Suddenly, and without conscious intent to make it happen, I find myself coaching three people who are writing books. I am not working with their content and not editing. I haven’t seen a single word that any of them has written and don’t want to. Here is my job with them:

keeping them on track
helping them overcome barriers and resistances
helping them find a process that works for them
stimulating their creative juices
helping them set managable goals
reminding them of why they are writing a book
offering methods to keep the creative process flowing
supplying an occasional gentle kick in the butt
sharing my own experience

It helps that, along with my coaching skill and experience, I also know a whole lot about how the creative process works.

I’m enjoying this immensely. One of the three began our last session frustrated and about ready to throw in the towel, and ended it in touch with a deeper level of passion for what he was writing and why he was writing it.

At the end of the session he said, “Damn! You’re good.”

He really knows good coaching, so I was pleased. Without a trace of hubris that I could discern, I said in reply, “I know.”

So if you are writing a book or plan to do so, and if you want someone to do all of the things listed above for you, send an e-mail and let’s talk about it.