Dear sweetheart, we’re finished

Simone was not her real name, and Étienne was not mine. We used our speaking voices to recite verb forms along with our classmates in French 101, but beneath our recitations, Simone whispered her very real and desperate dilemma—She needed to break up with her boyfriend, and she needed me to help her write the break-up letter. The year was 1988, and this was my first job as a writing coach.

Before I ever coached another writer, I was only a writer, coaching myself. In pursuing my own path to publishing, I have often searched for good help, and rarely found it. I was never looking for a smarty-pants with a red pen. What I really needed was to feel seen. When those rare moments came along, seeds of possibility seemed to take root.

What do you want to tell? Whether fiction, non-fiction, work, play or autobiography, don’t shoulder the work alone.

Dear universe, thank you

I was on my way to a college short story workshop one day, when I bumped into the professor. He was so joyous he nearly shook me by both arms. He had read my story and liked it. He praised it in front of the class. It hardly mattered that his take on the story was different than my own. He walked through a door I had opened, and had been changed. The world began to open. I was a writer, after all.

But these moments can be few and far between. Writerly solitude is a lonely and debilitating place. My survival mechanisms included becoming my own snippy boss, exasperated secretary, hard-luck agent, and Editor Scissorhands, ruthless to a fault. But, more importantly, I had to become my own most benevolent encourager. Now I’m putting my battle scars and bootstrap ballyhoo to work by nurturing other writers. Yes, with the help of a compatriot, you can navigate the blocks, distractions, gatekeepers and lies—which don’t quit, by the way.

My specialty is elevator pitches. Did you know that books/movies have been sold on elevator pitch alone?

Dear left turns, welcome

I started as a newspaper reporter and became an editor, before transitioning to magazines and freelance work, writing plenty of features, articles, reports, interviews, and reviews along the way. I’ve spent time as a sloganeering ad writer, an SEO specialist, a social media strategist, a ghost writer, a book editor and a publicist. I’m a playwright for stage and screen, and have penned original music and lyrics for film scores. I’ve published more than 50 short stories in magazines and anthologies. I am a Best American author.

I have an undergraduate degree in English and Creative Writing, and a masters degree in Interdisciplinary Theology. I can talk craft and query letters, but I also take special interest in connecting writers to meaning, motivation, and the big picture.

I was surprised to realize I have been coaching writers all along—newcomers, novelists, biographers, essayists, entrepreneurs, screenwriters. I just thought I was being a good friend, turning experience into curiosity and advice. It took other writers telling me what my coaching had meant to them to consider that there are likely others who would benefit from fresh eyes, solid direction, and an energy boost for their pet project, corporate pitch, or hard-and-fast deadline.

A writing coach should be a keen observer, able to draw out your unique voice, fight for your vision, offer the spark you need, hold you to any deadlines, and get out of the way.

Writer, what do you want to tell?