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As a young, aspiring writer, the advice I got from most teachers and
writing manuals was to create a disciplined writing practice. The notion
of discipline held an aura of serious professionalism that put my
un-orderly writing moods to shame. I tried hard to be disciplined . . .
only to procrastinate more as if in tacit rebellion against myself. I
tried all the tricks, from automatic writing to "morning pages," from loads
of coffee and cigarettes to sitting- and walking-meditations. Fleeing the
lonely demands of my desk for the warm hubbub of a café, I sometimes got
going--and then couldn't stop. A day-and-night obsession would
sweep everything else in my life into oblivion until sheer exhaustion
dropped me back to square one. How could I become a writer if I had
such difficulty writing?
I have come to believe that building up a good writing practice has less to do with discipline and is much more a matter of playfulness. Discipline can be a barrier--as can fear, severe self-criticism, an over-riding sense of duty, and the shame of making a fool of oneself. Often what it takes to get writing to happen is to distract the inner judge--to trick her and sneak around her unnoticed.
How it works
I coach both individuals and groups on a sliding fee scale. Everyone
is welcome--including beginners and "hobby writers". My fee ranges
from $70.00 to $120.00 per hour for individual work and from $30.00
to $50.00 per person for a two-hour group session. My main office is
in Berkeley; additional appointments are available at my San
Francisco office. If you are not in the San Francisco Bay Area, or
if your schedule does not allow for in-person consultations, e-mail
and telephone appointments are available. For more information or to
schedule an appointment, simply contact me.
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My consulting, editing, coaching aims at bringing you to a place in your writing where anything can happen and where everything is possible because you are not afraid to make a fool of yourself.
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How to proceed
We will first talk by e-mail, then perhaps by phone, about your
writing project, your goals, and/or the writing problems you would
like to resolve. I will tell you if I feel confident with your field
or topic. If we click, I will ask you to send me a writing sample of
any length that you want to share and work on. A fast reading
usually takes about an hour for twenty-five (25) standard
double-spaced pages. We will then either meet at my Berkeley or San
Francisco office, or make a phone or e-mail appointment, to discuss and begin working on
your writing.
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An example of taking a leap of faith was the way I came to write my first novel. Some twenty years ago, I used to hear a silly little ditty in my head, the kind that Germans call an "ear worm". My ditty went, "Grasshopper, grasshopper, take me to Italy!" I was fond of it without any reason, perhaps because in eternally gray Paris, everyone always longs to go south. When I moved to Berkeley, the ditty moved right along with me. I remember driving over the San Francisco Bay Bridge one day and singing it out loud to my companion Kim. It suddenly struck us that the "ear worm" had to have a meaning if it was still playing in my head after all that time. What if I truly listened to it? Would it reveal its secret?
Apparently I had hit upon the magical formula: the very moment I took the words to heart and asked them to speak to me, a story came. Over the course of the next year, my novel The Grasshopper's Secret took shape. The grasshopper playing in my ear had literally taken me on a ride.
Ditties, words, sentences knock around in your head and roll over your tongue all day long. You can become a keen listener and word catcher. I have a bagful of tricks to share with you that can outwit the perfectionist and disciplinarian who keep looking over your shoulder with scowls or smirks when you long to write.
You can bring me any writing project, from your school paper to your doctoral thesis, from an anniversary poem to a screenplay, from the first word on the page to the proposal letter for your finished novel or non-fiction book. My guidance includes psychological and technical advice as well as patient and ardent editing. Most importantly, I encourage a writing practice that allows you to stay in touch with the true sense of play--the joy of writing.
Read Renate's essay "Writing in My Paris Café"
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"If not why not."
- Gertrude Stein
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