Four Reasons to Work With a Book Coach
So, how’s your novel coming along?
(Choose one.)
a. Perfect! Everything I write sings! The plot is hole-free and makes perfect sense even though I did zero planning. Oh, and my main character’s arc is so solid it could bear the weight of a baby elephant.
b. Some good days, some bad days. But I’m on track to finish by the year 2023! As long as I don’t run into any plot holes, add or subtract any characters, or have any sudden epiphanies about my story.
c. What novel? I gave up and took up spelunking instead.
d. Well, not so great. I love my story, but I have a lot of questions. Like, is my main character’s arc believable? Is this story holding together? Am I missing plot holes? Where should I start it? What about the ending? And I think my middle is sagging too—is there a plot-tuck for that?
If you answered A, move along, there’s nothing to see here.
If you answer B, C, or D, here’s why you might want a book coach:
You are tired of writing your novel and you want to be done already. It feels like at this rate you will still be writing this same story when you’re seventy. You’d hoped to have at least two books written by then, but you can’t seem to get this one done. Sure, some of it’s the limited amount of time you have to write, but more of it is the time it takes chasing your tale (haha! Get it? First it was a typo, but now it’s a pun), deleting precious words, and starting over from scratch (again).
You like writing but you get lonely. No one else is as excited about your story as you are. No one else wants to debate the finer points of your story and do ten rounds of “What if my main character’s misbelief is ACTUALLY (fill-in-the-blank)?!”
You could really use some accountability. A reason to get up at five a.m. and write the words. A reason to delay your precious child-free Netflix time for an extra thirty minutes. A deadline that will make you get the writing done consistently. (Because you’re great at getting it done inconsistently—that part you’ve mastered. But it would be nice to make some steady progress.)
Last, but not least, you aren’t terribly sure you know what you’re doing and those darn writing books won’t talk back. Have I picked the right aha! moment, Lisa Cron? Am I really connecting with my reader’s emotions in the right way, Donald Maass? Am I filling in the points on my two-tier outline right, Jennie Nash? It’s very hard to tell. Plus you know you’re blind to your story, partial like a loving parent toward their child. It’s not your fault—this story is yours, heart, soul, and crooked plot. But knowing that you’re blind is so NOT half the battle. You need to know what’s working, what isn’t, and how to fix.
If this sounds like you, here’s how book coaching can solve all your problems! (Er, writing problems.)
Book coaching gives you set deadlines, so you write consistently and make consistent progress. This increases the likelihood of finishing your novel before your kids graduate college.
Book coaches have super secret book coach goggles which they use to scout out what’s working in your book and what isn’t. Then they tell you how you can fix it. This means you spend (waste) less time writing in circles, deleting, and chewing your fingernails in self-doubt (which let’s face it, just eats into your writing time).
Book coaches will be your book’s biggest fan. We will ship* over your character’s love lives , swoon over those world building details, geek out over your phenomenal idea, and obsess over the story with you. We coach because we care.
*Look it up. You should know this because one day we will need to make so much fun of this word.
If book coaching sounds like something you want in your life (like, yesterday), you can click here to learn more.
Alright, now get off the internet and get back to writing.