Professionals. Educators. Academics. Creative Writers.

I help you turn great ideas into results with impact through clearer writing, sharper thinking, and more strategic use of language.

“Dr Susan Mandala has a gift for explaining the mysteries of writing.”

Chris Hodgson, Workshop Participant

Who I Work With

UK Universities & Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

High quality writing sits at the heart of everything you do. Choose from a range of workshops on these often overlooked skills: crafting arguments, mastering the literature, and analysing language.

Teaching grammar? Bogged down in terminology? Grades below target? Book Teaching Grammar for Writing and watch your students write with clarity, confidence, and voice.

Educators & The Education Sector

Public & Corporate Sectors

You’re a busy manager. You wanted a report with clear recommendations. You got a disorganised hash of activity. And now AI is here. What to do?

Creative Writers

Language. Want to harness even more of its power? You can, with linguistics. No need for prior knowledge - just jump in and kick-start your craft with this deliberate experiment in style.

Research Writers

Working on your literature review? Feeling stuck? Checklists and self-study videos not helping? Join me and turn that pile of notes into a carefully crafted case for your research question.

What I Offer

Every workplace is different, and training needs can vary from one place to place and project to project. Sometimes, you need more than a workshop. For my fully bespoke expert training solutions, from needs analysis and diagnosis to specialist course design, delivery, and follow-up, see my Consulting and Project Support Services

Consulting and Project Support

From the boardroom to the classroom and everything in between, I offer writing and language awareness workshops that help you turn great ideas into results with impact, whether you’re writing a professional report, a dissertation literature review, a piece of prose fiction or that first university essay.

Writing & Language Awareness Workshops

On-Line Courses

If you learn best working at your own pace and in your own time, my new range of online, self-study courses is for you.

These courses – featuring writing well at university, doing your literature review, and analysing language data in social research – are currently under development, so watch this space for further details.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. You can register your interest by emailing me and answering these three questions.

Qualitative Researchers & Research Teams

As a qualitative researcher, representing the experiences of your participants is key. But themes and quotes only go so far. Join me and learn how to get more from your language data.

  • “Fantastic and highly informative workshop that raised a series of fundamentally important issues about AI and its impact on our ways of life”

    Dr. Thomas Rodgers, Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology.

  • “I can highly recommend Susan and what she can do around working with writing and thinking. From academic writing and developing literature reviews to public sector organisations that need to think more about how they write and communicate, Susan’s consultancy will be transformative.”

    Iain Rowan, Academic Registrar

  • “It was a joy to see Susan working with our students. Her energy was infectious and her clear links between forming and evidencing argument will really elevate their academic writing moving forward”

    Kim Lindsey, Curriculum Manager | Programme Lead of English Literature at Sunderland College

  • “Susan’s workshop gave me a new understanding of the way in which writing is structured — highly recommended!

    Peter Hayes, PhD

  • "This in-depth look at this critical (no pun intended) part of the early doctoral process resulted in some light-bulb moments for me (and I'm fairly sure others in the group). The approachable, informal delivery meant that we moved from basic concepts to tackling review ourselves without a bump in the road, and Susan was constantly guiding and provoking the group to take us further. An invaluable part of the induction, and something all universities ought to be doing.”

    lain Rowan, Academic Registrar

  • “Susan is a great teacher and this clear and well-structured workshop really helped to give me the confidence to move forward with my research”

    Jane Pickthall

  • “A really informative session that really makes me aware of what I write about our young people”

    Helen Westgarth

  • “It was great to have such productive discussions about how we write reports. It’s great to reflect on practice. Susan sparked conversation and kept everyone involved. Time passed quickly!”

    Sue Wilson

  • “I can’t think of any professional within education/social care that wouldn’t benefit from these sessions”

    Stef Turnbull

  • “An excellent workshop which really makes you consider the power of words and your responsibility to get it right for our children and young people”

    Satisfied workshop participant.

  • “Susan’s knowledge of linguistics and the role of language in the education world made us consider the significance of the words we use on the children we work with”

    Jane Pickthall, Head of the Virtual School and Integrated Services Manager, North Tyneside Council

  • “Useful food for thought — provoked excellent discussion amongst our team and gave us a chance to cast a critical eye over our work.”

    Satisfied workshop participant

  • “I used Susan’s work in a lot of my MA assignments, and have met her a few times at a local writing group. She’s great and her knowledge works! It’s refreshing to see an academic speak about genre writing and not focus on lithic. You should think about taking advantage of her knowledge and experience.”

    Stephen McGowan, Creative Writer and Author

  • “A brilliant masterclass covering the linguistic and technical aspects of character and conversation.”

    Nicholas Robinson, Writer

  • “Susan’s sessions are always a highlight of my writing calendar. They are so well-structured, well-researched and entertaining.”

    Helen Wilco, King Ink CIC

  • “Susan brings real clarity and insight to the use of language data in social research. Her workshops are thoughtfully designed and open up valuable ways of approaching qualitative material”

    Dr Sarah Lonbay, Professor of Social Sciences and Social Care

  • “I was fortunate to take part in Susan’s ‘How to Really Write Your Literature Review’ workshop recently. As someone new to research, I really needed some support to help me find, navigate and extrapolate the right information from all the research materials available. I was feeling overwhelmed and was reluctant to get started without a system to organise all the information I wanted to gather. Susan’s workshop was just what I needed.”

    Jane Pickthall