Creative Coaching

I want to tell you a personal story.

After my brother died, I was unable to write for four years. Anytime I thought about writing or creating of any kind, I felt repelled by an invisible force, blocking me from attempting it. I’m not entirely sure, then, why I signed up for a Playwriting class in graduate school, but that’s where I found myself.

One of the first assignments was to write 25 pages of stream of consciousness over the weekend–the same weekend that was the anniversary of my brother’s death. I froze in panic, feeling like I had made a terrible mistake.

I arranged to chat with the professor, and to my horror my eyes filled with tears as I sought to explain the situation to this man I had only met once or twice before.

I’ll never forget the look of kindness in his eyes as he said the surprising words that I didn’t know I most needed to hear: “You’re safe.”

That weekend I squared off with the blinking cursor and the blank page, writing my thoughts down in horrifying brutality, typing through tears for about the first 8 or 9 pages.

Then something surprising happened.

My thoughts and emotions calmed and beautiful, tranquil memories I had forgotten floated to the surface.

That summer I wrote a one-act play in the class. The next year I wrote a novel. The following year I wrote a feature length screenplay. Then I began a multi-year translation project, translating a 19th century French oratorio to sung English, and later producing, arranging and premiering it with friends.

The version of me who stood awkwardly in tears in a crowded cafeteria could never have envisioned the conductor in a sparkly evening gown, preparing to fill a crowded auditorium with music.

Creative resistance can be a powerful and debilitating force,
particularly when you’re facing it alone.

And you don’t need to face it alone.

Creative Coaching is a collaborative space to figure out what’s getting in the way of your creative work, and find a way forward.

Maybe you have a project you've been dreaming about for years, but you can't seem to get started.

Maybe you've started, but you're stuck.

Maybe you have ten ideas and no idea which one deserves your attention.

Maybe you've been rejected so many times that putting your work back into the world feels almost impossible.

Or maybe you have a clear vision in your head, but need help organizing its creation into tangible action steps.

Creative coaching combines mindset work with practical support to help you move through the resistance between having an idea and bringing it into the world.

We'll look together at what’s holding you up, and make a plan to break through the resistance.

This might look like:

Identifying what's actually keeping you from moving forward
Clarifying what you want to create and why it matters to you
Breaking a daunting project into smaller, achievable steps
Developing strategies for working with fear, perfectionism, procrastination, rejection, or overwhelm
Creating realistic goals and timelines that work with your life
Finding ways to reconnect with your creative energy when you've lost touch with it
Building structures and practices that help you keep moving between sessions

And of course, lots of celebration along the way as you make progress.

How we'll work together

I'm currently developing Creative Coaching as a new offering, and I'll be inviting a small group of creatives to participate in a beta experience.

Coaching will be available in packages of 1-12 sessions, with the exact structure and frequency tailored to your goals and project.

Some people may need a single breakthrough conversation. Others may benefit from several weeks or months of ongoing support as they move through a larger project.

Think of it as a creative doula, collaborative partner, and occasional project manager in your corner; someone who can help you zoom out when you're lost in the weeds.

Be among the first

Creative Coaching is currently in development, and I'm looking for a small group of early participants to help me test and refine the experience before the full offering launches. As a beta participant, you'll have the opportunity to work with me at a special introductory rate and help shape the coaching framework as it develops. If this sounds like the kind of support you've been looking for, I would love to hear from you.