I'm passionate about helping people plan their novels in a way that’s organic and matched to who they are.
Of course it's tough to know your process if you’ve never written a novel.
I think my method -- more like a roadmap -- offers a great way to get moving.
I recognize that the roadmap I teach is not for plotters, but it is for people who aren’t really sure what kind of writer they are and want to explore their own process.
It's also for people who are stuck in the middle of their first draft and don’t know how to get unstuck; or for people who have written an entire first draft and know there’s something wrong with it and need to diagnose it.
Seven years ago I created the Plan Your Novel class to run in October so that people could take advantage of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
Now that I have run this class for six years I’m not really sure the world needs it anymore, as enrollment has been low for the last year.
So here’s my question to you: What do you really need?
Do you need me to teach you anything? It may be that my business is totally changing toward helping people who’ve already written a novel and who need help editing it.
That’s what I’ve successfully been doing in my group coaching program now for the last eight years. And it seems to be working well.
People like the small group, the guided curriculum when they need it, and the ability to have their work critiqued in a small group.
Some people sign up for the premium levels where I work with them one-on-one doing coaching and developmental edits to help them learn how to be better editors of their own novels.
I have a lot of passion for this process.
I think the way we actually learn how to be better writers is -- one -- by writing; two -- editing our own work; and -- three -- perhaps controversial -- having better writers re-work some of our writing to show us better dialogue, pacing, and character development.
We don’t learn how to be writers by thinking about it, reading great books about it, or watching a teacher teach us about it.
We actually learn how to write by doing it and by getting feedback on our work.
Then you think hard about that feedback and decide how to make your story better.
At the end of the day what does this mean: "make your story better"?
For me, it means creating a seamless, compelling, emotional experience for the reader who gets what they came for.
To write a good novel, you need to know what readers read for, what the expectations of your genre are, and what is it that you are trying to create for your reader every single step of the way.
Yes, craft is important. We can learn craft.
Every word matters; every sentence matters. Every paragraph matters; every scene matters. Of course every chapter matters.
Your whole book matters. The work happens on a macro story level and also on a word-by-word level.
I am passionate about helping writers create this holistic holographic emotional experience for their readers.
And how we do that? That’s the work. That’s the work I’m involved in every day as a writer of my own novels. That is the work I do with my students day in and day out.
If you’d like to engage with me so that you can be a better writer, so that you can create a compelling experience for your readers that makes them stay up until the night reading your book, and that makes them want to read your next book, then connect with me.
Let's see what we can do together. I am passionate about this creative process of creating story and of writing, editing, and publishing novels.
As much as I have other interests, like film, writing screenplays, possibly being a show runner on my own material, my focus is 100% on my fiction, and 100% on helping other writers -- obviously not at the same time. LOL
I really love teaching live in a classroom or workshop, in front of a room, but that’s not available to me right now.
So I’m casting about for how the rest of my year might look, and how I might serve you, because I know how I will be serving myself. I will be working on my novels.
I also know that if there’s no demand for my services or my expertise or my offerings, my business will fold, or change, or be something else. I’m actually totally fine with that.
And I also know that I can help people. And I want to do that. I want to feel useful in this life. And I want to help you bring your amazing stories to life.
That’s what I want for myself, and that’s what I want for you. If that is your dream too.
So if you’d like, reach back to me and let me know how things are going. Let me know what you need. I’m here to support you.
Whether or not I am the one who is your teacher ultimately really doesn’t matter to me.
My deep goal is that you feel supported; you feel resourceful; and that you do your creative work.
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