Have you ever reached a point in your writing where you thought you might need a writing coach’s help? Have you taken this a step further and googled how a writing coach can help you?
Writing coaches help writers throughout the writing process. They can help if you need to talk about your story idea and get feedback. They can help if you need help with character development, setting, plot, message, or timeline. They can also help if you need someone in your corner to reassure you that you’re on the right track. The kind of help they provide is as individual as the client.
Writing coaches provide feedback and suggestions,. They can suggest groups, websites, and help clients network. They can help with marketing strategies, and they can help draft a marketing plan.
Writing coaches aren’t one size fits all. At least I’m not. I like to get to know my client, talk about how I can help them, talk about what kind of help they need, and discuss the coaching process with them. My clients and I decide how we we’ll meet, how often we’ll meet, and what we’ll accomplish in the meetings.
As far as meeting with clients, coaching doesn’t have to happen face-to-face. It can take place over Zoom, by email, or by phone. It can be scheduled as a weekly event, a biweekly event, or a monthly event. It all depends on the client.
We discuss the length of each meeting. It’s a good idea not to overwhelm clients, so when meeting with them I schedule thirty minutes for each session. (This can be modified based on the number of meetings a month.) During sessions, we talk about their successes, failures, concerns, and what they’ve accomplished.
I answer client questions, provide suggestions, and talk about writing goals. Based on the answers I receive, I give homework that they complete and return before their next coaching session where we spend time discussing their answer.
The homework assignment may consist of visiting the library to become comfortable with their audience, become familiar with books that have been written in their genre, research writing groups in their area, or to work on developing a character. It may also involve writing a few pages of the manuscript, looking at illustrations if they’re writing a children’s picture book, or research if they’re thinking about and ready for marketing, websites, and social media. The assignments are as varied as the client.
And just as writing coaches are not the same, their fees also differ, It all depends on the client and their goals. Sometimes I charge clients an hourly fee based on their needs, or I’ll charge a project fee if the project is complicated and the client’s needs are more involved than what we can accomplish in a few meetings.
If you have questions or would like to continue this conversation, contact me at www.morningstareditingllc.com/ and let’s talk about how I can help you. I look forward to hearing from you.