My goal: to help you, dear readers, understand what a writing coach does. And who knows? Maybe you’ll decide it’s time to give yourself the gift of coaching, too!

I’m delighted to introduce…Charlotte Rains Dixon!

I got to know Charlotte as a blogger, whose blog boasts the magnificent moniker Word Strumpet. Her blog is a delightful mix of inspiration, thought-provoking craft and process tips, and—of course—spunky enthusiasm. She’s perceptive and funny at the same time which, IMHO, is a perfect combination for dispensing nuggets of wisdom.

Plus she has the most magnificent tagline—fall in love with your writing, your life and yourself—it makes me smile every time I visit her site. I know she’ll make you smile, too! Enjoy…

How can a writer decide if working with a coach would benefit them?

Honestly? I think that all writers can benefit from working with a coach. I come out of the brief residency MFA system, wherein you are assigned a mentor with whom to work one on one. This is very similar to the coaching relationship, and when you have one person devoted to your writing as well as helping you make sure you get to the writing, magic can happen. But specific times that you might want to consider engaging a coach’s services are when you are blocked; when you are having a hard time getting your work out in the world; or when you feel like you are mired in the middle of a project and can’t seem to find your way out.

What sort of goals or skills do you work on with a client?

The beauty of the coaching relationship is that it is completely directed by the client. I don’t come in and impose goals, I follow the lead of the client. That being said, I will obviously make suggestions about which of your skills need sharpening and so forth. We may work on techniques to get you writing more regularly, or specific areas that need improvement in your writing, or, and this is what happens most often, both.

What lies outside the client/coach relationship? (For example, writing craft, providing critiques, organization, motivation, goals, psychology)

None of the above. Everything you mention is part of the coaching relationship. I believe strongly, that as goes our writing, so goes our life. If you’re writing regularly, the rest of your life could be falling apart and on some level you’d be happy, because you’re writing. And this level of happiness carries you through everything else. So, to me, writing bears on everything and all these aspects need to be addressed.

Tell me about the mechanics of a coaching relationship: how often you meet, the format, etc.

I do most of my coaching over the phone. Generally, we talk once a week for 30 minutes about how the writing is going, any hiccups that might have occurred, making sure that writing is getting done. And then I also read a certain number of pages a week. Sometimes people like to send pages by the month, it just depends. I also offer complete email access to me throughout the time we work together.

How can a writer get the most out of a coaching relationship?

By being coachable. By this I mean a willingness to be open and try the things your coach suggests, and to do the homework and experiment with new ideas in your writing.

Do you have a particular area of expertise, or something you bring to the client/coach relationship that other writing coaches might not?

What I bring to the relationship is a hugely varied experience in writing. I’ve freelanced articles, both online and off, I’ve ghostwritten, blogged, coached and taught creative writing. I still actively do all those things. So if someone really wants to write a novel but also wants to figure out how to support herself writing while doing so, I can help.

Thanks so much for this interview, Cheryl, I enjoyed answering your great questions!

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Charlotte Rains Dixon~

I am, above all else, a writer.

Writing has been my constant companion and best friend since I was a little girl, when I spent hours composing poetry and drawing pictures to illustrate it.  The writing stuck, the drawing, not so much, maybe because I’ve never been very good at it (unlike my sisters).    I still have possession of a diary I wrote in the second grade, wherein every entry begins with the words "Hi Cat!"  (We had a lot of cats at our house when I was growing up, beginning with the one my father found abandoned at a laundromat he owned.)

When I wasn’t writing, I was reading, inhaling book after book.  I don’t remember any specific moment when I decided to become a writer.  It was one of those things that I just understood about myself—that one day I’d grow up to be a writer.  Which I did.

Read more about Charlotte here. Don’t forget to check out her blog and follow her on Twitter!

1. Set one writing goal
2. Choose one thing to sacrifice for writing
3. Choose one gift to give yourself as a writer

I’m not sure, frankly, what I expected. It’s hard for me to imagine that working with someone else on my goals could help. I mean, shouldn’t I just work harder, prioritize, and make progress on my own? Wouldn’t she just tell me to do the things I already knew I should be doing?

Photo courtesy of dannymol on Flickr Creative Commons

So this was a bit of a leap of faith.

It began, as many good things do, with homework: before we started working together, I had to fill out a several page questionnaire, answering questions such as

• What stands in my way as a writer?
• What are my greatest strengths?
• What are my greatest weaknesses?
• What do I hope to accomplish by working with a life coach?

This was the first cool thing about working with a coach: before we even had our first meeting, I spent time teasing out the answers to these and other questions that helped me clarify where I want to go, and what might be getting in my way.

The second cool thing about working with a coach: it’s actually helped me make progress toward my goals.

You can hear my innate skepticism shining through, right? I mean, how would talking with someone for an hour once a month accomplish anything that I couldn’t accomplish myself?

I now have my answer, one that’s probably obvious to most of you: a life/writing coach is an expert.

Let me explain. A while ago, I started learning to play the violin. My kids had been taking lessons for years, and I’d followed along enough to know the basics, but whereas they’ve been practicing faithfully over time, I’ve been cooking dinners and doing laundry and such. So all I needed, I thought, was to spend some time practicing, remembering where to put my fingers, building up my endurance so I could play without my neck or shoulder aching. But when I found myself struggling, I broke down and took a lesson.

And in the first ten minutes, my lovely instructor identified a dozen small mistakes I was making that instantly improved my sound and made playing easier.

That’s sort of what working with a coach has been like: in ten minutes of conversation, she hones in on the one thing I say that’s significant—the lie I’m telling myself, or the place where I’m selling myself short. She can ask the right questions, the kind that help to identify my priorities and help me figure out next steps toward my goals.

Is a writing coach right for you? It’s a question worth considering. It’s an investment, but one that can jump-start your career. Over the next several weeks—starting tomorrow—I will be featuring writing coaches every Friday so you can learn a bit more about who they are and what they do.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll decide that a coach could help you make progress toward your goals, too.

What about you? Have you ever considered working with a writing coach? Why or why not?

Photo courtesy of Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr Creative Commons

BZZZZT!! 

Maybe the basic topic—character, dialog, marketing, plot—can stand repeat coverage, but you have to bring something new to the picture. Great in theory…but I’m the kind of gal who likes specific examples. Check out these strategies for breathing new life into questions that writers have probably been discussing since the first stick of charcoal marked the first cave wall.

Ways to Keep Old Classic Topics Fresh

1. Explain the concept: Okay, technically this one doesn’t belong on the list. If you’re covering a classic topic, like active versus passive voice, you probably can’t add much to the explanations that are already out there. But don’t forget—at any given time, some of us are just starting out. We need to learn the basics, and we probably don’t even know what basics we need to learn. A great article on a basic topic is always welcome.

Read on for ways to add your own spin…

• Illustrate significance: Whydo you think a topic is worth covering again? Let readers know why they should care! For example…Classic Topic: Point of view (POV)
  Fresh Approach:  Address why point of view makes a difference—how a specific POV can change a story’s tone, impact mood, or make it easier or more difficult to communicate important info—to help your readers choose the best POV for their own work
• List techniques:Ask any violin student—there’s a big difference between knowing something in theory and putting that theory into practice. Give your readers specific strategies for putting an idea into practice.Classic Topic: Transitions
  Fresh Approach: Provide a list of strategies for moving from one scene to the next, or a list of strategies for finding scenes that can be effectively replaced with transitions
• Create prompts/exercises: Give your reader tools to practice a skill or prompts to spark their creativity.
  
  Classic Topic: Character creation
  Fresh Approach:  Pick prompts that focus on an aspect of character your readers might not have considered, just as character quirks
• Provide examples:It’s that theory versus application thing again—a lot of us learn a LOT better from seeing a skill put into practice than by hearing the theory.Classic Topic: Simile
  Fresh Approach: Collect passages in which authors have used simile effectively—or think of different ways similes could be created and provide examples for each
• Show exceptions:Often it’s just as helpful to see times when the rule doesn’t apply as it is to see the rule in action.Classic Topic: Active versus passive voice
  Fresh Approach: Rather than just showing readers the difference between active and passive, show them times when passive voice can be a writer’s best friend. When is it okay to use it?
• Make it personal: Need I say more? We’re writers—we know the power of stories to inspire, educate, illuminate, and motivate.
  Classic Topic: Time management
  Fresh Approach: Rather than sharing strategies for getting more organized, share your experience. What’s worked? What hasn’t? When you found a strategy that worked, how did that impact your life?
• Make connections: You can help readers see a topic from a different angle by making connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

  Classic Topic: Setting
  Fresh Approach: Connect it with voice or mood—for instance discuss ways to influence a story’s mood through your choice of setting details

• Dissect the levels:Often a seemingly straightforward concept can have numerous layers.Classic Topic: Flashbacks
  Fresh Approach: Look at the different ways authors relate memories, from the minimally disruptive “mini flashbacks” of character thoughts, journals, news articles; up to entire flashback scenes
• Illustrate a novel twist or approach: Everyone wants to read a new solution to an old problem. Why do you think fitness magazines sport articles like “5 Easy Ways to Lose Fat!” every month?

Classic Topic: Office organization
Fresh Approach: Perhaps you have a new idea for creating additional bookshelf space, for tracking projects, or filing ideas. Find a problem and present a new idea for solving it!
Your turn: do you see any over-covered topics in the world of writing blogs? What will get you to read a new article on an old topic?

Why increase positivity?

Because I think it’s the key to changing everything else.

In her book Positivity, Barbara Fredrickson presents research suggesting that when we are more positive, we are also:

• More open and receptive
• More creative
• More perceptive
• Better able to learn
• Better able to fight disease and injury

…and as a result, positivity leads to greater success in all areas of life.

Of course, that’s my brief summary of her book, in which Fredrickson discusses dozens of research studies. She explains that a higher “positivity score” predicted greater success for business teams (in terms of profitability, customer satisfaction, and supervisor/coworker evaluations). It predicted marital success.

In study after study, positivity predicted whether those involved would flourish—perform at their optimal potential—or languish.

Curious?

Although the concept is simple—increased positivity is good in numerous ways—it’s worth reading the book in order to understand how this was determined and how it works. You can also learn more and calculate your own positivity ratio on Fredrickson’s Positivity website.

Or be inspired: visit the website of National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones to watch his amazing video about finding what’s RIGHT with the world, rather than just seeking to fix what’s wrong.*

Or be encouraged: sign up to receive Jones’ weekly photos, reminders of this world’s beauty and wonder.

Finding what’s right in the world of writing

A while ago, I used to post regularly on Things to Love About Being a Writer. In keeping with my goal of increased positivity in 2012, I’m going back to that practice: every Monday, I’ll be writing about aspects of this writing life that are wonderful in some way. I hope you’ll join me in a weekly celebration of being a writer!

What about you? Are you game for increasing your positivity in 2012?

*You have to register to view the video, but doing so doesn’t seem to result in piles of undesired emails.

If you haven’t discovered Julie’s blog, what are you waiting for? Go! Here’s a sample from last week:

4 Ways to Recycle Dusty Manuscripts

You’d think I would suggest using dusty old manuscripts as doorstops or paperweights, but no. There just may be a happier resting place for an unpublished piece of work. Here are four suggestions:

1. Unpublished picture books–Consider cleaning them up and sending them to markets like Stories for Children,Knowonder!, or My Light Magazine. These e-zines are free, and you’d get paid little or nothing, but kids could enjoy your stories!
2. Unpublished nonfiction–If it’s short nonfiction for kids, like a nonfiction picture book, consider updating the data and sending it to Imagination Cafe or the educational market, Viatouch. Again, you wouldn’t get paid, but this is such a great way to practice writing and earn publishing credits. And you’d be helping kids in the process. If you write for adults, FundsforWriters is a great place to search for markets. [Click here to continue reading...]

And I’ve noticed something. Every magazine I read publishes basically the same articles month after month after month.

In every issue of Self magazine, you can read ways to eat healthier, lose weight, have better relationships, be happier, squeeze in more exercise. In every issue of Real Simple, you can read how to become more organized, how to declutter, how to decorate, how to cook, how to save money. In The Writer,  you’ll find ways to work more efficiently, ways to sell articles/short stories/memoir/etc., ways to drum up freelance work, ways to become more creative.

Okay, so they aren’t exactly the same, but some of these articles come remarkably close. There are only so many ways you can say “eat more veggies,” “practice planks for firmer abs,” or “write every day.” Often, you’ll find the same basic information presented month after month, each time with a slightly different spin. Perhaps the writer will include a story of her personal experience; or provide some new insight to the cause of a common problem; or perhaps the “eat your veggies” message will come with information about some new research study. But still, readers are reading the same basic stories over and over.

This isn’t a magazine-only phenomenon. If you look through a list of writing blog posts, you’ll start to see a pattern emerge. The same few topics show up again and again and again…and again: writing craft topics like dialog, character, description, plot, passive voice; marketing topics; how to organize; how to focus; how to be more efficient; how to get published.

And we love it. We want to read these same stories over and over. It works. (Ha, thought I was complaining, didn’t you!)

This is good news for those of us who have been blogging for a while…but why the heck should this be true? Why does it work to write about the same topics over and over, while other writers are doing the same all over the blogosphere? I have some theories on why some topics remain evergreen:

You don’t learn it once and move on.

Writers at all stages think about dialog, plot, description, and characters. When a seasoned writer reads an article on story structure, she won’t gain the same insight from it as, say, a new would-be novelist; but she will likely gain some insight. As we grow as writers, we revisit old topics, apply the ideas to different situations, and gain a deeper understanding. I think of this as the spiral staircase of learning, winding through different ideas, repeating them time and again, but doing so at ever-higher levels.

New writers are continually entering the scene.

Just because a topic is old hat for me doesn’t mean it’s old hat for everyone. When I started in my first critique group, they graciously explained to me that I should avoid passive voice. And that it might be a good idea for me to pick one tense and stick with that. And that dialog from different characters belongs in different paragraphs. Now that information feels so familiar, it’s easy to assume everyone knows it—but as I interact with other writers, I’m reminded that everyone has to start somewhere, and when you’re starting out, you might not know the “basics.”

New perspectives generate new insights.

Just because I know the basic structure of the Hero’s Journey doesn’t mean that I can apply it to my own work—but reading how another writer applies the Hero’s Journey to women’s fiction can help me identify something that isn’t working in my own writing. By bringing different stories and examples to the same topic, we reach different readers in different ways.

Should we strive for originality?

It’s tempting to feel the need to be original, to avoid repetition—and yet, readers join a blog looking for a particular type of content. I blog about writing and the writing life; if I were to start blogging about weight loss, or sea turtle conservation, or even marketing, I’d probably lose a lot of you. On the flip side, if I posted exactly the same articles over and over, I’d lose you, too. As a reader, I want originality in approach to a topic—but I want that originality within a known framework.

Just as one can argue that all books tell one of a limited number of stories, perhaps there are no new stories in the land of blogging, especially the land of writing blogs. And I think that’s okay, because the joy is in the journey.

What about you? Do you feel like you seem the same topics covered time and again? Does that bother you?

How do YOU want to grow in 2012? Here are some questions to help you figure out the answer.

What are your priorities—both as a writer and in the rest of your life?

1. What things are most important to you? Does your time reflect those priorities?
2. Where do you currently spend your time and energy? Does your time/energy usage reflect your priorities?
3. Given the current season of your life, how many writing-related goals can you reasonably address? Which ones can wait?
4. What do you love most about your writing? How can you focus more on the work that means the most to you?

What holds you back as a writer?

1. Are there practical or physical constraints you can address, such as a lack of time or lack of a place to write?
2. Do you lack necessary knowledge or skills? Maybe you need to improve your writing craft, learn about market needs, or increase your understanding of the publishing industry.
3. Do you face personal limitations, such as a time-consuming family crisis or an illness?
4. Do your emotions get in your way? Maybe you need time with a writing friend or a critique group for support and encouragement, or perhaps you need to practice disengaging from others’ needs long enough to focus on something else.
5. Do you lack discipline? Perhaps you need an accountability partner or some other external motivator, such as those listed in “Keeping it Real: 8 Services to Make Your Resolutions Stick”.
6. Is there a particular place you get stuck when writing? Can you identify the cause? Perfectionism and fear of failure can keep writers from finishing and submitting projects.

Creating the goals: How will you move forward?

The questions above can help you identify places in your life that may benefit from change. Now your job is to brainstorm ways to make those changes come about.

That might mean taking a class, joining a critique group, or working with a writing coach or mentor—but it might also mean:

• Cutting back on volunteer work to create more time to write
• Cutting back on writing time to create more time to rest/exercise/hang out with family
• Adding a 20 minute walk to your day, to boost your mood and energy
• Trimming your writing to-do list to a single project, and seeing that project to completion
• Gifting yourself with more dark chocolate
• Fill in the blank: ___________

The best path forward isn’t always the most obvious.

How do you plan to grow in 2012? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

In the About section of the site, Laura writes, “I hope you find something here that touches your spirit.” If you check out her site, I think you’ll find that, and more.

From earlier this week:

Whale as a symbol

On Monday, I featured Brenda Ferrimani‘s painting of her dream “Whale Speaks.” Whales, as the largest mammal, and also very intelligent mammals, are complicated dream symbols. They are apparently conscious and self-aware, and they swim in the ocean, which is often associated with the unconscious. For me, that suggests that they come in dreams as reminders to expand conscious awareness. They communicate through vocalizations that sound to us more like song than speech, so if a whale shows up in my dream, it might have come to remind me to sing or use music to get closer to spirit. If a whale breaches in my dream, it could be a suggestion to take a creative leap, to bring something out of the depths and into the world. In many cultures in the world whales are associated with creation, perhaps from a deep, genetic and mythic memory of life arising from the ocean depths….[Click here to continue reading]

Artwork created by Brenda Ferrimani. You can see more of her artwork at http://www.brendaferrimanidreamart.com/.

  Photo courtesy of christing-O- on Flickr Creative Commons

Are you making resolutions this year? I am, but this year’s goals and resolutions look quite different from those I’ve made in the past. My previous goals have tended to be rather results-oriented:

• Write 1000 words a day!
• Finish that novel draft!
• Send out a query every week!
• Submit one article or story every month!
• Earn twice as much as last year!

Not that these are “bad” goals—they meet the criteria for good goal-setting, in that they are measurable, attainable, and all that—but they don’t work for where I am right now. Instead of challenging me to excel, these goals have started to feel pressuring, constricting, and demanding.

Not the point of goals at all.

Why aren’t these types of goals working for me? I think the simplest answer is that people need different types of goals at different points of their lives and writing careers. Earlier, I needed to work on finding daily time to write; now, that time is part of my daily routine. I used to need to work on finding paying work; now, I’m more likely to need to prioritize what I can and can’t do with the time available. When I was starting out, I needed goals that helped me to sit down and crank out a certain number of words a day; now, that’s just what I do, whether I have a specific word goal or not.*

This year, the question becomes: what kind of goals suit me now, January 2012, when I have an established writing practice, a critique group, and reasonably steady paying work?

Or maybe the better question is: how do I want to grow in 2012? What holds me back as a writer? What skills do I need to move forward?

The answers to those questions have helped me to choose a short list of resolutions that are process-oriented, rather than results-oriented.

What holds me back?

1. Lack of a quiet, non-distracting space in which to create
   Goal: Make such a space happen
2. Tendency to get distracted by “money-making” projects and neglect projects closer to my heart
   Goal: Spend time each day (or each week?) devoted to children’s writing
3. Tendency to drop the things most important to me in writing due to stress, worry, and dealing with life’s ups and downs writing life
   Goal: Increase positivity, so that I can remain focused during my creative time

That’s it. Three goals for 2012—but I think these three goals will impact every aspect of my writing life. I’ll let you know how it goes!

What about you? What holds you back as a writer? What sort of resolutions or goals will most help you in 2012?

*With the exception of NaNoWriMo, but one can’t live on the adrenaline and caffeine-induced productivity of NaNoWriMo all year long

I should buy…

• …books at conferences, because I’m supporting the speakers, and because I can get signed copies.
• …books for ongoing research, because the library makes me return them too quickly.
• …books that are written beautifully, because I will return to them again and again.
• …books that aren’t written beautifully but are nonetheless successful, because I will analyze what makes them work.
• …zombie books, because I need to follow the latest trends in literature.
• …new releases, because I need to keep abreast of current publications–and those are hard to check out of the library.
• …nonfiction picture books, because I write nonfiction and need to study other authors’ techniques.
• …bestsellers, because I need to figure out what makes them work.
• …writing books, because they help me grow as a writer.
• …self-help books, because they help me grow as a person.
• …marketing books, because I should be doing more marketing.
• …books on crochet, because they have the best crochet patterns and inspiration.
• …other nonfiction books, because I’m interested in the topics and might write about them someday.

The arrival of the Kindle and Amazon’s "Click-to-Buy" program has been a problem for my bank account.

But the other day, I read something very, very interesting and extraordinarily tempting to a book junkie such as myself: Can you make money blogging without selling your soul?

Like most of you, I don’t blog to make money. I started blogging because writers “ought to” have a blog, build a platform, and all that jazz; I kept at it because I love connecting with other writers, love the conversations that arise, and love knowing that sometimes, I’m able to help others out there. I combined my blog with my website because it gives me a place to share writing samples with people who might want to hire me, but the blog—well, that’s all about community, and I wouldn’t want to subject my community to random ads and annoying pop-ups and such.

But Jeff Goins’ post (above) made me realize that I often recommend books I find helpful, just as many other bloggers recommend books they have enjoyed. And I often purchase books based on others’ recommendations. As a member of Amazon’s affiliate marketing program, Goins receives some small compensation whenever a reader clicks to Amazon to purchase a book he recommended.

I have to say, I find the idea attractive.* I’m going to recommend books anyway; some of you are going to purchase them anyway. The ethical question that arises, of course, is whether I—or other bloggers—might recommend something because I get a kick-back. Can readers still trust such recommendations? I would like to think the answer is yes. Sure, there’s an incentive for bloggers to try to pitch more products to earn more money, but I think readers can tell whether a blog exists solely to bring in a buck or whether is has a genuine mission.

What do you think? Would you consider joining Amazon’s affiliate program to link to the books you recommend? Why or why not?

*Ironically, after all that, I won’t be participating in Amazon’s program: it seems that certain states are ineligible. My reading recommendations will remain as opinionated and biased as ever, but not by the hope of profit from Amazon