Finding Your Writing Voice by Taking Risks on the Page
At 72, Rhea Atwood found herself in her comfortable California apartment feeling her bed was “too soft.” “I decided to listen to my bed and waited a few days for it to tell me what to do about it.” Rhea spent the next four years following in the footsteps of the French Huguenots across the globe, visiting 17 countries and 5 continents, and surfing on a number of couches through couchsurfing. Previously a cautious risk taker, Rhea became, in her own words, intrepid. At times she had no money and no place to stay. Can you imagine? And yet she persisted. Now,… Read more
“No More Writing Rules.”
Writing Rules: Do They Trump Your Gut? In a recent book concept consultation, a new client shared her new writing rules: she’d read that all books should have “three acts” no matter whether the book is self-help, memoir or a novel. She tried to implement the writing rules she’d read about, to fit the structure of her book into three acts. The book just refused to cooperate. Then she made a list of some of her all-time favorite self-help books. None of them seemed to fit the three act formula. Still, she doubted herself. So we asked her muse, her… Read more
Writing Composites: Why Write Real First
Writing Composites: Is it Legal? Ethical? Dangerous? Therapists, doctors and coaches often worry about including client cases in a book. Should they be writing composites? What if the client recognizes herself? What if the someone else recognizes the client? Is this even legal? They’re right to be concerned—legally, ethically and morally. And what might the effects be on someone who sees herself in a book? Or someone who recognizes someone he knows? Option 1: The Waiver You have several options to address these concern, however. If you have a great story and think the client may be amenable (and it’s… Read more
The Thoughtful Mother’s Day Gift: 7 Unconventional Books That Moms Will Love
I volunteered at my son’s elementary school book fair yesterday. In the middle of my 30-second-training (those new moms-in-charge sure simplified our “system” from last year!) three third graders came over to pay for a book, a book and two girls. I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on—all the huddling, negotiating and pooling of change. The training mom solved the mystery for me, “One of their classmates was having a bad day and they all decided to share their book fair change to buy her a book.” Yes, my eyes teared up. These kids knew something. A good… Read more
Featured by Oprah Network: Author Spotlight on Cara Bradley—Again!
I had the pleasure of working with Cara Bradley on her book proposal for On The Verge: Wake Up, Show Up and Shine and introducing her to her literary agent, Rita Rosenkranz, as well as her editor, Kelly Malone. In the process, I witnessed how willing Cara was to take my coaching, as well as Rita’s, and keep improving the proposal, deepening the writing, working on platform. So, it’s no surprise to see how much attention the book is getting. Still, the specifics carry an element of suprise. It thrilled me to hear from Cara that four pages of her book… Read more
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