A little support goes a long way.
Every writer struggles, but you don’t have to struggle alone. Working with a creative writing coach can help you get past blocks, be more productive, and proceed with confidence. Many writers who stop writing aren’t acutely aware of why they stopped. A book coach can help you discover the reason and help you move forward.
Our book coaches specialize in helping writers who have decided to write a story or a book for the first time. I help them with scene structure and composition, story structure, character development, and most importantly, I help them manage their expectations when it comes to what it takes to get through a first draft.
With a book coach, you can:
- Start writing again
- Learn to set reasonable, workable goals
- Learn which tools of the craft you’re missing such as structure, elements of scene writing, character arc/development, etc.
- Accountability
- Conquer creative blocks
- Understand why you feel your writing isn’t working
- Learn to move past fears
- Get unstuck
- Receive help with structure and character arc
- Improve your scene-writing skills
- Gain confidence
- Cope with anxieties surrounding your writing
- Learn ways to deal with your inner critic
Book a free discovery session so we can find out if we’ll be a good fit for each other. We can work together in person or online.
When you finish your first draft, I send you off with a rewrite plan. I can support you through this process as well if you wish.
Book Coaching Packages
We have several different coaching packages and ways of working with writers so that we have something for every budget. Every coaching situation is different, and while we do have standard packages, pricing can be dependent upon your specific needs.
One-on-One Book Development Coaching & Editing
This is my most intensive one-on-one coaching package, aimed at finishing your draft or rewrite. We meet regularly, and the writer produces more pages and gets feedback on those pages, with an eye toward forward movement and page generation rather than writing and rewriting the same scene or chapter over and over again.
We start by making sure your project is well structured, talk about character development and sub-plots, and when ready, you start scene work and receive scene notes that not only tell you what you are doing well and what needs work, but how to fix what isn’t working.
In these sessions, depending on the writer, we are talking about productivity and accountability, but most often I’m teaching the writer how to write better scenes and encourage productivity. This program is the best option for someone who wants to make quick progress, who is willing to commit to writing, and who either has a passion project or who is working toward becoming a career writer.
Monthly Coaching
The First Draft Incubator is a group coaching and private coaching hybrid program, wherein we meet online via group video conference twice a month, and you can choose to add on 2 hours of coaching per month wherein you can also receive professional feedback on scenes. This is a monthly membership group and is filled with motivated writers. Only a year in, we’ve had 11 writers each finish their first draft in this program. Our meetings consist of group coaching, educational sessions, and even guest speakers. Past guest speakers have included published writers, editors, book scouts, and even psychologists.
A Scene A Week Package
This coaching package is similar to my one-on-one coaching but is less intense. We meet for 30 minutes a week by phone or online video conference and get feedback on up to 10 pages per session. This package is suitable for people who need accountability and want to make consistent progress for a lower monthly price.
Editing
I have several editors whom I’ve selected to work with my clients, depending on the client’s needs. For people who have a draft and want a full edit, I ask that you schedule a consultation with me first, because often coaching can be a more productive and cheaper option, depending on the writer’s experience level.
Reading
If you want someone to read your book, and only give general notes – as opposed to detailed scene or line edits, to give you direction for your rewrite, we charge an hourly rate for this.
Short Story, Novel, and Memoir Editing
For those who have a final draft, we edit full stories or books for those who are not interested in coaching but who want a straight edit. Be aware that there are many different kinds of editors (developmental editors, line editors, copy editors, proofreaders, and ghost editors) and we can help you find the right editor for your project. We work with novels, memoirs, nonfiction, short stories, screenplays, and even stage plays.
Read Testimonials
Your future won’t change until you make a change right now. Take the first step today.
Book Coach Profiles
Nicole Criona
Number of clients who’ve completed drafts: 40
Specialties:
- Developmental Editing and First-Draft Coaching for Fiction, Memoir, Nonfiction, & Screenplays
- Creativity Coaching
- Productivity Coaching
- Scene Improvement
- Structure
- Writer’s blocks
Nicole Criona, a native Angeleno, is the current owner and co-founder of Los Angeles Writers Group (founded in 2003). She specializes in Developmental Editing and coaching fiction writers, nonfiction writers, and screenwriters who want to complete their first draft and has helped many writers finish drafts.
For more than fifteen years, she’s facilitated creative writing workshops and supported aspiring writers working on novels, screenplays, short stories, poetry, essays, and memoirs. She also runs the day-to-day operations of LAwritersgroup.com, leads several creative writing workshops in Los Angeles, San Diego, and online, coaching groups, and specializes in coaching writers who want to complete their first draft.
Nicole has helped more than 35 writers finish their first book draft, has been thanked in four books (so far!) and has three clients who are currently being considered by agents. Her newest program, 100 Days of Writing, was designed by Nicole, and she also authored the successful Get Writing Again in 15 Days email course.
While Nicole focuses mostly on helping writers, Nicole’s writing credits include poetry and fiction on Hissquarterly.com (Sanity is a One-Trick Pony issue), Strongverse.org, Six Sentences, and Narrative Magazine, among others. She is currently working on a novel and a non-fiction book. Read Nicole’s most recently published poem, Advice to an Angel About to Fall. She has also worked as a freelance writer.
Resa Alboher
Specialties:
- Writing coaching across genres and at all levels (beginner- professional) for literary fiction, memoir, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Young Adult, Middle School, Picture Books, general/creative non-fiction, essay, journalism, blogging, screenplay, writing for theatre, television writing, notebook writing, journaling, spiritual writing
- Beginner’s Writing Coaching (for those who want to learn to write, or have been away from writing for a long time)
- Writer’s Block coaching
- Editing services including reads, manuscript consults, critiques, developmental edits, line/copy edits
- Submission research
Resa Alboher is one of the founding editors of St. Petersburg Review. She is also a Springhouse Journal editorial board member, a book scout, and a book coach/manuscript consultant.
She’s a writer across genres whose publications include Roads & Kingdoms, Cosmonauts Avenue, Scapegoat Review, Black Heart Magazine, Rewire Me, Mango Salute, Have an NYC 2, Maintenant 5, and Radar Productions. She has books of fiction, essays, and poems in the works and a few screenplays hidden in the wings. Resa is a passionate, energetic, kind, and patient writing teacher and a long-time traveler with perpetual culture shock who lived twenty years in Russia where she worked with the legendary Summer Literary Seminars St. Petersburg and taught American Writing at the Humanities University in Moscow. She is in a kind of equivalent culture shock (but also a kind of cultural excitement) now that she is living back here in her native Los Angeles after so many years wandering the globe and discovering the vibrancy of LA anew.