Update: All three coaching package spots are taken but please use the form below if you want to be on the wait list.
For writers, students, and businesses
“Chivas really delivered…it was invaluable. I have absolute trust in her mind and heart.” Sherry Horton, author of Witness Chair: A Memoir of Art, Marriage, and Loss
Since 2006, I’ve helped independent women writers draft, edit, and publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry; helped students on the high school, undergrad, and graduate levels write essays that earn high grades, acceptances, scholarships, and awards; and helped businesses tell compelling stories that attract and engage customers.
Services for Writers
Manuscript critique and editing:
- Essays (short and longform)
- Nonfiction chapters and book projects (including memoir)
- Short fiction and novels
- Poetry (groups of poems and collections)
Developmental Editing—addresses big-picture issues such as structure, voice, tone, and pacing of each section or chapter, and the project as a whole.
Line Editing—addresses the craft of writing on the “micro” or sentence/line and paragraph level, such as style, clarity, concision, consistency, and syntax. Can include proofreading and formatting for publication.
Support for:
- Healing and recreating your relationship with writing
- The writing process from idea to publication
- Submitting to literary magazines, editors, and agents
- Applying for awards, fellowships, and retreats
- Preparing a nonfiction book proposal
- Choosing between a traditional or hybrid publisher
- Self-publishing (print and digital)
- Preparing the MFA application
- Social media basics and strategy
À la carte rate: $100 per hour
For writers who want support now or for an upcoming deadline without making an ongoing commitment. Please note that urgent support is dependent on my availability. For à la carte consults, I never overestimate my time. I round down. In addition, I offer complimentary time as needed to invest in my own learning curve with a new client.
Coaching/Consulting package rate: $500 per month
For writers who want to make significant ongoing progress and/or complete a project. 1-year, 6-month, and 3-month packages offer a substantially reduced rate for guaranteed support throughout your writing process. The package rate works out to half of my à la carte rate.
While all packages are based on the same month-long structure that the 1-year package provides, I tailor each package for your evolving needs.
Write Like a River 1-Year Coaching Package
Imagine having your own editor and coach who reads your work closely and provides consistent inspiration and feedback that is supportive and honest, specific, and helpful. You will receive feedback on the page and via phone calls and Zoom (or in person if possible). Explore new strategies to create and protect time to write, generate drafts, revise, complete, and publish. Receive resources and info tailored for you, including mini-tutorials and handouts on subjects ranging from craft to the business of writing.
Could this be right for you?
- Do you long for a breakthrough in your writing life? Do you want to start, make significant progress, or complete a project this year?
- Do you want to work with someone who is passionate about and dedicated to supporting the voices of women writers—a coach who prioritizes you, who commits substantial time and attention to reading, thinking about, and responding to your writing?
- Do you have some experience? Perhaps in professional, academic, and/or creative writing? Perhaps you have participated in writing workshops or a private writing group?
- Do you enjoy the challenge of the writing process? If not, would you be open to rediscovering it?
- Do you want and welcome balanced, honest, supportive feedback?
- Do you want to prioritize your writing? Are you willing to schedule time to write on a weekly basis and then keep your commitment to your writing? Are you willing to notice what gets in the way of writing–and strategize accordingly? Do you want to make changes in your life to protect your writing time?
- Are you willing to set goals based on what you want to accomplish over the course of a year? Do you want support in how to plan what you’ll write/revise on a monthly basis? Are you open to reconsidering your writing goals/plans?
How it works
- Overview: With solid support, you will create and maintain a writing practice while making steady progress on 1-2 projects. After each 3-week writing period, you send 15-25 pages of double-spaced prose or 6-12 pages of single-spaced poetry. During week 4, you receive an in-depth consultation which is scheduled so you get feedback in a timely manner while also having time to revise, research, and/or get started on your next section or chapter.
- Your coaching package begins with a 1-hour consultation. We discuss your relationship with writing, life/work balance, and the projects on which you want to focus. Together, we strategize around your strengths—as a person, as a writer—as well as your situational challenges and concerns. We identify your needs and goals, schedule your consultations, clarify your next steps, and design or upgrade your writing practice so that it works with your life and fits your project/s.
- During each 3-week writing period, you receive a 1-hour consult by phone (usually around week 2) to check in about any issues coming up in your writing practice, and/or challenges and progress on your manuscript. If needed, you can also ask questions by email.
- For each consultation, you send 15-25 pages of double-spaced prose or 6-12 pages of single-spaced poetry. I read your manuscript carefully, taking the time to write notations and comments on each page. You receive a wide range of holistic editorial support: developmental editing addresses structure and content on the global (macro) level. Line editing address the craft of writing on the sentence/line (micro) level. In addition, I respond on a personal, emotional level, since that is a big part of why we write—to move readers.
- Once I return your edited manuscript, I consult with you (via Zoom or in person) during a 2-hour in-depth session about your writing. I provide explanations of my written comments and offer observations, questions, ideas, craft info, and mini-tutorials as needed.
- If you provide advance notice, you have the option to extend your coaching package, based on your project goals.
- Ethics: Confidentiality is an essential aspect of our work together. Unless you give permission, I do not discuss you, your writing, or your projects with other writers or editors outside of our sessions.
What exactly does each month include?
Each consultation cycle includes:
- Email/phone access for quick questions throughout the consultation cycle
- 1-hour check-in consultation during the 3-week writing period
- Holistic (both macro and micro) editing of up to 25 prose pages or 12 pages of poetry
- 2-hour manuscript consultation & coaching
- Info curated and/or created for you (including research and handouts)
What’s possible?
Every writer’s projects and goals are unique and often change. I welcome innovation in genre, concept, and style, including prose writers exploring a lyric aesthetic. That said, to give you a sense of what’s possible, let’s say your primary goal is to complete the first draft of a memoir. Perhaps you’re starting with a blank slate, or several notebooks filled with raw material, or a few essays that could be connected somehow. If you choose to focus on a single book project, it will likely take 16 sessions over 16 months to write a standard 80,000-word manuscript. Remember, you will receive written feedback on every page so you can revise as you go (and will have time to), or be prepared with feedback when you’re ready to complete the second draft of your book. You also have the option to work on a variety of projects, possibly in different genres. Regardless of your goals, I work to provide the support, feedback, information, and resources you need to produce high-quality professional manuscripts for publication.
More Testimonials
“Chivas is a caring and skillful writing coach. Our sessions were akin to a Master of Fine Arts Degree program—instructive, demanding, and going deep. In spite of being a taskmaster—teaching me how to craft my submissions professionally—she also had compassion for me and my story (and can be a lot of fun.) While under her tutelage, Naugatuck River Review published two of my poems, SageWoman Magazine published a poem, and my nonfiction essay “The Lioness and the King” won Hartford Magazine’s essay contest, which included an award and publication.” Marie Lavendier, writer & poet
“I am a serial entrepreneur, a visual artist, and am deeply interested in uncovering life skills that will help me to grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. When I say spiritually, I mean learning about my inner spirit. I felt that I had gained a great deal of information that could be helpful to others so I made the decision to write a book. My issue was that writing isn’t my greatest strength. I can convey my message in words but I wanted to give my readers more than the basics that I could write. I wanted my book to be intriguing and inviting. I wanted my book to be a joy to read. I had read much of Chivas’ writing in the past and knew that she was the person to make this happen. Chivas and I began working together and she consulted with me for two years, helping me turn chapter after chapter of rough drafts into a final manuscript for publication. Not only is Chivas a master in editing and writing, she is detail-oriented, she puts a great amount of thought into the content, asking questions that prompt clarity for the client, and she is easy to work with. In addition to helping me with my book, I’ve also hired her as a content copy editor for my business website, blog posts, newsletters and other marketing tools. Chivas goes above and beyond. She asks the right questions to make sure that the writing will speak to the particular audience. Whether I need support with personal or professional projects, Chivas is my go-to writer when I need engaging, high-end content.” Nancy Rose, author of My Spiritual Backpack: Creating More Happiness, Peace & Purpose in Your Life
For more information & to sign up, please contact Chivas using the form below.
Services for High School, Undergraduate, and Graduate Students
Support from idea to final draft in both academic and creative writing. Areas of expertise include:
- Writing college admission and scholarship application essays
- Writing essays for English, Humanities, and Social Sciences
- Writing nonfiction, poetry, and fiction
- Note-taking, studying, and reading assigned texts (strategies)
- Step-by-step guidance through the writing process
Services for Small Businesses
Support in producing content for your website, blog posts, newsletters, social media accounts, and printed products such as brochures and other marketing tools:
- Describe your services and/or products
- Tell stories of the everyday heroes who frequent and/or work for your business
- Tell the origin story of your business
- Tell the story of your business ethics and successes
- Upgrade your social media strategy