Good Practice Guide

Many writer development programmes are run each year by a range of providers, and we’d like to help ensure that future programmes are inclusive and well considered.

We know the impact that these programmes can have on writers when they are well designed and achieve the removal of barriers.

We’d like to help everyone who produces programmes to design them well, and to enable this we are creating a Good Practice Guide exploring how to plan, design and deliver inclusive writer development programmes that consider barriers for people from working class and other traditionally underrepresented backgrounds and lived experiences.

We are recruiting freelance consultants and writers to help with the co-creation of the guide, and we are conducting a research survey with Northumbria University to hear writers’ perspectives of being on writer development programmes.

We are recruiting freelance consultants and writers to help co-author the Good Practice Guide.

We would like to work with the following:

• Creative Consultants with knowledge of a range of lived experiences to plan and deliver a consultation meeting with three participant writers to help guide the writing of the Good Practice Guide. Consultants will be paid for 3.5 day’s work between December and March 2025. The daily rate is £500.
• Writers of all ages and at different stages of development to participate in groups sessions that explore what constitutes good practice in writer development. You will be asked to prepare for and participate in an online workshop in December 2024. The rate for this is £250.

To apply, we will ask you to send us an email describing your skills and experience, and why you want to participate in this project.

Find out more and apply on our Vacancies page. Deadline Wednesday 27 November, 5pm.

If you have experience participating in a writer development programme, we'd love to hear from you in our survey.

We are conducting research with Northumbria University to learn about writers’ experiences on writer development programmes. This research will help in supporting the creation of the Good Practice Guide.

If you have experience participating in a writer development programme, we’d be grateful if you could fill out our survey. The survey will ask about your experiences on the programme, and your broader perspectives towards barriers and accessibility. It should take around 20 minutes to complete.

You don’t need to name the programme, and you won’t be named in the toolkit or any outputs. For more information on how your responses will be used, please ensure you read the consent form and participation information sheet carefully.

You can fill out the survey here. The survey is open until Friday 3rd January 2025.