Working with a Coach

I'm working with a creativity coach. No, I'm not paying for it--they were looking for volunteers to work with coaches who were taking extra training in creativity coaching (see www.ericmaisel.com). My coach is from Norway and writes absolutely perfect English. I have no sense of who/what she's about because the focus is meant to be on me, and any round-about questions I might ask about her are subtley deflected. Which in and of itself is very interesting--I am so used to concentrating on the other person that this feels quite strange.

One of her first suggestions, after getting a sense of my process, was to get up earlier and write before work. She feels I might be very surprised by the "quality" of my ideas first thing in the morning before I've given away most of my energy to work and family. I will try it. But maybe not right now. Life is really stressful at the moment, and I don't think I need the added stress of trying to wake up earlier.

Plus in a few more weeks it might be a bit lighter earlier...or at least there will be the suggestion of dawn on the horizon. And maybe a little warmer, too. We're keeping the house at 66 during the night to save money and our sinuses. Although one can program the thermometer so perhaps I could just change it.

Starting Over

Last week was something of a wash. My writing coach and I exchange our goals at the beginning of the week and then review them to see how we've done at the end of the week. Unfortunately I did not accomplish any of my goals.

On the other hand, I did stop to do some more background work--fixing plot problems, doing character sketches, etc. I think it is going to make for a stronger story. It means starting over, but there are bit and pieces I can keep.

I hope this isn't my internal editor's way to getting me to stop and smell the revisions! I started this determined to push forward without going back to edit.