Testimonials

Here are a selection of testimonials from some of my students.

From one of my online course students:

I took an online course run by Sophie King to improve my short stories. I came across her after I read her book, Writing Short Stories for Magazines. Sophie emailed me the module: each module lasted a few pages and was a detailed account of a particular aspect of writing. At the end was an example of one of her own stories and it would show how she had used that technique. Then I completed an exercise.

Sophie encouraged me to come out my rut. Before doing this course I only wrote ghost stories. That’s all I thought I could do. However I was encouraged to try something different and I did. Now I write short stories in various different genres. Before, I didn’t know what a plot was. Now I plot out my stories in a lot of detail before I even begin. It took me three months to complete and in that time period I suffered a flash of inspiration and wrote a short story. Even though it was not part of the course, Sophie critiqued it for me, without any further cost and I followed her advice to change the ending. It’s the first story that I have sent out to a national magazine for consideration. I thought that if an author who has published so many books thinks it’s good, then maybe a magazine editor will too.

There were a few exercises that I just couldn’t understand. Sophie didn’t force me into doing them: instead she provided me with alternatives. I found that the feedback I received from her was always very detailed. The course cost £150. It is a lot of money but it has really helped me improve my writing technique. – Uzma Chaudry

From a student on my Writing Articles course at the Winchester Writers' Conference:

"You get what it says on the tin! In an action-packed day, Sophie guided us through simple interesting exercises in how to get inspiration for both articles and short stories, and showed how either can be used as fertile ground for ideas for the other! Using press newspapers and magazines, Sophie explained how to search for ideas by thinking laterally, with an emphasis on the human element, and how to make your work stand out from the crowd.

It was an inspirational action-packed day, and Sophie provided an invaluable handout, as well as top tips for individuals which could then be generalized to the rest of the group’s writing. Just one problem though … the day was too short! I would thoroughly recommend this workshop to anyone with a foot in both the short story and article “camp” (as I have). It might help you to decide which is your stronger suit, or alternatively how you can successfully combine story and article writing. It was also a great networking day and provided the opportunity to compare notes with other aspiring writers. Definitely an excellent way to offset the loneliness of the hobby writer!"

Helen

From one of my recent writing courses:

"Jane has the wonderful gift to see the potential each text has and the positive elements in it. This not only boosts your confidence as a writer but it is also good feedback about what to focus your future writing on. This positive attitude creates a warm and helpful atmosphere within the course community, which I very much enjoyed." Sandra A., London

From one of my private Creative Writing Students:

Aspiring writer Sophie Banks won first prize in a short story competition in February's issue of Writers' Forum.
She sent me the following email:

"This is just to let you know that I have won first prize in Feb's Writers' Forum fiction competition with a short story. Despite all my post-course resolutions to write regularly, it's the only other story I have sent to anyone since I had one published in Best magazine (at the time when you were coming to my house in St Albans to do the creative writing course) so I am really chuffed and newly inspired!

In the little bit about me that they put alongside my story in the magazine it says I was inspired by a talk by an author in a bookshop (which was you) and I just thought you might be interested to know that your teaching had an impact!"