Writing Anxiety Got Your Tongue?
Kate Godfrey discovered her passion for writing when she was just a young girl. Like many writers, she had always dreamed of living the author lifestyle, but didn’t know how to make this dream a reality.
Before I met Kate, she was reaching a point in her life where she wanted to take her writing seriously; to finally make writing her career. With so many workshops and writing groups available, knowing where to start was confusing.
Kate, however, was determined to become a professional writer. In fact, she had been a quiet lurker of my Facebook writing group, Write to Publish and Sell Your Novel, for many weeks before she finally decided to contact me. We got on a call and talked about her writing and publishing goals for the future.
Annalisa was really good at laying out the process during the initial call, which helped alleviate my anxieties. The fact that she is also selective about the writers who join her Writing Gym–as writers are selective about who they want their writing coach to be–felt like a really collaborative process. This gave me the confidence to say, ‘Okay, this program is worth it.’ The encouragement that came from that felt like the world.
After the call, Kate accepted my invitation to join the Writing Gym. Getting feedback from an expert is very different from getting comments from a friend. However, our feedback is so much more rewarding because we tailor it to the writer’s personal writing progress–to their strengths and growth areas.
The biggest challenge for Kate was creating multi-dimensional characters. She struggled with deciding how they communicate and developing their arc. Kate found that the ability to speak with me about her ideas–and to have these ideas discussed, analyzed, and validated–gave her the confidence not only to develop her character but also to trust her own instincts as a writer.
One of the big messages I got from Annalisa is that my work is my work. Annalisa is there to help me make my writing better, but she isn’t there to put her voice on my work.
Through positive and constructive criticism Kate finished her first novel and confidently advanced in the revision process.
At the Writing Gym, we help writers to hone their skills, trust their own strengths, and develop and enhance their own voice. We are not here just for this one character in your book or this one novel you’re trying to write–we are here to help you live your author lifestyle.
The Writing Gym is a university for real life writing. The Writing Gym will have a program for you, depending on where you are at your writing journey. Besides the education, there is also an encouraging writing community and an emotional support system with Annalisa and her team. It’s a very positive immersive experience in excellence. All life coaching comes from within. The way that Annalisa designed this program brings that positivity out from the inside. I have to look for what’s good in my writing, what there is to celebrate. This kind of positivity isn’t toxic because we can always find a silver lining even when we don’t see it at first. It’s training me to support myself.
If you are finally ready to take your writing seriously and take the steps to live that author lifestyle you dream of, then the Writing Gym may be the right fit for you. I’ve opened some time over the next couple of weeks to talk with writers who are serious about their craft. You can book yourself directly into my calendar, and we hop on a call to talk about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.
