Now, as part of my kick up the arse for 2011, I've looked into creative writing mentoring at Strathclyde University.

Sounds like a cracking idea. You get feedback on your work and guidance on how to hone your craft. I'm always slightly wary of things like this though. On the basis the mentor probably isn't going to be J K Rowling, what credentials do they have to critique my work. Furthermore, will my submission end up being morphed (even if only slightly) into the style of the mentor.

But I'm trying to make a more positive start to the New Year so I investigated further ... until I got this far;

Package 4
80,000 words in up to four submissions (to include an initial 30 minute set-up
phone call and written feedback on each submission) = £675

This is in addition to the £50 I would need to pay for the appraisal of my initial submission to see whether or not I'm worthy of a mentor. Oh, and if I write over 80,000 (which is likely, Worlds Apart was circa 110,000 before editing) I'll be charged £35/hour for any additional words of wisdom.

Needless to say, I'm not planning on signing up for package 4.