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| Is mentoring a good idea? |
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have
competent and willing people who mentored me. In my marketing and sales positions,
I worked my way up from the shipping department to riding in helicopters and
private jets due to someone looking after me and having faith that I could do
the job. Now that I am a writer, I still seek and get excellent mentors. I have
10 people that I trust and give them a copy of my manuscript to review and
provide me with comments that always make improvements to my writing. So I have
learned that mentors are important and they make a huge difference in your ability
to reach and touch your dreams.
I am very lucky to have my wife as a live in mentor. Pat has contributed so much input to my writing. She has a knack of coming up with just the right suggestions to make the ending of my novels interesting and exciting making the reader wanting to come back for more.
A bit of history of the word Mentor
- The word mentor comes from the character "Mentor " in Homer's epic tale, The Odyssey. Mentor
was a trusted friend of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca . When Odysseus fought in the Trojan
War, Mentor
served as friend and counsel to Odysseus' son Telemachus. Riverside Webster’s II New College Dictionary 1995 defines
a mentor as “a wise and trusted teacher or counselor.” The act of mentoring is
a series of ongoing and little successes. You will be able to make a real
impact through consistent and ongoing relationship building.
First, you need to decide what you want help on. Review your
writing critical eye, decide where you are deficient, define the areas where
you need to sharpen your skills, and outline the specific writing goals you
want to achieve.
Moreover, by specific I mean very specific.
Is your problem grammar, characters, plotting, sentence construction,
or style? Maybe motivation or finding the time to write is an issue. A good
mentor can help in many of these areas - as long as they know what you need.
A mentor must be self-assured they can aid you in achieving
your writing goal. When you start seeking out mentors, ask questions. Not only
is it important you know what you want, it is important you are confident the
mentor can and will deliver for you.
All authors are different, so are mentors. Mentors may not
be best selling authors or have a string of writing credits. Some mentors are
simply good at what they do. What should you look for in a mentor - Intelligence,
patience, professionalism - Yes, all of these things? Failing that, you could
contact a famous - or favorite - author and ask if they ever mentor new
authors. Most do not but a few will.
What is the cost? Again, it depends on what you want. Do you
need an overall assessment and minor guidance – then you are looking at something
in the range of $300 to $500 for a 100,000-word novel. I have read that the
cost is this cost is quickly becoming an industry standard.
Want to give your book and attitude a thorough workout (editing,
reworking etc?) Budget up to $1500 a novel. Pay less and you have to wonder
what you are getting. (You get what you pay for etc.)
Need complete hand holding or lots of encouragement and blow-by-blow
help. Most reputable mentors will charge from $500 to $1000 a month for that
type of aid. They are usually open to negotiation depending on your
circumstances. A few mentors will charge more - much more.
But, remember, mentoring is not always in relation to the
writing style or technique. Sometimes it is about turning you into a writer. Gaining
the right mentality and putting you on the road of self-discovery, with the
confidence and skills to handle success in this industry.
Whatever you get from it - it should be rewarding and fun.
Shop around to find a mentor that suits you, makes you feel good about yourself,
and helps you grow - as a person and an
author.
