When you’re feeling lost in your writing, it can be difficult to know where to turn.
Friends and family can be supportive, but what if they’re not writers? Can they help you get to the cause of what’s holding you back? Figure out what’s really wrong with your work in progress?
As well-meaning as they are, the answer is usually no.
Supportive friends and family are great, but they’re unlikely to have spent years studying writing or psychology. That’s what you need to tap into if you want to overcome your creative blockages once and for all.
Writing coaches are the people you need to reach out to when you’re feeling stuck in a rut, because not only will they understand your story, but they’ll understand what motivates—or demotivates—people.
This is key to working out what’s holding you back and providing you with greater focus.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of working with a writing coach—whatever you write.
1. Fix your road blocks
What holds us back in our writing isn’t always what we think it is.
For instance, many people don’t consider that a lack of confidence in their day-to-day life can cause a lack of confidence in their writing ability.
A lack of supportive friends can cause similar issues, because you’ve got nobody fighting in your corner and encouraging you.
A writing coach can offer you moral support.
They’ll also be able to pick up on patterns you’re less likely to notice because you’re closer to the situation. This can be invaluable in identifying what’s getting in your way of success.
2. Be held accountable
There’s a lot to be said for accountability.
Up until recently, I didn’t used to like writing with other people.
But a few months ago, I was struggling to focus when I had things to do.
So, as a member of Janet Murray’s Build Your Online Audience Programme, I signed up for one of her Get it Done sessions.
These are 45-minute Zoom sessions. You start by stating what you’re going to do in the chat, then, with cameras on and microphones off, you get working.
At the end, you share what you did in the time.
They’re so good for helping you focus, and being on camera adds an extra layer of accountability.
A writing coach can work in a similar way but without the live session. You can work with your coach to set a task between each call, then your coach can hold you accountable to get it done for your next meeting.
Having a deadline where you’re accountable to someone else—especially someone you’re paying, who’s doing this as a business transaction—makes a gigantic difference.
It shifts your mindset, because you don’t want to lose the money you’ve put down, or waste the time and effort of a stranger.
It’s a lot easier to push back commitments when the only people you’re accountable to are your friends. We expect our friends to be supportive, and to understand when we push back deadlines for no reason in particular.
When you’re paying someone for their time and you know they can help you, all excuses go out of the window to not get things done before your next session.
3. Find your focus
Focus is a skill that everyone wants but many of us lack.
Accountability goes a long way, but a lack of focus can be caused by a plethora of things.
A writing coach can help you find out why you can’t concentrate and look into ways to help you improve so that you can free write, edit more effectively, and publish faster.
4. Build your confidence
Many of the best writers have confidence issues. Some outgrow them, others learn to deal with them.
Our confidence levels aren’t rigid; they go up and down daily, just the same as the plot of a story.
It can be difficult to work through those issues without the help of someone external to discuss them with, though.
Especially if you don’t know what’s causing them in the first place.
Or, like many people, you don’t realise you have writing confidence issues in the first place.
But a lack of confidence can manifest in lots of different ways.
It could be anything from being afraid to hit the ‘Publish’ button, to being unable to commit to one idea, to feeling uncomfortable promoting yourself on social media.
5. Get motivated
When you’ve worked through your issues, have someone to hold you accountable, and you’re more focused, you’ll feel more motivated to write.
The more motivated you are, the more you’ll get done.
Getting motivated is a side effect of making an active commitment to your writing—by hiring a writing coach.
Ready to work with a coach?
For a limited time, I’m offering 10-minute catch-ups to talk through your writing problems.
We can look at what’s in your way, and what we could do to help boost your writing confidence—and help you achieve your writing goals.
There are only a handful of slots open each week, though, so grab yours now to start working through your writing obstacles.
Visit my author coaching page to find out more.