No two writers are alike, so no two coaching sessions should be either. Strategies that resonate with one person might make another rip out their hair in frustration. A personalized approach ensures that your journey with a writing coach is as effective and rewarding as possible.
Your writing goals might change over time. That's why my free thirty-minute virtual initial consultations are holistic. We’ll take the time to get to know each other and discuss how a writing coach might assist you. Once we pinpoint your needs and set up subsequent sessions, here’s a simplified version of what you can expect during meetings:
STEP 1: Setting a Goal
At the start of each session, we’ll articulate your goals and intentions for the session. Maybe you are struggling with defending your thesis in a term paper, want to be more specific in your essays for a prestigious program, or have a premise for an amazing short story and don’t know what to do with it. By clearly defining an objective, we can begin.
STEP 2: Reviewing and Discussing Your Writing
We’ll have an active dialogue about your writing. When we work together, I’ll ask you to send any writing in advance so that I may review it before we meet. My focus on constructive criticism is rooted in celebrating your strengths and identifying how we can improve your weaknesses. We'll dive into your habits if I notice recurring themes or patterns. We'll work to identify how an issue emerged and if any behavioral habits or mindset approaches need to be acknowledged or addressed.
Before we move on, let’s briefly pause to acknowledge that we’re all human. You may forget to send that email with your writing attached or send it five minutes before we meet. If this happens, I will need the time to review your writing during our session. Or, you may arrive completely empty-handed. I’ve seen this happen countless times with individuals who think they “can’t” write because of their academic history. Let’s extend compassion to ourselves in these moments, knowing that all writers feel self-doubt. Now, back to the show!
STEP 3: Action Items and Exercises
After we discuss your work, honoring your strengths and identifying areas for improvement, we’ll return to your goal and set up a game plan of smaller, actionable items that serve that goal.
Next, I will likely create an in-session writing exercise related to an actionable item we established together. This in-session exercise gives you time and space to discover questions you wouldn’t have thought to ask. In our sessions, you learn by doing. This time is not meant for perfection; it’s meant for discovery.
STEP 4: Closing Out the Session
We’ll read over your exercise together, addressing any questions that arose and challenges you encountered. As we close our session, we’ll revisit your previously established larger goal and identify any revisions you’d like to make to your actionable items. We’ll collaborate to construct a plan for you between sessions, setting deadlines to monitor progress. If appropriate, I may recommend external sources that support your writing journey. Even though our session will have ended, I will encourage you to reach out with questions.
It's my belief that flexibility and adaptability are key elements of a coaching practice. Over our first few sessions, we will experiment with methods to discover what best serves you. Like any other skill, writing takes time and practice. You will have good and bad writing days. We'll navigate this experience together, empowering you to believe in yourself and your abilities.
コメント