Do You Need a Book Coach? 5 Signs You're Ready

Photo by Unsplash

Late nights and early mornings — you’ve been working on your book for longer than you can remember. You had a striking idea in the beginning. But as you wrote forward, you became less and less confident about what was showing up on the page.

And as much as you know you need help, you’re not sure when to bring someone else in. You also don’t want guidance from just anyone. You need the right person to help you finish your book, so it can get in the hands of readers that much sooner.

 These are the 5 signs you need help with your book — now.

Don’t Know the Story You’re Telling Anymore

It happens to the best of us. You begin with a clear plan of your book and as you write more; you start to question: Am I telling this story or that one?

So, you venture off into a new story with pieces of the original one and before you know it; you have a hodgepodge of stories that don’t really make sense. You feel like things should happen to keep readers engaged, but suddenly you have a lot of things happening for no reason at all.

How can you tell that this is true for you? It takes you longer than a sentence or two to describe your story. The basic idea of your story should be easily condensed. It’s much harder to write shorter, and if you have to use paragraphs upon paragraphs to get your basic idea across, it’s time for some assistance.

Overwhelming Feedback

You’re feeling optimistic about what you have on the page, so you send it to some well-meaning friends and family, or even some folks in your writing group. But when they respond with feedback, you’re not sure which direction you should go.

The end of chapter one was really long and drawn out. 

Maybe it was just me, but chapter one was really short and I wasn’t sure exactly was happening.

Was a good read. Liked it a lot!

Sending your work-in-progress out for review is risky. Friends and family are less likely to give you an honest critique because they don’t know how to give feedback. You’re throwing an entire story on their laps and expecting a literary assessment, which isn’t entirely fair.

And if you send it to members in your writing group, they may tear it apart. Writing workshops and groups can be positive places to grow your craft, but they can also be destructive if you don’t have the right people around you. When you submit your work for review, the first mode writers can go into is tearing it apart.

I need to tell you everything that’s wrong with your work, so you know that I’m a better writer.

So, you’re left with a bunch of unhelpful positive compliments and crippling negative feedback that leaves you stuck. Instead of listening to a bunch of people, you need one voice, a partner who knows how to give you feedback. You need someone who makes you want to write forward and make revisions along the way, instead of making you feel like you shouldn’t have started writing in the first place.

Can’t Tell What’s Working (and What’s Not)

You thought that you’d have a better sense of how well your story was coming along. But the longer you stare at your screen, the more confused you get.

In one sitting, you believe that you’re on your way to a smooth ending.

The next day, you don’t understand what’s happening and want to throw your entire manuscript out the window.

Biggest problem: You can’t trust your judgment anymore. You’ve been too close to the story to be able to step back and see it for what it is...and isn’t.

This is where you need an outside set of eyes. Someone who can point out the strengths of the story, and who can see where weaker elements are. And with that, you need a partner who can help you build a better story from there.

Missing Your Own Deadlines

Reminders on your phone are screaming you missed your deadline. Again.

You decided on a chapter a week. And when that didn’t work, you pivoted to 5 pages a week. But then, you just moved deadlines and assignments back further and further, until you eliminated all of your deadlines.

It seemed harmless enough. 

I’m in control of my calendar and life. This isn’t going to affect anyone else.

Wrong.

It’s affecting YOU.

You didn’t set out to write a book you’d never complete. Honestly, you hate managing your own deadlines. The stakes aren’t high enough. It’s time to have someone else to be accountable to, so you can focus on turning in pages instead of feeling guilty.

Losing Track of What You’ve Written (or Want to Write)

It started with Post-It notes and in-line comments. Then you jotted down some thoughts in your planner and a few journals you rotate through.

After a while, you have story ideas in a hundred different places and no way to sort through them. Or you were convinced you didn’t need to write them down because you’d remember them...but surprise, you didn’t.

Managing a book project isn’t a topic most people talk about. You’re just told to write, and you can go back and revise afterwards. But there are a lot of thoughts that come up throughout the process, and you can’t remember everything.

You need someone who will not only listen to you, but can keep track of what’s already showing up on the page and what you’ve said you wanted to show up. Even if you reread your current pages and notes, there’s probably something you’re not seeing fully.

Making a New Plan

So, when should you get help with the book writing process? The sooner the better. It’s easier to fix a problem once it appears rather than one that’s festered for a while. But no matter where you are in your book writing, if you feel you’re stuck and ready to make serious gains in your craft, get on my coaching waitlist now.