Writing Coaching
Whether you’re a new writer or an experienced author of many books, a first-generation college student, a PhD candidate working on your dissertation or an established scholar writing for publication, if you’re seeking accountability, support, feedback, and tools to raise your writing to the next level, I’d love to work with you as your coach.
Drawing upon my 20+ years of experience teaching writing and working individually with writers, I’ll help you map out an individual writing coaching plan tailored to your unique project and needs. I’ve developed tools to free your creativity and get the words out of your head and onto the page. Whether you want to write, but life always seems to get in the way, you have anxiety around writing and can’t get past the blank page, or have so many ideas you’re not sure which to develop, I’m here to offer support, feedback and concrete tools to transform the strengths you already have into writing superpowers.
Happy to support your work on:
- book-length manuscripts: novels, memoir, children’s books, non-fiction (I’m likely the best fit if your fiction leans literary, rather than genre)
- stories and articles: journalism, short fiction, lyric essays, op-eds, etc.
- academic and scholarly writing theses, dissertations, journal articles and papers; at college level: all subjects. At the graduate level: social sciences, humanities and law
- poetry, including individual poems, micro chapbooks, chapbooks, organizing collections
- residency, fellowship and grant applications
- non-profit writing: grants, fundraising materials and funder reports, stakeholder communications, employee manuals, training materials
- academic writing: specializing in first-generation college and graduate students, ELL, PhD students working on scholarly articles and dissertations, established scholars interested in invigorating their writing practice, or publishing in new markets or forms.
- business writing: reports, employee handbooks, speeches, client communications, website copy
- support for English language learners: many years’ experience supporting scholars, C-Suite execs and others who may be fluent in conversational English, but will benefit from support for written materials, speech-writing, etc.
Make an appointment for a free consultation.
Editing & Ghostwriting Services
In addition to offering writing coaching services for writers, I also edit manuscripts and documents solo. Please note that this service is only available for texts and manuscripts that will not be used to determine a course grade or confer a degree. For support for academic writing for credit, please refer to writing coaching services.
- Editing: Individual editorial consultation for works in progress and completed manuscripts, developmental (big picture) editing of book-length works, articles and essays, including memoir, fiction and poetry manuscripts
- Ghostwriting: speeches, business communications, non-fiction, self-help, memoir, wedding vows, love letters, website copy
Clients Describe Lee’s Writing Coaching & Editing Services
After decades working in architecture and sustainable agriculture, for my second act, I applied to doctoral programs in Geography. First, I worked with Lee to secure admission to my first-choice PhD program at UC Davis. Once I was accepted to the program, Lee showed me how to navigate the largely unfamiliar language of academia, without losing my unique perspective and voice as a woman of color and elder. During my first few terms at Davis, Lee and I worked together on academic writing, including how to structure a scholarly essay, make a powerful argument, revise drafts, and integrate sources into the text. Although I’d long known how to write effective and very detailed architectural reports, I’d never written the kind of scholarly papers I was now producing, so having Lee’s guidance was key in my success. In addition to modeling the forms and language my studies now required, Lee taught me how to bring myself into the essays, to create a narrative weave of personal aspirations, research interests and story.
Working with Lee gave me the confidence to put my ideas on the page, and know that my work is worthy of consideration and review as a matter of scholarly inquiry. As a teacher, Lee knows how to give support, and offers real tools to use, including persuasive writing techniques gleaned from her legal training. She helped me assess projects, plan my approach, and translated what professors might be thinking or asking for with their assignments. As a burgeoning academic, I am grateful for Lee’s help in surviving the gauntlet of my first two quarters as a PhD student. As a woman of color navigating a system and language that developed to exclude people like me, I needed the tools Lee provided to interpret what I was being asked to do, so that I could show up powerfully in a place where folks like me have traditionally been underrepresented or entirely excluded. If you are looking for guidance and accountability to thrive in graduate or professional school, Lee will support you with expertise, humor and genuine investment in your well-being and success.
Leslie Geathers, Senior Project Manager ▷Architecture and Design, Educator, Agroecologist, Geography PhD Candidate, UC Davis
“Lee is a terrific writing coach and editor. Her gift is helping people get out of their heads and onto the page. She’s not only a gifted and talented editor, but she’s really fun to work with and very knowledgeable about the writing process.
I’m a journalist with two decades of high profile international experience as a reporter, and teach writing and journalism skills, but Lee was still able to offer me new tools for writing reflective essays, very helpful in developing my memoir in progress. I even used one of the essays we developed together as a writing sample for a successful application to a writer’s retreat in Paris, including a scholarship! I highly recommend Lee’s services for writers!”