There’s a particular kind of stuck that writers don’t talk about enough.
Not writer’s block, which is a different beast entirely… and we writers talk about that. All. The. Time.
I’m referring to the feeling you get when you know something’s not working. The pacing drags in scene seven. And scene nine. And all of Act 2… A character’s motivation doesn’t quite fit their action. The climax is flat, even after you’ve rewritten it four times. You can see the problem clearly, but you just can’t figure out how to fix it.
I’m on a first name basis with this struggle, right now, even as I evaluate my first draft for how best to revise. My main character was 32 in the discovery draft, and I’m aging her up now to her late 40’s. Remember how different you were at that age compared to now? Same. My list of revisions is growing faster than I can check them off.
This struggle is where a book coach comes in.
What a book coach actually does
A book coach isn’t an editor, though the two roles often overlap. An editor typically comes in when a manuscript is finished — or close to it — and focuses on the text itself: what’s on the page. A book coach works with you and your manuscript together, earlier in the process, to help you figure out what the story needs to be before you can write it that way.
Think of an editor like… a floor whisperer (a.k.a. your friendly home contractor). They read your manuscript and point out that the floor is creaking. A book coach helps you figure out whether it’s the old wood, the cracked foundation, or the termite damage from the three-year-old colony that previous inspectors failed to mention sooner (‘scuse me… that’s a different story) — and then works through the repair plan with you.
The coach’s goal is never to rewrite your book. Instead, it’s their job to help you see your story clearly enough to rewrite it yourself.
Why I became one
I’ve written fiction on the side for most of my life. I attended writing conferences. I joined a local critique group and worked with writer friends to improve their stories. I toyed with the idea of publication, but it was never a priority for me. I love working with words, and improving the structure on the page. I have a love-hate relationship with the red pen, and the last nine years of my first career was spent growing and managing a team of stellar grant writers as we helped colleges and universities win grant funding for student success programs.
What surprised me was how much of my grant writing and editing skills could be applied to fiction writing, and I pivoted to a second career focused 100% on fiction. Turns out the skills aren’t as different as you’d think. Complex narratives. High stakes. A reader who will love it so much to invest and share it with others.
The thing nobody tells you
The stuck feeling is more often about clarity than a specific craft problem. Once you can articulate what your story is actually about at the level of theme and character motivations, the craft problems often get a lot easier to solve.
That’s the work I love most — helping a writer find the thread that makes everything else make sense.
It’s my one-year anniversary!
This week marks one year since I earned my book coaching certification through Author Accelerator. To celebrate, I’m offering anniversary pricing on three services through June 5 — including my Manuscript Evaluation and From Idea to Ink coaching packages. Details and future offers are shared with my email subscribers — sign up here if you’re not already on the list.
Hi, I’m Rebecca Davis, Author Accelerator certified book coach, mystery lover, and former research administrator. I traded grant proposals for plot twists and now I get to help writers find their way through the maze of story and structure. I live on the South Carolina coast, and believe every story needs both a map and a little mystery. Explore Coaching Services →
Photo by Klim Musalimov on Unsplash.