We were both acquired (i.e. our books were purchased) by the same editor at the same (big five) publishing house for the same (very nice, thanks) advance.
We became fast friends and have since worked on several joint projects, attended many writing festivals together, and written many more books.
Both of us have been teaching and mentoring throughout our writing careers. Between us, we have worked for Curtis Brown Creative and have taught courses at City Lit, City Academy and Faber Writing Academy. We’ve run several workshops on various topics as well as genre-specific courses. Niki is currently a Royal Literary Fellow and Lauren has extensive knowledge writing for business.
The Story School is a pooling of our experience and knowledge. We believe that there’s no ‘correct’ way to write, but we do know that there are a few things that can help. Especially if you’re mad enough to leave common sense behind and embark upon a novel (we hope you are and that you’ll choose us to help you through).
On the page our writing is very similar, but we have wildly different methods of getting there, and both of us believe that every writer must find what works for them… which our courses, workshops and worksheets are designed to help you do.
Our resources are aimed at writers of all levels, and are tried and tested. We believe in quality not quantity, and initially we will be offering focused short courses.
We are not affiliated with anyone within the publishing industry, but you can expect to learn from our extensive knowledge, hear interviews with industry professionals, and join a book club with the author answering Q&As.
Our Courses
Take a look at our range of courses, designed to help you find your process, your style, and your story…
What our students say
At the start of the mentorship, I was nervous and unsure of myself, but I also knew that I needed objective advice. Niki combined positive encouragement with honest criticism when it was needed.
I began to enjoy and welcome feedback. I am now a better and more confident writer. If she thought I could phrase something better she said so, whilst also highlighting what was good. This was extremely helpful to me and will be invaluable when I go back to edit. I felt she had a commitment to my work and wanted me to succeed.
I honestly do not think I would have got so far with the novel I am writing without her.
When I compare the early part of the novel with what I produced later in the mentorship, I can see a marked improvement in the quality of my writing.
Niki is an excellent tutor. She has the ability to both show her empathy with a new writer whilst giving the useful feedback and guidance writers need. She knows how to be encouraging whilst also giving honest feedback.
I signed up to a course with a love of horror and no ideas on paper and came away with a full novel planned and a new sense of confidence in my writing that I’ve never had before!
Niki is a brilliant course leader and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I really recommend this course to any budding horror writer as you will learn so much about what makes a horror novel scary, how to plot to achieve maximum chills and receive extremely helpful feedback.
This course has been the highlight of my year!
Niki is a fabulous teacher; I learned a lot about writing and what it takes to be a writer. Learning about writing a plot, inciting incidents, the characters, different genres and the twenty minute writing sprints were the best!
I want to say an enormous thank you for your brilliant workshop yesterday – for all the preparation you put in, the excellent delivery and sharing with us all your wisdom, knowledge and experience.
I just wanted to say another thank you again for our tutorial yesterday, the report that you wrote and the advice and guidance that you have provided.
You’ve really made such a big difference to my confidence in my writing and how I am viewing my book as a whole.
The suggestions and advice that you have given me will help me to get it done and not fear the process as much.