London Writers' Café

In our regular writing workshops, we have three writers sharing a sample of their writing for feedback, advice and encouragement. Critique is led and moderated by your host.

New members are always welcome. Most people come along to a few sessions before offering feedback, commenting or requesting to read but it's up to you. If you want to read right away, great, but if you want to come along and see how we roll first, that makes sense too. We think you'll be surprised by how much you can learn from others by listening to their feedback.

For people reading, pieces must be 3,000 words or less as you'll have about 40mins for reading and discussion on your excerpt around the table. Most people bring 3,000 words from their novel or a short story of all genres and styles. If you'd like to read, please post a comment below. You must have booked your place before making a request to read. Please don't ask to read at every session you attend. Readers will be confirmed a few days before the workshop.

If you are reading, please bring 7-10 printed copies of your pages so members can make additional editing notes for you during the reading. Please notify us by commenting below if you have to pull out of reading after your place has been confirmed as others will be clamouring to take your spot!

TICKETS: £9.50 (+booking fees) and please follow the steps to pay via PayPal when you RSVP. This ticket fee pays for event organising, hosting and venue hire. Booking fees are added by Meetup.com.

PLEASE NOTE: Refunds or credits will only be provided if the meetup is cancelled by us. We cannot offer refunds or credit for another session if you decide not to attend on the day. Please change your status to 'Not Going' if you no longer plan to attend. We often have people on the waiting list and we'd hate for anyone to miss out.

*** INFORMATION PAGE ONLY***
Lisa is now offering manuscript critique services to all members of London Writers' Cafe who are looking for editorial support.

A note from her: After 19 years working for major publishers and 13 years of leading critique workshops at London Writers' Cafe, I thought some of you might like to know exactly what I'm offering in my freelance editorial reports in more detail. Please read on if you do.

For my critique, I'll read and review your writing to produce an editorial report of the strengths and weaknesses against the key elements of storytelling. I'll do this with detailed comments on page, a written report that brings together critique and analysis, and meet with you in 1-2-1 mentoring check-ins at key stages to discuss the recommendations. I'm calling all of this work Read & Review reports for simplicity.

In brief, a Read & Review report from me will include:
1 x A written analysis (1-2 pages) of your writing's strengths and weaknesses against the key elements of storytelling (Point-of-View, Narrative Voice, Characterisation, Structure, Conflict, Pace, Tension, Causality, Sense of Place, Style, Dialogue, Themes etc.) so you'll know exactly where to focus your energy in the next draft.
1 x Your pages marked up with detailed comments, questions and critique in terms of storytelling techniques, fluency and continuity. Most of my focus is developmental/structural editing but I'll make notes at sentence level so there's always some copy editing too.
2 x Editorial Check-Ins (via video chat or phone call) before and after the editing is completed. We'll talk beforehand to discuss your story's origin, your aims for it and why you want it critiqued. Once I've completed my report, we'll discuss the feedback (via video/phone) before I send over the written analysis. I'll return most reports within four weeks of receiving the material but I'll need more time for longer pieces.

As for the price of a Read & Review report: I want to work as affordably as possible so pricing is based on the number of words and time required for reading (often multiple times), critique, analysis and writing the report.

Here's my pricing guide:

• 5000 words or less for £60
• 5,000 - 10,000 words for £120
• 10,000 - 15,000 words for £180
• 15,000 - 25,000 words for £240
• 25,000 - 35,000 words for £300
• 35,000 - 45,000 words for £360
• 45,000 - 55,000 words for £420
• 55,000 - 75,000 words for £550
• 75,000 words or more** from £750

All that said, I'm happy to talk about what I could do within most budgets so don't be shy to approach me to chat through what you need. **If your manuscript is over 75,000 words then I'll be happy to discuss the full length and the level of analysis you'd like me to do.

For shorter pieces, I'll ask you to send me a brief outline of the story to provide context. Although, in my opinion, the story should pull me in without this being required, but it can be useful to check my understanding of the narrative as I review it. I'm not at all selective about style or genres. I read widely and a lot (I read 185 novels in 2021 alone). Working with writers and authors of all kinds, I've read and reviewed all genres and styles.

For writers who are about to submit to literary agents or publishers, I can give guidance on whether it meets the industry's 'publishable standard', a term used to judge a piece's readiness for publication. I'd hate for you to bungle your first impression and face rejection, so if you'd like me to give it a read over first, I can do that. I'll read your sample (first 10,000 words) and produce a 1-page quick-fire analysis for £125.

If you'd like a read and review of your whole submission packet i.e. covering letter, synopsis and writing sample (first 10,000 words) before agents or publishers see it, please just ask. You'll receive a 1-page report to support my comments on the writing and packet's ability to persuade and engage for £250.