Why do writers need coaches?
Let’s start with a few questions that will allow you to answer that for yourself:
Are you tired of breaking promises to yourself?
Are you struggling to create a writing lifestyle that works for you, that keeps your bum in the chair, and gets you the flow you need to reach your writing goals?
Are you worried that your writing dreams will never come true because you’re standing in the way?
If you answered yes to any of the above, that’s why mentorship can be such a valuable support to your writing practice.
:: This is what wellness for writers looks like ::
Discovering your process and learning tools to make it work for you. So many writers I work with are frustrated because they don’t think they have a process. They’ve been trying everyone else’s on for size and it’s not working. Through my specialized You Have A Process work, we’ll discover your process that you are already using and begin working with specific tools to amplify the aspects of your creative approach that works and revise those that don’t. This is, hands down, the most important work we can do together other than getting you on a mindfulness program.
Mindfulness for Writers: As a mindfulness practitioner and certified teacher, my job is to help you awaken to your life and express that waking up into words. Through beginning or supporting a current mindfulness practice, we’ll devise a way to bring more presence into your life with tools that work for you. A combination of meditation and mindfulness work both on and off the page. This powerful tool has utterly transformed my creative life. I put my own hard-earned lessons to good use in our work together, whether its through individual coaching, a manuscript critique, or a course.
A writing practice you can depend on. In our work together, we’ll take a holistic look at your current writing practice, your goals, your lifestyle, what gets you flowing, and any specific issues that are holding you back. Then we’ll architect a writing life that works for YOU, your life, and your process. Writing isn’t one size fits all. I’ll act as a supportive and trusted guide who will help you get the clarity you need and create boundaries around your creativity.
Creative flow. I help my clients figure out what helps them flow and what turns the taps off. Together, we look at ways to structure their writing life so they can have maximum flow. Through various tools and resources, including mindfulness and meditation, we create the best possible conditions for your words to surge out of you.
Heart-centered Goal-Setting From The Inside Out: My writers and I use various and playful means to figure out where they are and where they want to go. We get specific. Then, we create an action plan for reaching those goals - one that is realistic and honest, with heart at its center.
A Resilient Mindset. Together, we help you develop a healthy relationship to your Inner Critic, Rejection, Failure, Self-Doubt, Uncertainty, and Comparison. More than anything else, my writers struggle with these wee invisible beasties that keep them from the page or accessing the heart of their stories. Through various modalities and exercises, we bust through creative blocks and unhelpful thought and story patterns that are holding you back. We heal wounds and we build an arsenal of tools that will support you for your whole writing life as you navigate the ups and downs of the writer’s life.
Alignment. You have to do some pretty deep inner work to have your writing practice and the others areas of your life in alignment. We look at how to keep the creative well filled, how to set healthy boundaries around your creativity with yourself and those in your life. How to have a healthy relationship to publishing. How to balance your responsibilities (family, day job, etc.) with your creative goals. Again, it’s all about mindset and having the right tools on hand for the times when you get blown off course.
Mentorship. Writing is an apprenticeship craft. We need mentors for the actual work and for the writer’s life. People who’ve been in the trenches, who’ve put in the time, who’ve gained some wisdom. As a published author with Big 5 publishers, over a decade of experience, and an MFA in Writing, I’ve got a lot to share. But my main goal here is to give you lifelong tools that support your own inner wisdom so that you can become your best coach in the writer’s seat.
I work with writers to help them plot their dreams and slay their dragons so that they can lead full-bodied creative lives that give them the courage, determination, and strategy to bring their words into the world.
