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Bonus: Time Freedom Accelerator: How to Invest Your Energy for More Freedom, Focus and Productivity
5 Lessons-
StartTake Your Precious TIME... Back! A Training by Tanessa Shears
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StartTime Hacker: How to Feel Like You Have Enough Time
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StartTrello Tactics for Authors: Unleash Your Productivity by Mastering Time Blocking
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StartFocus: Boost Your Concentration and Eliminate Distractions
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StartQ & A LIVE with Tanessa
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Science Fiction & Fantasy Self-Editing Masterclass
Course + Coaching for Writers with an Idea or a Draft
Through this masterclass, you will gain the confidence that you are telling strong, compelling stories that resonate with and inspire readers while adding invaluable knowledge and skills to your writing repertoire for use throughout your author career.
Like most writers, you get stuck and lost in the weeds of your project. It feels like it’s taking a lot longer than it should. You just want to get your story out there and have it inspire someone.
Or maybe you know your story is missing something, but you’re not sure what. Do you worry if you’re deleting the best parts of your story? Or that you’re not seeing major plot holes?
Where do you even start revising after you have your draft? What does it need in order to be ready to submit to key players in the industry, such as agents and acquiring editors? How do you know if readers will devour your pages or lose interest? Will they comprehend your story as you intend?
These questions and their answers are what this masterclass can help you understand or overcome.
- Find community with other writers to support you along the way while you get your questions answered and level up your craft.
- Know what matters most to readers and keep them reading.
- Understand what more you can do to edit your own work and gain the tools you need to be an even more successful writer.
- Set up your story to become the best it can be, knowing whether it is worth continuing for submission or publication.
- Refine your work, seeing what it needs in order for it to really resonate with readers.
- Learn a tried-and-true process for getting out of your own way, moving your story forward, and writing books more efficiently in the future.
- Be proud of your book and feel confident in your writing.
- And know exactly what to say when someone asks you what your story is about.
Through this masterclass, you will gain the confidence that you are telling strong, compelling stories that resonate with and inspire readers while adding invaluable knowledge and skills to your writing repertoire for use throughout your author career.
Private community (off social media) for questions, feedback, support, wins, and challenges
Two live sessions per month with individualized coaching, feedback, and Q&A
Small group size for encouraging a close-knit community and tailored instruction
In the year and a half up to this point, I have worked on things like character backstory and deep outlining but always more in an intuitive yet very unorganized approach. Let me tell you, putting structure to the process helped me IMMENSELY. There were a lot of things about my character's story that just weren't totally fitting....like maybe I could have told the story that way and it still would have been enjoyable for people to read, but it was not as satisfying as I thought it deserved. I was able to really hone in on the whys beneath my character's story, and that caused some things to change. I am so thankful Gina had me do these exercises because they are serious game changers."
In the year and a half up to this point, I have worked on things like character backstory and deep outlining but always more in an intuitive yet very unorganized approach. Let me tell you, putting structure to the process helped me IMMENSELY. There were a lot of things about my character's story that just weren't totally fitting....like maybe I could have told the story that way and it still would have been enjoyable for people to read, but it was not as satisfying as I thought it deserved. I was able to really hone in on the whys beneath my character's story, and that caused some things to change. I am so thankful Gina had me do these exercises because they are serious game changers."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "group coaching" mean? What is it?
As a writer, you probably aren’t very familiar with the term “group coaching.” However, you likely know more about it than you think. Think of it like a workshop. Or, have you ever been part of a writing group before? Even if the answer is ”no,” you probably understand the basics: you meet regularly with a group of other writers to read and offer feedback to one another on your works in progress. Great. And a workshop is very similar, although this term sometimes refers to a hands-on course.
Now pair all of the above (writing group/workshop/hands-on course) with an expert in the industry (that’s me!) who can provide tailored instruction and coaching around the issues you run into while trying to get your manuscript ready for submission or publication. You’ll get ongoing support and accountability not only from the group of writers at the same stage, navigating the weeds with you but also from an editor/book coach who can help you sort through the feedback to get to the powerful core of the story you want to tell—and stay true to your purpose.
The difference between group coaching and several writers forming a group to improve their craft is that writers led by a coach will benefit from an expert who knows what makes a story compelling and how you can implement that craft knowledge in your own manuscript. A book coach is knowledgeable about the category and genre conventions that agents and publishers look for as well as the market expectations for self-publishing authors (with resources to point you to!). So really, you can think of this group as a “masterclass” on self-editing.
As a freelance editor, former in-house editor, and college writing and literature instructor, I have gained extensive knowledge in the publishing industry—both traditional and independent. Plus, I channel my teaching experience into guiding writers through a process of revision for a strong story that enchants their readers.
How many writers are in a group?
I will start the group with three or four members. However, the group will have capacity for no more than twelve writers to maintain a close-knit community.
What’s the time commitment?
We’re all busy, and schedules never completely align. Therefore, I have devised a way to provide the most valuable experience with live support while allowing the group to be as asynchronous as possible so you can fit it into your individual schedule. My intent is not to create any extraneous busy work but only to guide you to take action through the most essential steps to a stronger manuscript and provide a focused, hands-on way for you to use your new skills.
Live sessions (via Zoom) will occur twice a month for one to two hours, depending on the number of participants. One will likely be during the day and the other during the evening (CST) to accommodate different schedules and time zones. These sessions will be recorded in case you can’t make every call live. In addition, questions may be submitted ahead of the calls. For more in-depth questions, looking at pages, etc., you’ll be able to schedule coaching slots during call times that work for you.
Plan a few additional hours each week to work on your revisions, take action steps, and go through any provided content, such as workbooks and pre-recorded video lessons, when it best fits into your schedule. Let whatever writing time you carved out to get to the draft or the partial draft you have inform how much time you might now want to spend on revisions each week. You’ll be able to work through your revisions at your own pace. But you’ll still have accountability and tools to keep you on track according to your own goals.
Are there assignments?
You’ll receive a workbook and other tools and videos to guide you through the self-editing process, including evaluating your own work with specific action steps. Plan a few hours each week to maintain forward progress so you can bring any questions to the next call. However, I know every writer works at his or her own pace. While calls will generally follow a chronological progression through the content, questions on any part of the process will be welcomed at every call.
To keep content organized and in one place, we’ll be using my course platform connected to my website (www.inkybookwyrm.com) for all materials, videos, calls, and questions. You’ll be able to log in and access everything you need each week for a smooth experience.
Will my book still need professional editing?
The short answer is yes. Even editors need editors! If you pursue traditional publishing, your manuscript will be further edited in-house. If you self-publish, you will need to invest in the appropriate edits for your manuscript. However, even traditionally publishing authors often invest in developmental edits to get their work through agent or editor slush piles.
The advantage of investing in this group and learning a solid process for self-editing is that you will be able to submit your manuscript to agents or invest in further edits knowing your story is truly ready—as well as all of your next stories! Technically, while any manuscript can be edited at any stage, most authors will waste money on professional edits (Yes, I said it! And I stand by it since it’s an intensive service and higher investment—rightfully so.) before they’ve taken it as far as they can on their own first, given that they have a solid grounding in story craft.
Early edits aren’t a bad investment in your craft, and you’ll still learn a lot. But you’re going to be paying for more rounds of edits than if you made sure your foundations were as strong as you could make them first. Think of it this way (some tough-love truth coming up…): In one round of edits, an editor is like an English teacher who from her marginal feedback can help you take your essay assignment grade from a C to a B with a revision. But it’s not likely that she can help you take it from a C to an A. Writing and publishing is a layered process. Self-editing is a necessary part of that process once you have a draft, and I can show you how to make the most progress with it.
Hand over to an editor the best draft you can. Your editor will be able to help you take it much closer to submission- or publication-ready in fewer rounds. Plus, with the knowledge, process, and tools you’ll have from this group, you’ll be set up to self-edit each of your subsequent books moving forward—this isn’t a one-off project investment like a single-round manuscript edit with minimal live support; it’s an investment to level up your whole author career. I promise I’m not just saying that! I know it’s true based on the results I’ve gotten with dozens of private clients through the work this masterclass is based on.
So what is the investment for this group?
The intended outcome with private coaching clients is the confidence that they are telling strong, compelling stories that resonate with and inspire readers as well as becoming more efficient at writing and revising their next books. In the group masterclass format, I can offer the same outcome at a fraction of the investment for my private coaching. And—bonus—you’ll actually get more out of the group and take more action with the added perspectives, support, and experiences of other writers. Psychology says so! But you’ll still benefit from individualized coaching within the group as well.
With a group structure as described here, I am able to offer this group to you at payments of $300 USD per month for a three-month minimum. In this way, I will have the necessary time to deliver the core content and instruction while allowing you to move at your own pace.
If you’re ready to join, we’ll secure your spot with the first payment. I’ll deliver your workbook in order to begin immediately so you can get a head start before our first live session.
Let’s craft the stories you dream of!
