Here’s my best quick writing advice:
tell the truth.
don’t give up.
have fun.
Ok yes, I’m Megan. I’m a writer and f*ckin’ friendly writing coach.
In a sliding scale private Zoom session, we can talk frankly about your writing goals, creative challenges, habits, and strengths.
I’ve been writing for 20 years. Let me save you some time.
WRITING is for EVERYONE.
A love letter.
A wedding toast.
A eulogy.
An apology.
None of us get through life without having something that we need to write.
And somehow, when we really need to, we do.
Ok, everyone writes.
But can everyone write SOMETHING that MATTERS?
Yes.
I really mean this.
Everyone I’ve worked with, from teens to elders to hobbyists to six-figure earners, can write something amazing. A book, a script, a poem, an essay, a song that matters not just to friends and family, but to other people.
Your writing can matter to total strangers.
Even if it’s your first time.
(And if you’re a burned out pro? Don’t quit. You can feel it all. You can write it all.)
So if we CAN all do this, why DON’T we?
It’s a skill issue.
Writing is no more or less technical than cooking, sewing, building a backyard shed, restoring a vintage car, cutting hair, or growing a vegetable garden. (But I think it’s a lot more fun.)
Those things take skills. Writing’s no different. You don’t have to be able to cook every kind of dish to be a good cook. You don’t need every creative skill to be a great writer. Truly, it’s the more the merrier: when you learn more, you can do more and you can succeed more often. I’m still learning new writing skills and I’ll never stop, because they make me more effective.
If you want to write stuff that will matter to strangers, try building your skills.
Confidence is a skill.
Technique is a skill.
Focus? Follow-through? Semi-colons? Voice? Impact? Revision? Making something unforgettable? Knowing when to cut a paragraph short? Skills.
You can sweat your way into these skills on your own,
but I think I can make it easier.
It’s hard to describe yourself, but journalists have called me “one insightful and confident woman” with “searing smarts…and a seemingly bottomless capacity for feeling.”
That’s how I write and that’s how I coach.
I want to help you write something
that ONLY YOU could ever write.
But that’s not the only reason I coach.
Look. I’m a writer who coaches, not a coach who writes. I first got paid for writing at age 16 and haven’t really stopped. My work has been commissioned by the Kennedy Center, published in McSweeney’s, recorded on a GRAMMY-nominated album, and earned over a million pageviews in a calendar year. (Plus, there’s my books and video game stories.)
I’ve been writing professionally for over 20 years and currently average 50,000 brand new words a month, but I’m still not burned out. I’m the opposite of burned out.
I want everyone
to get to feel
how I do about writing.
Writing has gotten me friends, lovers, money, a lot of branded coffee mugs from now-defunct arts institutions, free international airfare, invitations to some real weird parties, backstage stadium access to interview champion athletes, entry to the semi-secret rare books basement of the British Library…. plenty of great stuff has come into my life through writing, but what matters most is how writing has changed me.
I’ll never stop writing. It makes me more alive. Put words to the world and it becomes deeper, bigger, and more fascinating. Writing helps me love the world more.
Every time I write, I learn to attend. To notice more. To appreciate better. To care.
I THINK ALL OF US SHOULD CARE MORE ABOUT THE WORLD.
Writing is a really great shortcut to making that happen.
No matter what you write about (love, death, justice, your dog) you’ll end up caring more about it through the process of finding the words.
The more we write, the more we’ll care.
That’s why I coach.
Plus, we need your story.
Every voice I’ve worked with as a writing coach, from unhoused folks to middle-class moms to C-Suite executives, has something unique to give. We need all of it. All of the perspectives. All of the humanity.
We have to care more about each other.
Writing is a REALLY great shortcut to making that happen.
Deeply supportive and RESPECTFUL writing coaching can be especially vital for writers whose identities (like mine) are statistically underrepresented in US mainstream creative media and publishing. (This certainly includes LGBTQIA2S+ folx, people of the global majority, neurodivergent people, visibly and invisibly disabled people, larger-bodied people, people with working class or poverty class experiences, and all women.) This stuff matters even when our work is not explicitly about our identities. Your perspective means everything.
Does a “private writing coach” sound out of your price range? Your income level isn’t a barrier.
All my sessions are sliding scale and limited full scholarships are available.
How do we start?
We meet on Zoom for an hour.
(Ok, look. Some private writing coaches start with a free 15-or-20-minute discovery call, but I don’t love that “will we/won’t we” sales tension. Let’s do one hour of REAL WORK as our first meeting, yeah? If it sucks, at least you committed hard!!!!!!! Commitment is good for writing and good for the soul.)
We do a session. Sixty minutes.
You’ll tell me what you need. If you’re not sure, we’ll find out together.
How often do we meet?
Whenever you want. After one session, maybe you want to come back. Maybe you keep coming back. No packages, no strings.
Most folks like meeting monthly-ish as they work towards and achieve a major writing goal (like a finished script or publication-ready project.) But not every writer wants that! I also love writers who drop in every once in a while for tactical support when they need it; a handful of sporadic sessions over a couple of years. Some folks are one-offs; it’s exhilarating when I watch a writer get everything they need from me to reboot their writing practice in one single session.
However it ends up, it’ll start the same way: sixty minutes together.
Let’s see what an hour with me can do for you.
Get unstuck from a block, ask a few career/process/wildcard questions and get respectful honest answers, or tune up some key pages on a big project.
One hour could change your writing practice forever.
Megan, do you edit my work?
If you’ve sent me pages, I’ll arrive with line-by-line (and big picture) comments to support your growth.
We’ll upgrade your technique… seek out places where your power is hiding between the lines… and help you become more skillfully intentional in your product and in your process. (I love applying practical cognitive science about memory, emotion, and creativity to give you a creative advantage!)
Yes, we’ll work on your current project; it’ll get stronger as we pay it attention; but I’m not a development editor or “book coach.” I’m focused on your lifelong writing skills.
What if I’m blocked?
When you come to a session feeling blocked or uninspired, we’ll sort out what’s going on… and what to f*ckin’ DO about it.
We’ll dig in. All the way down to grappling with major creative anxieties (if we have to) so we can find safe ways to ease you back to writing. Return to the page with new tools that work for you.
Neuroscience shortcuts for reaching a flow state. Unexpected workarounds. Practical strategies. Mindset shifts. Sneak attacks. Big, small; no tactic left behind.
(It’ll be fine. I’ve been through those cycles of guilt and shame and frustration about not writing, and it didn’t kill my career. Let’s get you out.)
What does this all cost?
It costs what you can afford. All my sessions are sliding scale. (If even my lowest rate is too high: please email me and say “I’m interested in a gift session” to get the most current information about my schedule and waitlist. I have limited free coaching spots supported by generous donors and I want to give you one if you need it, because your income isn’t your value.)
As a writing coach, I’ll make you one promise.
I can’t promise that you’ll churn out a bestseller, that you’ll win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, or even that you’ll keep writing. Maybe during our session, you’ll realize you’re actually ready to quit because you’ve been trying to meet someone else’s expectations by becoming a writer and you’d rather paint houses or build LEGO® cities. I can’t promise you a specific outcome.
But I can promise this:
I won’t treat you like a student who it’s my job to mold or instruct during our conversations about your writing habits, your challenges, your goals, your questions, or your creative blocks.
I’ll treat you like a genius, with all the respect and rigor and love and excitement that word suggests. Because when you write, you are one.
Sliding Scale Writing Coach
I offer three price tiers (Luxury, Standard, and Economy) as an ethical business practice.
Please book your session at the rate that feels appropriate for you.
I accept bookings up to 30 days in advance.
LUXURY
Higher-priced “luxury” sessions directly support additional writing mentorship for vital voices without financial resources.
Share your abundance with structurally oppressed voices (like unhoused writers, folks with disabilities that limit their earnings, and elders on fixed incomes with untold stories.)
STANDARD
Market rate “standard” sessions are my mainstay as a writing coach. Let me serve you sustainably.
ECONOMY
Lower-priced “economy” sessions increase access for writers with limited financial resources.
Your income level is not your value.
If the economy rate is still a hardship, you may qualify for free coaching thanks to generous donors.
If you need that, just email me and say “I’m interested in a gift session.” That’s all you gotta say. We’ll sort it out. As someone with lived poverty-class experiences who has benefited from similar generosity in the past, I will treat you with respect for your privacy and gratitude for your time as we arrange your support.
Thank you for writing.
Tell the truth, don’t give up, and have fun.
(Excited about coaching but not sure about me? Here’s more about me.)