Meeting with a Mentor

Even though I mentor others, I also take advantage of meeting with the 'great and infuential' when I can, and I did so last week.

I made a very basic mistake. I had found out about the opportunity at the last minute and was lucky enough to get the very last spot available. Then I started making mistakes.

The biggest mistake: NOT HAVING SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO ASK!

I thought he would give me incisive and direct feedback and criticism of the 20 pages I submitted to be read - not so. He had a lot of people to meet, a lot of stuff to read and so his feedback matched that. He liked my story. He was able to point to specific things he liked, but they were the same things that other people liked.

I did myself no favours by not having questions to ask!

When you have an opportunity to meet with anyone who will help your writing, always have questions ready to ask. We are all busy people and your mentor [or whoever] might have more than one piece of writing to consider.

Be specific in your questions:

1. Did the voice work?
2. Do you feel the start is strong?
3. Is the ending an effective ending, etc?
4. What are my strengths/weaknesses?
5. What hints can you give me for getting an agent?
6. Do you have any names of people you think would be interested in my work and,
7. Can I use/drop your name?

Be mercenary - you have paid the money so there is no shame in getting your pound of flesh.

Jennifer