You Took the Course. You Did the Work. So Why Aren’t You Done Yet?

The truth about what gets books finished (hint: it’s not another course).

I remember the first time I realized something was wrong with the first draft of my novel.

I was in my late 20s. I’d just finished a rigorous class that helped me outline my novel in a way that sort of felt like it fit with my process (that’s a big fat question mark). 

Finally, I would have a first draft that wasn’t a tangled mess of creativity meets imagination meets Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I’d have something clean. Clear. Straightforward to revise into the novel I’d been dreaming of writing.

It was 2007. And I didn’t realize it, but I had completely lost my way.

I’d followed the outline. Sure.
Taken the course. You bet!
Checked every box on someone else’s roadmap to “writing success.” Definitely.

And when I finally typed “The End,” I expected to feel proud. Triumphant.
Like I’d finally done the thing! I wrote a full-length novel!

Instead?

I handed it to my #1 fan. Someone who always adored my stories. I waited for the glow. Surely she would be gobsmacked. Mind blowned. She would praise me and all my brilliant creative glory!

I could hear the angels singing already. The trumpets blasting! A pedestal with my name on it in gold!

What I got was:

It was… boring.

I was crushed.

The structure was solid. The plot hit every beat. I rifled through the pages, looking for what was wrong.

But the truth was? 

I agreed with her. It was boring.

Where was the spark? Where was the soul? Where was the… connection?

I had followed the formula so closely, I lost sight of what I wanted to say. I’d lost my vision and my voice.

That moment broke me open. It told me I wasn’t made for outlines. It told me I needed to write by the seat of my pants and suffer through a messy first draft revision and endless rewrites (the book I’m talking about? 7 complete rewrites and 12 years working on it off and on before it got published).

It wasn’t that I couldn’t finish a novel.
It was that I couldn’t feel proud of what I’d finished.
And I desperately wanted to be proud of what I’d written.

So I tossed the outline.
Let myself explore. Get lost. Find my voice again.

Deprogrammed what I thought I needed to know to write a novel.

That book?
It became The Blood of Seven. A book I am so proud of to this day.

Here’s the thing though. Most of my clients? They never made it that far.

Yet.

Not because they didn’t care. Not because they weren’t trying.
But because they got stuck somewhere along the way on someone else’s path to The End. A path that might work for some, but not for them.

And when you’re staring down a rigid structure or a so-called “fail-proof” process, feeling unsure or overwhelmed, the message your inner voice most often whispers is: You must be doing it wrong.

But you’re not.

Behind every published author are a handful (or more) of abandoned manuscripts (it can’t just be me, right?).

Not because the writer wasn’t “serious” enough.

But because the system wasn’t built for how they think.
How they create.
How they connect.

When you get stuck before the story even got going, or you tried to force your idea into someone else’s framework and lost your way, come inside, dearie. Take a breath and a seat.

Want some tea? (We’re all mad here…)

You never did anything wrong. You just haven’t been taught that your connection to your story is what makes all the difference. Not yet, anyway.

Let’s change that.

What Writing Taught Me About Coaching

That experience changed the way I write and eventually, the way I coach.

Because I’ve seen it again and again: writers with incredible ideas, powerful voices, and a deep desire to finish a book they’re proud of… getting lost in someone else’s process.

That is one of the main motivators behind my desire to coach authors. That is why I created the coaching programs I did and why I always start with helping novelists reconnect with the story they actually want to tell. 

After years of false starts, courses that didn’t click, or group programs that left them feeling more confused than confident, feedback they didn’t know how to incorporate, or even if they should…

Despite all that. I still get this question: 

How is working with you different from the programs I’ve already tried?

It’s a super valid question, and makes total sense. Especially if a writer has taken a course before, or worked with a coach who wasn’t me 🙃 and learned the hard way that it takes a special kind of person to understand the real reason they’re stuck. 

Someone who can see what’s truly getting in their way… even when they can’t quite name it yet.

Someone who knows how to meet them exactly where they are… even if they’re not totally sure where that is.

That’s the kind of support I needed back then.
And that’s exactly the kind I now offer to the writers who come to me.

Because a lot of them have already invested in themselves. They’ve taken the course from an author they admire. They’ve joined the group program with the promise of structure and momentum. They’ve shown up, done the work…

And still, something felt off.

They didn’t finish. Or they did—but they still had doubts.

That’s not failure. It’s a signal that you may need a different kind of support.

So in this article, I’m going to answer the question head-on and explain exactly why the kind of coaching I offer is different from anything you’ve tried before. 

Ready to have your mind blown? Got your tea? LET’S GO!

Coaching Isn’t a Course. It’s a Relationship.

Courses and programs often follow a fixed path. But writing a novel? That’s a deeply personal, often nonlinear journey.

That’s why the support you receive deserves to be just as personal and tailored to where you are, what you need, and how you work best.

My coaching is built around that. Around you. It’s not about pushing you through a system or rigid framework. It’s about walking alongside you helping you shift, grow, and flow into your own way and your own path toward The End.

When we work together, you’re getting me, in your corner (and often in your back pocket!), asking good questions, and helping you find your way through the fog.

When we work together, you’ll feel:

• ✨ Seen and heard as a writer from minute one.
• ✨ Supported through every twist and tangle of your process, mindset, and story development.
• ✨ Like you have a partner who believes in your story as much as you do (maybe even more!)

And this isn’t just praise and pep talks! Though there will definitely be plenty of those.

I’m a certified book coach, trained to support the full arc of your creative process. From the doubt and resistance to the breakthroughs and clarity. My role isn’t to tell you what your story should be. It’s to help you bring forward the story it’s ready to become.

A Writer-First, Story-Centered Approach

If you’ve ever taken a course on how to write a novel, you’ve likely been presented with a plethora of structures, beat sheets, plot points, pacing frameworks, that dictate where to put what, where, and when. 😵‍💫

Structure can be helpful. But it can’t carry a story that isn’t connected to something deeper.

What I’ve seen time and time again is writers forcing their little baby bird of an idea into a structure too soon. The result? They often lose touch with their vision of their story. Their sense of connection falls to the wayside. The story becomes something they don’t even recognize anymore.

A stranger.

And they lose the thread of what made them fall in love with the story idea in the first place.

When you work with me, I help you get that back. I’m all about empowering and uplifting every writer I work with. It’s about helping you unlearn what you’ve been told you must do and reconnecting you with the heart of why you write, and why you want to write the story that’s burning in your soul.

Not what a bestseller told you to write. Not what your college professor praised. But you. Your wild, messy, wonderful creative spark. Your creative fire. 🔥

It’s about rediscovering the joy in your process, making space for creative freedom, and finding the story you actually want to tell. Not just the one you think you’re supposed to.

We begin with you.

Your voice. Your vision. Your pace. Your ultimate goals.

My coaching is about you first. Your story comes second.

It’s a relationship. A partnership. A two-way conversation. An open door. A creative practice.

And that’s what makes all the difference.

She Did Everything “Right.” But Something Still Felt Wrong.

Why Structure Alone Is Never Enough

Case in point. I’ve had two clients come to me in the past year (at the time of writing this) who either took a group novel-writing program or were actively enrolled in one, because they weren’t getting everything they needed.

One client hired me mid-program. The structure was there. The deadlines were clear. But the support? It was one-size-fits-all. She needed a place to talk through her perfectionism. A partner who could help her unravel her mindset blocks, not just push through them.

She came to me for that deeper support. For breathing room. For encouragement tailored to her. Even though she had a hot seat with the program creator… she still sought me out.

Another client came to me after finishing a “novel in 90 days” program. She had a full draft but couldn’t tell if it worked. The feedback she’d received was full of praise but light on insight. She doubted it. 

She didn’t want compliments. She wanted clarity.

It turns out, her story premise was strong.

But most of the emotional depth she thought she’d written never made it onto the page. 

Through our work together, she reconnected with the heart of her story. Now? That character is unmistakably alive. My client is becoming the writer she always dreamed of being. She’s excited to revise this story, to make it stronger, to give it life.

Group programs can work well for some people. But the writers I work with need more than access. They need a safe, steady, encouraging presence. Someone who can reflect their story back to them with clarity and care. They need time. Space. A guide who truly sees them. Even someone who knows their story more deeply than they do (true story!).

My clients aren’t looking for fast. They’re looking for real.

That’s why my coaching is built for you. 

When you work with me, you get my undivided support, every step of the way. No sharing attention or generalized feedback. No waiting your turn for a hot seat for 1:1 coaching. It’s all you, all the time.

Every session. Every page. Every breakthrough and breakdown.

We build from a foundation of connection—to the story, to the process, and to the identity of the writer you’re becoming. To your writing process. To finding joy again. Passion.

I’m not just another person telling you what you should do (because I won’t. Not without permission anyway). 

I’m a mirror.

A cheerleader.

A story-whisperer. 

I hold space for the messy middle, the stuck scenes, the “what if I’m not cut out for this?” moments and everything in between and tangential!

My Signature Brand of Encouragement & Enthusiasm™ isn’t a show or an act. It’s just who I am. It’s how we cut through the doubt. How we keep going when the going gets tough. 

How we bring joy back to the process.

But it isn’t all I bring…

Alongside the cheers and genuine enthusiasm, I bring a curiously critical eye. A knack for spotting what’s really going on under the surface of your story. I won’t just hand you a fix or tell you what to do. Instead, I’ll ask the kinds of questions that help you find the heart of the issue. Often with unexpected Eureka! moments that change everything.

Together, we’ll play creative detectives. We’ll poke at motivations, explore contradictions, and dive into the emotional undercurrents that drive your characters and your plot. We’ll try on what-if after what-if until something clicks–really clicks–and your story starts to breathe on its own again.

Because your vision is more important to me than my own best ideas. It’s about helping you bring your vision to life, with clarity, conviction, and that unmistakable spark of “this is it.”

I once had a client who started her revisions with a clearer connection to her character than ever before. That connection was so strong, so instinctive, she began adding in moments of foreshadowing without even realizing it. When I pointed it out in our session, she was shocked. “I didn’t even mean to do that,” she said. “But it’s perfect.”

That’s the kind of creative magic that happens when you’re truly plugged into your story. When you’re supported. Seen. Safe enough to explore the depths of your imagination, and to be surprised by what emerges.

My presence, my passion for your story, and my belief in you help unlock the kind of creative magic that surprises even you and makes you want to keep showing up for yourself and your story.

Because when someone truly sees you, hears you, and stands beside you… it changes everything.

As one client put it: 

Overall, my favorite part of the program has to be you. Thank you for being you.

So maybe you need some extra support… 

If you’re wondering how to choose the right kind of support for your writing journey, here’s what I believe matters most:

• A passion for helping writers find their voice, not just pushing a process
• Deep experience supporting the entire creative journey, not just one stage
• A presence that helps you feel seen, capable, and excited to keep going

Because writing is hard enough. You deserve someone in your corner who believes in you and knows how to help you believe in yourself.

Because what gets books finished isn’t hustle.

It’s honest, heart-centered, human-centric, connection-first support.

Not a beat sheet or a blueprint. A real connection, deep reflection, and a coach who won’t let you settle for “fine.”

That’s the kind of support I offer.

Feeling the pull for personalized support?

There’s one way to get started and two ways to get there. 😉

Either way, you’ll fill out an application and then we’ll hop on a Work Together call to talk about your story, your goals, and what kind of support would feel really good right now.

This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a real conversation. You, me, your story… an exploration of what kind of support would help you write the book you actually want to write. 

You know. The one burning in your soul? 😉

✨ Want an introvert-friendly way in?
Start with the application. It’s thoughtful, introvert-friendly, and gives you space to share what you’re working on. I’ll reach out with next steps and a link to book our call.

✨ Want to skip the back-and-forth?
Book your call here. You’ll fill out the same application first, but we’ll get your session on the calendar right away.

Either way…
You don’t have to figure it all out alone.
This time will be different.
Let’s make it count.

Want to read more about my coaching philosophy and values? Check out my manifesto here!