Book Coaching: Asking for Help

Photo by Jeff Sheldonon Unsplash

The biggest mistake I see writers make when it comes to book coaching is this: they wait too long to get started. They hem and haw, go back and forth on the decision and some even try to go at it alone until ultimately they come to us with the same problem: I need help.

The single most important piece of advice I can give to writers about book coaching is to start now. Don’t wait. Don’t spend weeks, months or years waiting until it’s the “right time.” Don’t get frustrated with your process (or lack thereof) and do nothing. Don’t just stand there. Do something about it.

I can give “tough love” about this because I’m guilty of it myself. I waited too long. Wasted precious time getting frustrated with my own process and lack of progress. The great thing about coaching, too, is that there is no “wrong” time (except not at all…) in the book writing process to get a coach. Here are the most common stages I see writers come to us at Author Accelerator:

1. At the beginning — a writer has a great idea but has no ideahow to write forward. Sometimes this is a beginning writer or sometimes it’s a veteran writer branching out to a new genre (this is actually my experience which I’ll talk about in a later post). Regardless, a good book coach will start a project plan to get you on the right track and moving forward.
2. Stuck in the middle — a writer who has a half completed manuscript but can’t seem to finish or write forward. To be honest, this is what I see most of all. Writers who have begun the process but can’t get past that damn saggy middle. A writer at this stage is usually the most skeptical of coaching, too, so it’s really fun when a writer and their coach start working together and the progress becomes magic. I’ve seen many a writer transform their saggy middle to a toned midsection and finish their manuscript with confidence. It’s quite glorious to see.
3. Pesky Revisions — a writer who has a finished manuscript and knows something is wrong but doesn’t know exactly what is wrong or how to fix it. These writers often discover book coaching too late in the game to have started with their idea, but they’re smart enough to realize that they can’t fix what’s wrong on their own.
4. Deep Diving into the process — a writer who has written a few books, who understands the concepts of drafting, revising, polishing, etc but wants to learn to become a betterand faster writer. I have to admit — this is the “unicorn” of writers we get into the program. But it’s not unheard of. These writers are often those who come from MFA or academic backgrounds and have “been around the block” but want the guidance, support and education from a book coach to help them improve on their craft and the process of writing. The beautiful thing about coaching is that it’s customized to the writer.So maybe, like me, you struggle with getting the words on the page consistently. Maybe you need some help with accountability. Or perhaps, you can’t quite the hang of first person present tense and it’s a deep desire for you to master it. It sounds silly to some writers, but really, it’s admiring to see a writer put forth so much time, energy and perseverance in their craft. And in case no one has ever told you — asking for help does not make anyone a bad writer. Everyoneneeds help. Even those writers who don’t believe they do.

I truly wish I had found my book coach about ten books ago. I would have saved myself time, money and frustration. I would have grown my skills by leaps and bound and become a better writer much sooner. But you know what? It’s never too late to make a change. It’s never too late to ask for the help you need. I hope if book coaching is something you want to do, you don’t wait. Like Nike says — just do it.

Originally published at medium.com on October 31, 2017.