Writing Coach
As a writing coach of 30 years' experience, I work with people from all walks of life and every kind of organisation – businesses, civil service, law, management consultancy, universities and charities. The people I coach usually want to develop their thinking, write in a more enticing or reader-friendly way, and become more visible in their field.
I first developed this expertise in the 1980s when I spent three years working as a 'communications specialist' with McKinsey in London, helping their consultants with reports and presentations to clients. I've continued to develop my approach ever since, not least by writing my doctoral thesis on "the part played by writing in the organisational conversation".
I first developed this expertise in the 1980s when I spent three years working as a 'communications specialist' with McKinsey in London, helping their consultants with reports and presentations to clients. I've continued to develop my approach ever since, not least by writing my doctoral thesis on "the part played by writing in the organisational conversation".
Help with structureMost people I work with want to get better at organising their thinking logically, whether they are working on presentations, board papesr, policy documents, strategic plans, web pages, articles for publication or anything else. With most of these, the best structure for busy readers is ‘conclusion first’.
I don’t need prior knowledge of the subject being written about, as I am trained to see the logical structure in any piece of writing. |
Help with styleChanging an adult's writing style can be hard (as Barbara Minto pointed out years ago in her book, The Pyramid Principle). Nevertheless I often help people to construct better sentences, either by making suggestions on a draft, or by editing it directly. I also encourage 'freewriting' to liberate people's thinking.
My aim as a coach is to enable people to learn the skills of writing and self-editing. But, where appropriate, I can draft text based on recorded interviews with the author. |
Giving your writing
|
Suggested reading: "Several short sentences about writing" by Verlyn Klinkenborg.
Creative non-fiction writing
In recent years I have got more and more interested in what some call "creative non-fiction" and I am now helping my clients explore more imaginative forms of writing. This might mean the writer drawing on their own life experience, taking inspiration from scenes in fiction and biography, including multiple voices and dialogue, and using metaphor to bring concepts to life.
Making use of stories and case studies
We all know that stories can make all the difference to a piece of writing. In another strand of my work, I practise as a ‘narrative writer’, and I am more than happy to share my experience of this fascinating subject.
|
"A good story and a well-formed argument are different natural kinds. Both can be used as means for convincing another. Yet what they convince of is fundamentally different: arguments convince one of their truth, stories of their lifelikeness.” Jerome Bruner, Actual Minds, Possible Worlds (1986) |