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Good news for Screenwriters—Coach Vera can be YOUR coach!!
When people learn that I'm a screenwriting coach, they’re intrigued. They’re familiar with coaches for athletes, actors, students and even politicians, so they’re curious to know how I work with writers and what writers are able to achieve when they have a private coach.
This summer I had coffee with Mary Curran-Downey, the San Diego Union-Tribune columnist. Mary wound up writing a nice little piece about how I coach, This Mid-Wife Helps Writers Deliver Words.
To share a bit of what I do for my clients, here are some of my thoughts on the one-to-one coaching process.
One-to-One Coaching for Screenwriters:
How it Works
Working one-to-one with other screenwriters is the very heart of my practice. And my passion. Helping writers complete their novels, screenplays, and memoirs gives me a deep satisfaction. My passion for coaching writers also informs my work in the other two parts of my business: the Haven’s San Diego area screenwriting workshops, and the intensive evaluations of novels and analysis or 'covering' of screenplays that I provide.
In my 20-plus years of being a writer and helping other writers to write, I’ve learned that one-to-one coaching works equally well for all writers, whether beginners or seasoned professionals. Think about it: The New York Yankees still have batting and pitching coaches for their multi-million dollar players, right? Alex Rodriguez didn’t decline any further coaching when he signed the richest contract ever for a baseball player, did he? Good coaching is wanted and needed throughout a dedicated professional’s career—whether a writer, or a shortstop, or a CEO.
Yet there’s no getting around it:
writing is solitary work. However, working with a writing coach gives
you a partner in the process of creating. This I
believe: Every writer can and will be more productive (and suffer
fewer hangovers ;-) when they work with a good private coach.A good private coach is a writer’s Top
Secret Renewable Energy Resource, providing encouragement, direction,
alternatives, shared experience, and most importantly, someone to be
accountable to. (More on that later.)I’m not a big fan of lists, but in the
interests of brevity, here’s a partial list of how a good coach helps a
writer—
- Assessment
As a writer, where are you? Wherever you are, that’s where we
start. We talk about you, and your work. We assess your current
project, from story to theme to structure.
- Intention
Where do you want to go? How productive do you want to be? How
many hours per week are you willing to devote to your quest?
Want to finish that novel by Christmas, or your next birthday?
Together we develop what I call an “Intention Contract,” complete
with a time line, and intermediate deadlines and checkpoints along
the way. This Intention Contract with yourself, and with me as
witness and partner, is a powerful way to keep you moving toward
your goal—and making your dream a reality.
- Accountability
Being accountable is at the root of every successful creative
person’s strategy. Think about it: In our daily lives, when we
don’t show up when and where we’re supposed to, people know it. To
get us all to show up, we receive consistent validation—usually in
the form of a paycheck. Not so with the creative act of writing.
Because we are not accountable to anyone else, it’s far too easy
for us to give in to the temptation of going golfing or surfing
during the 3 hour block we’ve set aside for writing. “Who’s gonna
know that I didn’t write today?” Well, if I’m your coach, the
answer is me! I’m going to know, and more importantly,
I’ll care. Being accountable to me will help keep you on track to
your goal.
- Response
You choose how often you want to meet with me
for working sessions. You send your pages ahead of time and I’ll
have read them and prepared feedback and response for our session.
This is the heart of what I do, it’s how you and your coach combine your
creative energies. And it’s where so much of the benefits of
working with your own private writing coach come from.
- Inspiration
We all encounter tough spots, often it’s in the middle of our
book or the 2nd act of our screenplay. Sometimes we’re tired of
even looking at the thing. Sometimes we’ve lost our vision, our
hope, and we can’t seem to get going again. This is
another way a coach is vital. Your coach can help troubleshoot your
story problems, or reasons for your writer’s block—and offer ways
to overcome them. A coach has a strong relationship with you and
your project. As your coach, I hold fast to your visions and enthusiasm,
even when you my falter.
- Evaluation
Want to know if coaching is really working? The proof is in
the writing. A great thing about having a coach is that you know
constantly whether it’s working or not, because you are overcoming
the obstacles as they arise, and moving toward the goal, which is
always the same: Completing your project. You’re writing more
pages. You’re writing better pages! Your coach is helping keep you
on task, keep you doing the work, writing the pages, and honoring
your intention. Many coaching clients have told me that the
greatest encouragement they get is simply seeing the continual
progress they are making.
Completion
This is true: Nothing happens until you complete your project.
Only then do you have a told story, and one that only you could
have told. Only when your novel, screenplay or memoir is completed
will you experience the true and deep and lasting thrill of
success. And that’s why you’ve chosen the difficult challenge of
being a creator, isn’t it?
Joseph Campbell had a wealth of beautiful
advice and encouragement to offer creators like you—those who have
chosen to make the Hero’s Journey—
"A hero is someone who has
given his or her life to something bigger than oneself... The adventure
of the hero is the adventure of being alive... It is by going down into
the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble,
there lies your treasure... The big question is
whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure."
If you would like to receive
my short article, "On Writers' Butts, and Buts," just send an email to: vera@Hi-Way-Haven.com
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