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The CREATIVE WRITING MENTORSHIP
Program for Young Writers
A one-on-one guided mentorship program for students between 13 and 18. Since it is customised, it doesn’t matter where you are in your writing career. You could be starting out, a few pieces old, or have written extensively.
A Writing Program from South Asia’s Biggest Literary Magazine
Are these questions on your mind?
- What is story telling?
- What is creative writing?
- Am I a poet, or am I a writer? Could I be one?
- How is content writing different from creative writing?
- What should I do to become a certified or published writer?
- How do I get published?
- Can I really become an author? Where do I start? And how?
- Are writing degrees required? (No, by the way)
- Having never read more than a few basic books, can I still enroll and write?
- How does this complete One on One Course work? How will I learn?
- Will I write? Will you help with everything?
What is the Program?
We have designed this program to essentially fit a semester of a BFA/MFA degrees (Bachelor/Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing) into a compact 5 session, two months long program.
Personalized mentorship, instruction, discussion, support, lectures, editing and feedback in writing, will guide you to open the doors to the world of some beautiful writing, your writing. You will receive practical guidance and instruction for your writing — so you won’t feel confused or overwhelmed, and you’ll know exactly what to do next, one word at a time.
The program will walk you through critical aspects of storytelling, writing, and presentation via special customized lectures just for you One on One. As you sit with us (or stand) while you write and hone an entire piece from beginning to end, you’ll leave us with your first great set of publishable writing.
We will then guide you with resources, introduce you to the publication industry and answer all your queries for your work to get published. We got your back, come let’s write together!
What will the Program cover?
- Understanding Storytelling
- What is Creative Writing?
- Types, Forms, and Genres
- Plot and Writing Devices
- Nourishing & Cultivating your Unique Voice
- Outlining, Drafting, and Editing
- Characters, Settings, and Themes
- The Final Draft (s)
Lectures
Five sessions conducted over Zoom. There must be a gap of a minimum of 7 days between sessions.
Class Hours
Each session will be of 2.5 hrs. In the gap between sessions, you can expect to spend 3 hrs per week writing.
Community
Become a part of our community and receive readings, event invites, discounts, and friendship.
Reading
The reading material & recommendations you receive will be unique to you (customised).
How to Apply to the Program.
You can apply by sending us an email to contact@thebombayreview.com (Subject of email in this format: Name, School, Age) with these two things:
- A bio note/statement of purpose where you share everything you can about your reading, passion, interest in writing. (300-500 words) Consider it a letter to us. 🙂
- Your CV (it doesn’t need to show your experience; it can have details of your current city, school, favourite books)
Your application is then reviewed, and if selected we get back to you with further details. The selection process exists to ensure the 5 participants per cycle policy – that we stand firmly by. At any given time only 5 students are mentored by an instructor – this allows us to focus on each individual’s voice. We don’t want to fill classrooms, we want to find and nurture writers.
Note: Writers who apply to the program through their teacher’s/professor’s recommendation are reviewed on priority. We do not accept more than 2 writers per school at any given time in the cycle.
Important: Please don’t use AI. It will be auto-detected by our system and disqualified.
More than a decade of creative writing pedagogy.
since 2014.
The adult edition of this program is often booked a year in advance, and usually has a waitlist.
FAQs
Will a certificate be provided?
Yes. Apart from that, throughout the program and after, you will receive reading material, book recommendations, event invites, opportunities in creative fields and so on. We don’t maintain a general database for these resources, since we curate each set tailored to the writer in the program.
Is the acceptance process selective?
In a way; we only have 5 slots open per cycle. But since it is not based on past writing or work, acceptance depends completely upon your passion and interest. Apply away, and you will know!
Will this help me get published?
The program is designed to help you improve your craft, tune your voice and vision, and most importantly, meet the editorial standards in publishing. In the decade long history of the program, we have seen every writer getting published after the mentorship.
Can I enrol and write even if I have only a few books, or none at all?
Yes, if you have an interest in storytelling and writing. The medium you work on in your career eventually could range from OTT to film, literary magazines to publishing houses. Come, become a storyteller with us.
