B is for Book Coach

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for frogging. As a process-knitter, the product at the end just feels like a bonus compared to the process of the knitting itself. And I believe in the power of process-writing. - What "frogging" means in knitting and in writing - How to cut the melodrama around cutting content - What you need to enjoy the process of writing Hey, you....

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach . Today, we’re making space for community. Braiding Sweetgrass is both an ecology book told through an Indigenous lens and a book of Indigenous wisdom focused on ecological topics. And if you're like me and catching up on all of the incredible reads that made waves while you were barely treading water—I highly recommend moving this one to the top of your list. I...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a special guided 5 minute outline. Before we get into this week’s episode, I want you to understand that these outlines might take 5 minutes to map, but they represent a lifetime of your mastery. This is true more of memoir than any other nonfiction sub-genre. So when I say that we’re going to reverse-engineer Hannah Gadsby’s book...

Welcome back to B is for Book coach. I’m B, a book development partner for non-fiction non-writers, and today, we’re making space for rule-breaking. - A bit of a credit to journalism and its rules first - How "non-writer" writing is different - One rule in particular that I break all the time - How to follow the spirit of a rule rather than the letter of the law Subscribe to B is for Book Coach on...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for knowing. The writing world is full of ways to find out what's wrong with your work. From critique groups to beta readers to manuscript evaluations, you'll never have to wonder whether there's something more you can change. But what happens when the beta readers themselves are wrong? When the critique group or evaluation picks you a...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for pelicans. The work of writing tends to happen during quiet pockets of time, on Zoom calls over huge distances, and in the otherwise secluded spaces we create for it. This is not new. In fact, today's post centers around a letter that Maxwell Perkins wrote to a would-be author in the middle of World War II. - Perkins' advice about b...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a guided 5 Minute Outline. When I introduced you to the 5 Minute Outline , we practiced with the outline for an entire book and the promise that we’d return for more specific exercises over time. Today, we’re going to zoom in to outline a single chapter that’s primarily driven by storytelling. Get free weekly book coaching right in...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for your completed book . There are so many variables to a writing project, based on everything from the complexity of your topic to how close it is to the chest to how many times you’ve articulated it (or not) in the past. The key is to surface those variables and chart your course with them in mind. And we can’t chart a course with...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for human connection . I’m asked almost daily whether AI will make a person’s writing process easier. While I do have thoughts about how to (and how not to) use AI for books, there’s another conversation I’m much more interested in having. It’s not whether or not to use the technology, but how its existence underscores bigger problem...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for context . This year, I made it a point to bring reading back into my daily routine. A month or so ago, I finally finished a book I’ve had on my shelf for literal years now: The Girl with All the Gifts. And a moment between the protagonist and villain caught my eye. - Why some content is hard to distill - The stories we tell ourse...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for a 5 Minute Outline. In five, one-minute long segments, I will give you prompts and tell you where to write them down. You will write for the duration of that minute, allowing any and everything to come to the surface. No stopping. No editing. No judging. Before we begin, get a chapter in mind that you’d like to draft, then pause...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for questions . When do I know I have a book worth writing? When can we stop mapping and start writing? When is it done enough to give it to you for editing? When do I know it’s ready to share? - The truth about these questions and who can answer them - Tapping into your authorial audacity - What to do when you disagree with your edi...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for turning points. You might already be using "younger you" as a target reader. It’s the persona you can get closest to, and you almost undoubtedly learned or experienced the topic of your book before deciding to write it. “Younger you” is an excellent way to think about your most heavily impacted reader. But consider getting even m...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for core messages. - Naming the resistance the reader is facing - Noticing when you keep writing to the same type of resistance - Embracing your core message as an author Get free weekly book coaching right in your inbox, or upgrade your coaching access to include calls, office hours, and workshops. Get full access to B is for Book C...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for comparison . We're often told not to compare. Don't compare your page one to their end. Comparison is not good for you. Stop comparing. Comparison is the thief of joy. The thing is, it’s difficult to just stop something that’s happening on a subconscious level. - Intentional vs unintentional comparison - The purpose of comparison...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we're making space for five minute outlines. I have used an exercise called the Five Minute Outline for years now, both in my own practice as a ghostwriter and book coach and as I’ve taught others to navigate their own writing process. - What is a five minute outline - How to prepare for a meditative outlining exercise - Guided five minute outline for a...

Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for change . When your book falls somewhere between a calling card and a calling, what you're really writing for is change. The change in your reader, the change in your world, and the change in how you see yourself and your work. - Writing a pitch for the world you want to see. - Balancing the problem that inspired the book with the...

Welcome to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for the power of writing. Jennie Nash recently said, "Books help us know the past and imagine the future," in response to the question "Do you believe that books can save us?" To take that a step further, it’s the process of writing a book that I believe will actually save us. Here's how. (Get free weekly book coaching right in your inbox...

Welcome to B is for Book Coach! Today, we’re creating space for audience-building. This era of publishing has created its own chicken and egg dilemma: does a book build an audience or does an audience justify a book? Neither is technically wrong. But it's only a dilemma if we treat the book as a standalone product to be sold, rather than a top-of-funnel invitation to a larger journey. - What publi...

Today, we’re creating space for the journey. Anne Lammot wrote, “I’m grateful for good writing in the way that I’m grateful for the ocean.” I feel this, deep in my bones, and I want you to, as well. - We journey toward what matters to us most - Good writing isn’t what you think - “I’m grateful for good writing in the way that I’m grateful for the ocean.” - Your journey led you here, and I'm so gra...

Today, we’re creating space for non-writers. As our very first episode, I'm honored to create this space for and with everyone who feels drawn to the idea of writing a book and has a story or message that needs to be heard. Especially if you aren't interested in becoming a full-time author. Here's what we'll cover: - Not all authors are writers - No one can author your book FOR you - The process,...