5/11: coaching writers

Northwest Editors Guild Meeting, May 11, 2009

Writing Coach Panel: Waverly Fitzgerald, Tamara Sellman, and Wendy Call

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 non-fiction authors than 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 non-commercial 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 non-fiction authors. Coaching is what you do before the author thinks about the reader.

Coaching Structures

Tamara requires her clients to pre-pay 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% of her clients are working on manuscripts

90% of her clients work on non-fiction most of the time

15% of her clients go into an MFA program

20% of her clients are full-time authors

60% of her clients get some income from writing

80% of her clients are in the Seattle area

Time Management for Coaches

	Wendy asks for 2 weeks notice so she can be aware of upcoming projects
	Waverly only looks at writing during her client appointments
	Tamara has IM conversations on Wednesday nights only and sends out “nudge” e-mails 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

--notes by Meredith Olson

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