I guess you could say I’ve been writing a memoir for years now, ever since some friends and I started a monthly writing group and chose a “how to write a memoir” as a guide. (Oddly, none of us was actually planning to write a memoir; we just wanted to read the book.)¹ Sometimes I read the scraps and weep at their poignancy. Yet I’ve only added to them in a desultory, almost random manner, with no discernible method or plan. I’d like to develop and organize and polish them and ultimately turn them into a real live memoir, but that feels so daunting that I probably, honestly, won’t.

Except—until—today, I realized something: I can hire a writing coach to help.

Since I am a writing coach, this may seem either obvious or strange, depending on how you look at it. My advantage is that I know exactly what a good writing coach can do and how beneficial they are even for seasoned writers. Seriously, I’m jazzed.

I also realized that not everyone knows what a writing coach does. So here goes:

A writing coach…

• Climbs into the world of your manuscript with you, Minecraft-style. We know it as intimately as you do–and therefore can talk about it with you on a level impossible for other people. But we also hold a neutral, objective viewpoint, from which we can point out patterns and themes (both “good” and “bad”) that you may be blind to, allowing you to explore your story on a more profound level than you can do alone.
  
• Holds you accountable. We make sure you’re “turning in” pages on time and hitting your own goals and deadlines so you don’t fall behind or put off writing into the eternal “someday.”
  
• Gives your project some external structure for you to work within. For example, you and I might co-design and follow a 3-month timeline with weekly meetings, during which you send a chapter a week for workshopping. Basically, it’s a personal MFA program, but without petty colleagues and a decade of debt; and it’s entirely customizable based on what you want, need, and are capable of.
  
• Gives you space for you to address your struggles, challenges, and fears around the writing process, and can help you work through them in creative and unexpected ways.
  
• Helps you get unstuck when you get the dreaded writer’s block.
  
• Guides your manuscript toward the vision you have for it. If that involves publishing (traditional or self), we can help you navigate that process.
  
• Cheers you on (but not in a vapid way) when you need encouragement.
  
• If they’re a ghostwriter too (I am), we can pinch-hit—i.e., step in and draft a scene, either to demonstrate another option for plot or style, or to lighten your workload, and/or to help you get started on a tricky scene.

Maybe you need accountability and structure. Or maybe you just a few sessions to brainstorm and muck around in your ideas with someone.

Writing coaches can be everything from sounding boards to teachers to writing buddies to editors.

Working with one can breathe life back into a stagnant project or take an active project to the next level. With the right person, it’ll be a huge investment in your project—and it’ll be enjoyable, too.

If you could use some support like that, schedule a free half-hour call with me and we’ll chat about how I can help you bring your book to life.

^[1]The book was Your Life As Story by Tristine Rainer and it’s amazing.