OK, Muse… Whaddaya Want from Me?
You’ve got this little muse tapping you on the shoulder, saying, “Hey! Hey you! Write, OK? Write about things!”
That muse is so annoying. And fickle. And right. Because you really could be great at this writing thing. You just need a little guidance.
Maybe you have a draft that’s technically fine but feels flat. Maybe you know what you want to say, but the words keep taking the scenic route. Maybe you’ve received feedback like “show, don’t tell” and thought, Thanks. What the hell does that mean?
That’s where we start.
I offer personalized writing coaching built around your work, your questions, and what you want to learn. We’ll talk about what you’re trying to accomplish and look closely at the writing itself.
You might be working on an essay, a story, an article, or something you haven’t figured out what to call yet. You might want to publish it. You might want to tell a family story in a way that makes your kids put down their phones.
Your goals help shape our work.
More than marks in the margins
An editor can point out a slow opening, an awkward transition, or a paragraph that doesn’t belong. But then you’re alone with your draft, trying to figure out what to do about it.
Coaching gives us room to explore those questions together.
Where does this story actually begin? What does the reader need to know—and when? Why does one sentence pull us forward while another makes us wander off to check the fridge?
We’ll use your writing to make the answers concrete. We can try a different approach, compare versions, and talk about what changed. You’ll have opportunities to ask questions, disagree, and discover what works for you.
The idea is to give you something you can carry into whatever you write next.
We’ll pay attention to what’s working, too.
You need to know where your writing comes alive.
That detail you almost deleted? It might be the thing that makes a scene feel real. That odd little turn of phrase might sound unmistakably like you. That line you wrote without thinking too hard might reveal something about the voice you’ve been trying to find.
When we notice those things, we can explore why they work. You’ll start recognizing your strengths and making more deliberate choices about how to use them.
And when something needs work, we’ll talk about it honestly. Useful encouragement and useful criticism can coexist. In fact, they should.
Your voice belongs to you.
I have opinions. Plenty of them. But you get the final say in your writing.
I’ll explain my suggestions and ask questions about your choices. Sometimes you’ll try something and discover it works beautifully. Sometimes you’ll realize my suggestion takes the piece somewhere you don’t want it to go.
Tell me. That’s part of the conversation.
I want you to understand your options well enough to choose among them—and to know why you’re keeping that sentence everyone else wants you to cut.
What might we work on?
That depends on what you bring. We might explore:
- Finding the story inside something that happened to you.
- Writing an opening that makes someone want to keep reading.
- Choosing details that let a reader experience a scene.
- Making dialogue sound like something an actual human would say.
- Finding a structure for a draft that’s wandered.
- Cutting the explanation that’s burying your best line.
- Developing a voice that feels comfortable and recognizably yours.
- Understanding feedback you’ve received and deciding what to do with it.
We’ll choose a place to begin. You don’t have to tackle every aspect of your writing at once.
You don’t have to audition.
You don’t need a publication credit, a polished manuscript, or a convincing argument for why I should work with you.
You can bring something unfinished. You can admit you’re stuck. You can say, “I think there’s something here, but I can’t find it.”
Curiosity and a willingness to try things will give us plenty to work with.
Send me an email.
Tell me a little about what you’re writing and what you’d like help with. If you’re not sure, tell me what’s frustrating you—or what you’re excited about.
We’ll start chatting and figure out whether working together makes sense.
Email Karen