Aspiring and established authors can find themselves navigating a maze of advice, courses, and coaching programmes which can promise they hold the hallowed keys to success.
“Write your bestselling novel in six weeks!”
“Outline your family saga in one month!”
Or perhaps they hold up examples of previous clients who have sold their manuscript to a commercial publisher and secured a seven-figure advance.
In the current culture which fetishizes self-optimization and relentless productivity, we have lost sight of the intrinsic impulses which lead us to write in the first place: to tell stories; to enchant; to uncover our past or imagine our collective futures…
When we are driven to create by purely commercial impulses and we follow a one-size-fits-all formula, the connection with our inner lives can be at risk. We can become hung up on comparing ourselves to our writing peers, disappointed at every rejection, motivated by extrinsic reward.
As a practising author and poet myself, I know how easy it is to get despondent, to compare oneself in terms of output with my peers.
And I know I am truly over that stage because just earlier today, I saw a post on social media by a fellow writer friend declaring that she’d just finished the draft of her seventh book in less than two months with a one year-old in tow, while pregnant and working a day job.
My first reaction? Wow, what a woman!
My second? Can I have some of what she’s having?
My third? I was really pleased for her.
As a coach, my job is to show up in our conversations without judgment and get curious with you about your relationship to your creativity.
Questions we might explore include:
- How buoyant are you after a setback?
- What’s your enjoyment level when you’re writing?
- When do you find yourself losing focus?
- How fired up are you feeling to create?
- What does all this tell you?
My approach is broad. I don’t enter the coaching room expecting to follow any one strict protocol with authors. What I find works best is to ask questions which help you to unearth your own creative truths. Practising compassion and non-judgment coupled with questions which seek to uncover what is already going well for you, means that my style of coaching is strength-based and author-centred.
The goal of the approach I take at Write Within is to help you achieve success, but on your own terms.
I want for you to leave the coaching sessions knowing what it means to cultivate a healthy relationship with your creativity and to reconnect with the joy of writing. While I don’t conform to any rigid models, I may at times suggest one of the many tools I have accrued that we could use in the coaching space or for you to try out at home, but I will be guided by where your curiosity takes us: coaching is about connecting with the writer within you.
Book your next writer’s retreat at the Writers’ Cabin in mid Wales, and add on a coaching session with Julia during your week-day stay.
