Why Hire a Fiction Book Coach?

How do writers learn the craft of fiction?

There are so many ways to learn the craft of fiction, and there is no one right way to learn to write a story. However, there are ways to build your skills and your confidence as a writer, and that's with the support of a fiction book coach.  

I've noticed that a lot of writers learn how to write a novel by writing early drafts, then getting their work edited, beta read or entering manuscripts into competitions to receive feedback.

Some writers get an idea, and sit down to write it. The draft gets finished and it's a wonderful time. It really is and it should be celebrated.

However, sometimes new writers don't realise that writing a book means rewriting and layering in numerous aspects to create a dream-like state for their target reader.

It can be quite the shock when a first draft is entered into a competition, beta read or given to an editor too early, and the feedback indicates extensive work needs to be done.

• The plot has holes.
• The character's goals, motivations and conflicts are not on the page.
• The world building is thin.
• There is too much telling and not enough showing. You may not know how to turn that telling into dramatised action that shows the character's emotions and that's frustrating.

Hello overwhelm and emotional turmoil!

If you've done this. Don't worry. I did it too. Be kind to yourself. We're all learning our craft as we keep writing. Still, knowing that doesn't dull the sting of rejection. 

Writing the first, messy, draft of my first novel was a great way to be playful and romp around, taking my story off on tangents I didn't realise were muddying the point and purpose of the plot. In fact, if you enjoy pantsing a story, go for it, but know the story will likely need to be restructured to find the core plot line and cut out tangents that distract the reader from the cause-and-effect trajectory story. I went through this with my first novel, and it wasn't fun.

In fact, I remember when I got the feedback on what I had to do to fix the story, I was paralysed by the amount of work I had to do make it publishable. My editor was so kind and supportive guided me on the red light issues that needed to be addressed which I am forever grateful for. She taught me so much about writing fiction from that one developmental edit. It was worth investing in the developmental edit because it helped me to write a tighter story with my second love.

Overall, at that time, this experience made me realise how much I had to learn about writing craft to be able to write a cohesive story that met my reader's expectations. 

So, I'm a fan of hiring a book coach.

Yes, I am a book coach and it seems a bit sales-y that I'm advocating for hiring a book coach. But as a writer, I've hired four other book coaches to help me with all aspects of planning, writing, rewriting, and restructuring my stories. And I can say as a writer that having a fiction book coach by my side, who kept me accountable and gave me feedback as I was writing has been invaluable in developing my fiction writing skills, and my confidence as a writer too. 

Hiring a fiction book coach helps with learning to receive feedback from a trusted source and they support you along the way to grow as a writer too. 

Let's face it, learning to receive feedback is part of becoming an author, and it can be a very emotional time for you as the feedback points out the distance between where you are at and where you want to be: your end goal of publication.

When you don't have support or a network of writing friends to support you through the choppy waters of rewriting, you can hire a fiction writing coach to not only help you take your story to the next level, but to cheer you on, hold space for processing the pain of rejection and help you find an empowered way forward again. 

What's more, hiring a fiction book coach is a golden opportunity to have a developmental editor providing evidence-based reasons as to why certain changes are suggested. A fiction coach helps you to develop your manuscript and your writing craft. Read more about the differences and similarities between a developmental editor and fiction book coach in this post.

In addition to that, you'll have a qualified coach who knows how to ask powerful questions to help you to dig deep and discover what motivates your characters. As you write your story you'll gain confidence in your writing skills, which means you'll see your story flourish on the page.

That experience is one of the reasons I became a fiction book coach. 

Here's a few ways a fiction book coach helps writers:

• support navigate the choppy waters of deciphering feedback, guiding the writer to apply the feedback that will help develop the story and the writer
• guide writers to reframe feedback from rejection to an opportunity to improve so the writer feels empowered to keep writing even when it feels difficult
• guide writers to re-structure their stories (if needed) so the story has the genre beats and story structure that builds rising action to a climax and satisfying end and hooks the reader
• helps writers to recognise info-dumps and work out how to sprinkle information throughout the story where it is needed to let the reader in
• supports reflective thought on character motivations, goals and conflicts
• identifies telling and showing, and gives reasons why they work or don't work in the scene
• helps teach the writer how to write a scene and to use cause-and-effect to build narrative tension
• accountability - writers learn to write to a deadline to get feedback on their chapters
• synopsis feedback and guidance
• pitching to agents - help developing a pitch strategy to find an agent 
• support developing a verbal pitch for genre conferences and someone to practice on who will give you an immediate response on what can be improved
• help you to keep writing and finish that story
• lots more ...

How does working with a fiction book coach help improve your genre fiction story?

With a fiction coach on your side who understands the genre you're writing in helps to ensure the story is shaped toward satisfying the target reader's expectations.

For example: paranormal romance readers have different expectations for their romance world building to an historical romance reader. Both readers want to be transported to a different time and place, but one expects the world to be inhabited by supernatural beings, tails and scales, vampires, witches or werewolves, the other expects carriages, horses, lords, ladies and dukes - no technology. 

So, having a fiction coach who has an understanding of the genre you're writing in is a bonus. Having said that, there are times when you will know much more about your genre than the fiction coach and this is where the fiction coach's intimate understanding of story development can work brilliantly with your intimate knowledge of the genre expectations that you know so well can work. 

Whether you need to restructure your story, or write characters with more agency, or find ways to engage the reader so they can't stop turning pages, you'll be in good hands. 

In short, I’m a certified book coach with years of training and experience behind me. My approach is all about collaboration and authenticity. 

I’ve got you.

So, let’s work together to:

• find your voice,
• support your creative writing goals, and
• get your amazing book on the page!