06 Jan 2021

What is Writing Coaching? Become the Best Writer You Can Be


What is writing coaching and how does it help?What is writing coaching?

What is writing coaching and how can it help you become a better writer?

Sometimes it’s tough being a writer. It seems like there are so many moving pieces to writing a good short story or novel.

It can be terribly confusing, even to experience writers.

Skills That Writers Need

What are some of the skills you need to write and sell a novel or story? You must understand and be able to apply the spelling, grammar and style of your language.

  • You need to understand how to create a plot and story arc.
  • You must understand how character arcs work and successfully write them for your characters.
  • You need to know the difference between show and tell and understand when to use one or the other.
  • You have to understand how to create backgrounds for your characters – their upbringing, traits, abilities, schooling, history, and so forth.
  • You’ll also need to understand world building and how much is enough.
  • You need to understand editing.
  • You need to know how to create good, strong dialogue.
  • You must understand the importance of the opening paragraph, page, and chapter.
  • You also need to understand how to create subplots and merge them into your main plot.
  • When you are editing, you need to know what to throw away and what to keep.
  • You need to know how to do basic outlining.
  • You need to know how to find and accept critique of your work.
  • You need to know the difference between active and passive voice and when to use each one.
  • You need to understand the quirks and specifics of the genre of your story or novel.
  • You need to understand your audience what they are looking for from your novel.
  • You need to understand how to put things together to create a coherent story that entertains and grips your audience.

These are just a few of the things that you must know in order to write a great story or novel. That doesn’t even begin to get into marketing, promoting, author platforms, publishing and dozens of other things.

It’s enough to boggle the mind.

On top of that, there are hundreds upon hundreds of classes available. You’ll find these anywhere from your local community college all the way to expensive courses on the Internet. How do you pick one that will work for you and guide you as you write?

You’ll also find thousands of books, training courses and other ways to learn everything or specific parts of the skills of writing.
How do you sort through all of this, focus on what’s important, and get that novel that’s been stuck in your head written?

That’s where a writing coaching enters the picture. But what is writing coaching?

Hire a writing coach!

So, what is writing coaching? A writing coach works with you one-on-one to help you get answers to the specific questions and problems you want to resolve.

You get charged by the hour, and usually pay in blocks of a few hours in advance.

A writing coach is an invaluable resource, helping you exactly and only where you need help.

How does it work? The coach will want you to schedule a short, free consultation to find out more about you, your novel and what you want to achieve. They will describe how the service works and what you’ll get of it.

If you want to proceed, you’ll be asked to pay for a block of hours – anywhere from 5 to 20, depending on your needs. Once you pay the invoice, the time will be scheduled.

At the time of your first appointment, the writing coach will ask questions to find out more about your novel, your writing skills, what you need help with, and so on. From there, a lesson plan will be proposed to help you with those areas. This discussion can take anywhere from just a few minutes to the whole hour.

After that, the coach will help you work through whatever needs to be addressed. You might get “homework” assignments between appointments, but they will generally be simple and to-the-point.

This continues until done. When the block of hours is used up, you can either stop or purchase another block.

The advantage is you can get highly focused advice and help on exactly what’s bugging you.

Think about it.

Do you want to struggle along with problem after problem?

Or do you want some focused help to address those issues to help you get over the hump and become a better writer?

Sign up with a writing coach today.

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Scott WB Woods

Do you offer this service? Or have links to people that do?

Would love your thoughts, please comment.x