I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone say they’ve been writing their book for two years or more! Of course, when you look more closely you realize they haven’t been writing all that time. They’ve been writing a bit, getting stuck and leaving it for a while — sometimes a long while. Then they write some more, get stuck and again and leave it again. On and on, ad nauseum. 

I know this is true, because I did it myself when I first dipped my toe in the waters of fiction writing. Know what finally got me going again? I got a coach.

It’s funny it took me so long to do this, because I’m a book coach and this is one of the services I provide to clients wanting to be non-fiction authors. It worked for me and it works for my clients. Let me tell you why.

A coach can help you plan the project of your book. With my clients, our first video call is a strategy session in which we talk about the author’s purpose for the book, their target readers, their approach to the subject and more. Many breathe a sigh of relief at the end of this because they can actually see a path opening up in front of them where they previously hadn’t a clue where to start and where to go from there. No wonder they were stalled!

A good coach will also poke and prod you into getting the work done. My clients decide how many words they can commit to each week, and submit them to me on a predetermined day. If I don’t get them on time, I follow up to give them encouragement and make sure they don’t fall behind on their schedule. 

Twice a month we have a video call, in which we review the submissions together. I make recommendations of how the material could be strengthened, and often the questions I pose will help the author think through problems and find better answers for themselves.

There are, of course, other coaches online who offer these services. I can’t speak for their methods or success, but I stand behind my own process. And it also makes me happy when authors tell me how much fun they are having writing their books, now that they have a process in place and my helping hand to guide therm along the way.

If you’d like to ask me any questions about my book coaching, and explore whether it is right for you, do email me at helen@theexecutivesbookcoach.com and we’ll schedule a friendly, no-cost conversation. It could make all the difference!