the benefit of the comments and appreciation of a sympathetic audience, who are all involved in the same kind of writing as you.

If you are interested in joining a workshop, let us know by using the Contact form.

Confidential prayer support is available from our Encourager. She is a sympathetic Christian writer, who knows how difficult the writing life can be. She is a trained counsellor and a member of the Society of Authors. Many members know her as a friend they can trust and someone who will pray for their specific need, in total confidence. Details can be found at the back of Christian Writer magazine. If you would like to use this service, let us know by using the Contact form.

There is always time for prayer at Writers’ Days and conferences. In addition, we often make provision for members to request a private prayer time with a committee member during the lunch break.

We are able to offer our members a confidential, fee-paying service by professionals who are members of ACW. They will undertake criticism and offer advice. However, they do not act as agents and cannot market your work for you.
Rates are subject to change, but current charges are:

• Poetry – £1.50 per poem (max length 36 lines), but no more than 20 to be submitted.
• Prose – £7.50 for the first 1,000 words; thereafter £5.00 per thousand, for the same piece. Special rates are available for novels.

Do not send any manuscript without prior enquiry. Details can be found at the back of Christian Writer magazine. If you are interested in using this service, please let us know by using the Contact form.

Poetry Advisor: Geoffrey Daniel
Children’s Fiction/Drama Advisor: Cherith Baldry
Adult Fiction Advisor: Fay Sampson
Non-Fiction Advisor: Marion Field