When you Google “writing a book” all you get is pictures of crisp paper, coffee cups, rays of sunshine ~LOL~
When I started writing my first book, the first thing I wanted to do was get it published.
Before I even wrote it!
What will my cover look like? Which major publishing houses are going to fight over it? And who is going to play me in the Hollywood movie version?
It consumed me. And maybe that was OK.
Picturing my future as an author was exciting and I couldn’t wait to soak in all the amazing things that could come along with it. The awards, the photo-ops, meeting Tom Hanks (because he would have to play my Dad in the movie version, of course).
But before you can start planning international book tours and guest appearances on celebrity TV shows, you have to actually write the damn thing.
I know that sounds pretty self-explanatory, but you’d be surprised how shocked I was by this fact.
To give you some perspective on the condition of my manuscript at the beginning of this journey, maybe just picture a room full of nonsensical sticky notes flying around with a window open during a tornado and only one of them actually tacked down to the wall.
It was utter chaos.
And let’s not forget the fact that I started writing the thing with a bleeding brain.
Because my health situation was so dire, that actually ended up motivating me to write faster. There’s nothing like a near-death situation to really get the creative juices flowing, amiright y’all?!
I didn’t really know what I was writing, but I knew that I needed to catalog what I was going through. If nothing else, maybe my parents could read it after I died and feel a little less shit about the fact that I was dead.
After it became clear that I wasn’t going to die (#blessed), well, that’s when the publishing fantasies really took off. I wrote whenever I had downtime, which was most of the day unless I was doing physical therapy or learning how to lock and unlock my wheelchair.
I don’t know how much of the book I produced in those early hospital days. Maybe 50 typed up pages or so, which was more than I’d ever written in my life.
Writing kind of went out the window when I left the hospital. I launched myself into becoming a teacher again which left absolutely zero space in my brain to think about that “book” I’d just been writing.
In the summer I exhaled and looked into hiring an editor. I can’t really say why I thought it was remotely time for this step, but I sort of thought my work was done, and maybe somebody else could take over and fix all my typos.
I used ThumbTack to post for an editor and got a few results back for people around Denver, one who looked really promising named Carolyn.
I messaged her and right away she requested the first chapter of my manuscript. We booked an in-person meeting to go over her edits for the next week and I cut her a check.
While she did do some lovely edits on my first chapter, she also needed to give me some bad news.
Gently, as if swaddling me in a weighted blanket, Carolyn told me that my book was not ready for an editor. Her specialty was in line-edits; or detailed grammar, syntax, and sentence structure. Sure, she could perform these kinds of edits on my work moving forward, but what the book actually lacked was any real cohesion.
In short, my book was kind of shit.
Of course, she didn’t say it that way. And she really did do a nice job with the section of the book I gave her. But I knew deep down that the book wasn’t ready for a simple polish for grammar. What it needed was an entire revamp.
This is why Carolyn suggested I meet with a book coach.
What is a Book Coach?
Oh, I’m so glad you asked!
While an editor might perform more notes and feedback on the text itself, a book coach is more concerned with the overarching big picture of the book.
The “why the hell is someone actually going to read this?” type of big picture.
While they may be experts in language or copywriting, they are also sort of a spiritual guru for your story. They’re the ones not only making sure that the puzzle gets finished, but that all the bits and pieces fit together perfectly.
They might be concerned with your character development over the entire manuscript, or what themes are emerging throughout, and if those themes speak to a particular audience.
So Why Do I Need a Book Coach, Mimi?
Contrary to popular opinion, authors don’t just pop out of the womb knowing everything they want to say and precisely how to say it.
Like doing one of those tricky yoga moves, you have to actually learn from those around you and practice stretching those muscles so you don’t rip your pants wide open.
Maybe you don’t do yoga. Maybe you’re a concert pianist or something. Cool. You also had a teacher or a “coach” who helped you when you got stuck or taught you a new way of doing your fancy skill.
Like me, you might need a book coach because you are full of amazing ideas and you have no idea how to get them out of your body and into one succinct book.
You might have characters in mind for a novel, or you have bullet points scattered in a notebook somewhere about that one time you spent a month on a dairy farm in Guatemala and you discovered yourself.
Shit, I don’t know! You might be sitting on the next binge-worthy book-turned-TV series, all in the confines of your splendid Lil’ noggin. The possibilities are endless, my friends!
OK, So Where Do I Find This Holy Book Shaman, or Whatever You Call It?
Another excellent question, you glorious vessel of insight!
Did you know that I, yes I, Mimi Hayes, am a book coach?!
How convenient is THAT, you guys?
I know I’m a complete cheeseball and everything, but I actually love working with fellow writers on their big ideas. I even enjoyed helping my high school students form full sentences back in the day and always tried to work creative writing into my history lessons.
I’ve been coaching book writing for a few years now, with clients as diverse as they come. Some of them are just looking for feedback on specific items (ie. “Is my main character likable?”) while others need help structuring their narrative which is scattered or might lack central themes to tie it all together.
So why me?
I mean why not me, you know what I’m saying?
Chances are, if you’ve gotten this far in this blog you at least like me a little bit. Or at least if you don’t, you’d never say it directly to my face (which I appreciate).
So why not trust me with helping you fine-tune your next big story?
Alright, I’m SOLD. What Does Your Book Coaching Look Like?
Wow, you are like a pro with these questions, I mean my goodness!
Like any good coach, I need to see what I’m working with here. That’s why I’ve got nifty 30-minute calls to start us out on this book-writing adventure.
During that first meeting, I’ll be asking you all about your writing goals, what you want your book to look like, and what kinds of writers inspire you. This allows me to see where you are right now in your journey, and pinpoint a path forward.
If you’re an expert yogi and I’m reviewing your completed manuscript, maybe I’ll task you with taking a crack at writing a query letter (a pitch letter for a literary agent) or a book proposal.
If you were like me back in 2014 and can barely touch your toes (literally and figuratively), I might give you a writing assignment or an opening prompt to see where your writing skills are at and help you shape some ideas.
And let me just tell you from my own experience: working with a coach…This shit really works!
When my editor rerouted me I was able to work with someone else who could look at the big picture of my book and help me find it when I didn’t know what the hell it was.
He asked me the hard questions and deeply analyzed the nature of my story. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I felt like I was in therapy (for me and the book).
He wasn’t so much interested in my surface-level humor (although he did enjoy it), but he really wanted to know why I was joking around in the first place about a near-death experience.
The feedback was always honest and our sessions helped me get to the heart of my story. After about a year working with him, I’d rewritten my book twice over and it was actually pretty damn good.
As it turned out, I was a pretty fast study. So when I called him a few years ago and said I wanted to do my own book coaching, he was thrilled!
OK, Final Thoughts on Writing a Book, Memes?
*walks to podium*
Listen, I’ll level with you. In summary, writing a book is very fucking hard.
Some authors make it look easy. I mean not me, personally, but definitely, some do make it look quite graceful. You might think writing a book is a straightforward process of copying your crystal-clear ideas onto a blank document for hours on end until ~POOF~ a book!
Yeah, I hate to break it to you. But that ain’t it.
What’s more accurate is years of groveling, writing, scrapping, drinking, returning to it and saying, “oh, hell, let’s give it another shot!” then a few more years making it look not so bad, all the while being ultimately consumed by a single idea you wrote on a sticky note 10 years ago (and now can’t seem to find) and somehow you just know in the depths of your stupid soul that this idea, yes, this idea can change the world.
And it can.
Your ideas can change the world.
You just have to be brave enough to write them down.
Holy shit, you guys. I think that’s the most profound thing I’ve ever said. Wow, I’m really impressed with myself considering the fact that I wrote “contrary to popular ONION” about an hour ago.
See? Progress, people. Progress.
OMG! I’M READY TO WRITE MY BOOK, MIMI, LET’S DO THIS!
A photo of me and my lovely book launching for all my fans for inspo ;)
I knew you’d come around and face your fears, you god damn literary legend!