Working with a book coach is a very different experience from an editor. An editor typically takes a completed story from an author, reviews it and suggests changes to be made to it. A book coach, however, periodically reviews pages from their authors and then meets with them to work on building skills, brainstorm, get a second opinion, keep them accountable for meeting their writing goals, etc.
Book coaching, sometimes called book doctoring, is a much more flexible format to work on your authorial priorities. Coaches act in partnership with their authors to help meet literary goals such as finishing a first draft of a novel or developing a primary character.
A Scene Isn’t Working
Sometimes you have a perfect image in your head of how a scene will play out and it comes out beautifully. Sometimes when you’re writing you know where you’re starting and where you need to go, but the words aren’t quite falling into place. A book coach will have an included word count to review in advance before your session, which you can use to have them read the existing scene and up to a few surrounding it for context. Then you can spend your book coaching session coming up with a strategy to fix it either as a play by play or just some generalized scenarios.
You’re Stuck Behind Creative Roadblocks
Have you been suffering from writer’s block? Or maybe you hate everything you put on the page. A book coach can work with you on exercises and practices to help ease that tension. I’ve even had an author who would have three new projects he would work on before sitting down for the work on his piece close to its publishing date. Some coaches say writer’s block isn’t real, but the reality of it is that you may feel unable to put words on a page, and we can break through that barrier.
Making Edits Seems Daunting
Maybe you feel like a professional writer with a lot of good ideas on how to get your story on the page, but editing is a whole other beast. A book coach can teach you self-editing strategies to take your work to the next level or help you interpret your editor’s notes in a way that makes sense for the characters you know so well. Editing is a very separate skill from writing, and understanding one does not make you great at the other. You’ll need to flex that muscle, and a book coach and work with you through exercises and go through your own work side by side to help you build them up.
You Want to Build Better Writing Habits
Book coaches are great accountability partners. If you’re having a hard time finding space in your day to meet your daily word count goals, they can help you make it a priority. If you find yourself wincing every time you write down a sentence and have to fight the urge to edit it immediately, they can with some writing exercises. If you need a writing plan to meet your goals month to month, they can help you with strategizing, plan making, and holding you to it. A book coach wants to see you finish your manuscript as much as you do.
You Need Some One-on-One Education
There is so much you can learn from free content online these days. I certainly use blogs and videos to brush up on old skills I haven’t used in a while. Sometimes, they don’t quite cut it, though. They may give you some ideas on how to get started, but their examples don’t line up cleanly with your particular novel. It’s hard to know what is gold and what you should ignore. Working with a book coach looks similarly to working with a tutor. You’ll get individualized attention and examples directly applicable to your book in progress.
You Probably Don’t Need a Book Coach If…
You Have a First Draft That’s Ready to Move Forward – Having a completed draft that you’re happy with, even if it still needs some changes, is a good sign that you’re ready for a developmental edit. A book coach is great for working on pieces of a draft, but an editorial letter gives you feedback on the work as a whole.
You’re Not Ready for a Professional Critique – If you feel yourself needing to explain too much that hasn’t been written yet or feel personally attacked when someone disagrees with you about your work, it’s probably not the right time yet for a book coach. Keep working, you’ll find the space when you’re ready for input from others!
You’re Looking for a Co-Author – Book coaches will help you form story structure, build realistic dialog, consider characterization, and even help with word choice, but they will not be doing the writing for you. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Find yourself a ghost writer.
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