1:1 Writing Coaching

Writing coaching is intended to help you develop effective strategies and workarounds to get you unstuck and get you writing. As you develop new strategies, writing coaching is also intended to help you move from knowing what to do, to actually doing what you know.

Writing coaching may be for you if:

You have a specific writing project you need to get written and out the door
Your deadline is at least 2 weeks out (or your project is under 1,000 words)
You’re already fairly proficient at writing, and you know what you want to say. You just have trouble with the transfer from thinking and talking to actually writing.
You’re ready to focus on your processes and strategies, not the words you’re using or even the ideas you’re expressing.
You’re ready for coaching and committed to the coaching process – i.e., you have the capacity to:
- Do lots of self-reflection and self-observation
- Show up to scheduled meetings, on time-ish, or let me know you can’t
- Try anything I suggest at least once
- Try to accomplish the work we agree you’ll do between sessions
- To reflect on what happened when you can’t do the work, and be ready to discuss and work with it at our next session
You’re committed to making changes in your writing life and process, possibly major changes, which may affect other parts of your life as well

Writing coaching with me may not be a good fit if:

You’re looking for a quick fix.
You need help with grammar or with foundational writing or research skills. Or editing or proofreading. I’ll help you review the content for logic, I can show you how to reduce the word count, but that’s about it.
You have complex trauma that is prone to being triggered when you begin to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Writing may sometimes trigger a trauma response. This can’t be resolved through writing coaching. I am not a therapist and I’m not trained in trauma, though I’m fairly trauma-aware. If you’re in therapy for trauma, please talk to your therapist before you talk to me.

What you get

A solid 60-90 minutes at a time: my undivided attention for you and your writing project
Strategies, tips, tricks and workarounds specific to your writing, your current writing project, and your circumstances
Unlimited between-session support by WhatsApp
1-1 body doubling, in 2-hour blocks, when needed, as schedules allow
After our formal engagement ends
- 8 weeks of support on WhatsApp
- 1-1 body doubling forever ($40/hr – bring a friend and split the fee)

WHAT TO EXPECT

What do we do in coaching sessions?

Schedule your work to meet your deadline
Structure your document so it’s clear and logical
Work through your thoughts until you can express them in writing, according to your specific learning styles and processing needs
Find strategies to help you, now and for future writing projects, to work with things that stand in the way of getting your work done, such as:
- Feeling stuck
- Can’t get started
- Can’t finish the last 20%
- Can’t find enough uninterrupted time to get anything meaningful done
- Too much research, not enough writing
- Not enough research, too much writing

What we don’t do

Therapy, counselling, trauma intervention
Life coaching except as it relates to your writing
Line editing, grammar, punctuation
Feedback or debate about your content — I (almost) never express an opinion about what you say or even how you say it

ADHD writing problems are complex and multilayered and deeply individual. That said, there are things I can and can’t do in our writing coaching:

I can help you delve into your own thinking about your topic, but I can’t help you with the subject matter – that’s your expertise, not mine. I won’t give you opinions on what you think and write, only on how. I can’t tell whether you’ve included everything that should be included in your paper, only whether I understand the logic of the order you’ve put it in.
I can walk beside you and hold you accountable based on what you’ve told me you want to do, but of course I can’t make you actually do it. (Having said that, if you don’t make it, no worries, no judgement, no shame, we just figure out what happened and move on.)
I can help you make a timetable that will get you to the finish line in time for your deadline, and I’ll help you tweak it when things get behind schedule, but I can’t guarantee you’ll meet that deadline. That too is on you.
I can’t make you a fast writer. That may never happen (sorry). But I can show you a process that will help you get faster.
I can’t make writing easy for you, only easier.
Life happens. At some point, something will get in the way of getting writing done. It just will. I try to roll with it and help you adjust your schedule.
If you get sick during our time working together, I will emphasize self-care, always. This may affect your deadline, but I will always put health first. I will not encourage you to “buckle down” or “double down” or push on through the illness and keep writing anyway. I will not encourage you to burn yourself out. I will encourage you to go back to bed and stay there if at all possible. (And you’ll do what you need to do for you, and I’ll support you in that, whatever choice you make.)

Still wanna talk? FANTASTIC.