Coaching Writers
Presenters: Waverly Fitzgerald, Tamara Sellman, and Wendy Call (members)
Day of Meeting: May 11, 2009
Coaching vs. Editing
Coaching sees writing as more than just putting words on a page.
Some coaching is about creating habits (cover letters, time management, marketing, etc.).
Coaching spends more time with the author rather than the manuscript.
Process (coaching) vs. product (editing)
Coaching = helping a blocked writer get to the next page
Coaching’s four components: creative writer teacher, task master (provide structure to a writer), cheerleader (help people gain a sense of possibility), mentor (80% of writers underestimate abilities, a mentor is a reality check for a writer).
Transition to Becoming a Coach
Waverly was a teacher and was asked by students to evaluate their manuscripts. She found herself frustrated by structural flaws that kept the novels from working. She feels more successful working with nonfiction authors than with novelists.
Tamara started a magical realist online magazine and discovered that there’s creative writing not captured in a set genre. She was approached by friends to look at their manuscripts and started coaching (especially noncommercial writers). She created a competitive coaching competition for magical realism authors. Tamara is currently taking a coaching certification class to develop the counselor side of coaching.
Wendy has an MFA in creative writing and used to work at Hugo House as a writing coach. She started coaching while editing and began evaluating feedback as an author and applied that to coaching Hugo House authors who were not used to being edited. She feels most successful working with nonfiction authors. Coaching is what you do before the author thinks about the reader.
Coaching Structures
Tamara requires her clients to prepay for a minimum of 3 months of coaching because she finds they’re more likely to follow through. She recommends people volunteer when starting out as a writing coach to see if coaching is a good professional choice. All of her coaching is done online. She likes helping authors complete projects and works on retainer after initial coaching is complete. She relies on of word-of-mouth advertising.
Waverly finds that after the initial consultation, 80% of people do not become clients (she turns them down). She gives assignments and reviews the author’s progress. Waverly meets with clients as they need her.
Wendy varies her coaching structure based on the client’s needs. She tends to work with people on time-limited projects (4-12 months). She’s found that:
85% of her clients are female
60% are working on manuscripts
90% work on nonfiction most of the time
15% go into an MFA program
20% are fulltime authors
60% get some income from writing
80% are in the Seattle area
Time Management for Coaches
Wendy asks for two weeks' notice so she can be aware of upcoming projects.
Waverly looks at writing only during her client appointments.
Tamara has IM conversations on Wednesday nights only and sends out “nudge” emails on Sunday mornings.
Setting Up Expectations with Authors
As a coach, give feedback on the big picture.
Put your red pen away.
Ask the author what he/she wants at the beginning of the project during the initial consultation.
Focus on the person, not the manuscript.
Provide an agreement letter that is co-created with the client and lists the expectations.
Red Flags/Preliminary Questions
Be aware of people who don’t have a genre or aim.
Look at the quality of the writing – might be better to suggest a class to cultivate writing skills.
Ask what the author is reading.
Ask the author about his/her strengths and weaknesses.
Ask if the author has good habits (yoga, gym, etc.).
Ask if the author has a job, family, etc. (especially important for time management clients).
Ask what kind of feedback author wants and how he/she takes feedback.
Be wary of clients who tell the coach what to do.
Lessons Learned
Patience
Inspiration/motivation
How to face one's own excuses
It is important to catch the author doing things right.
Notetaker: Meredith Olson
Location: Hugo House