Your Writing Coach: From Concept to Character, from Pitch to Publication

by Jürgen Wolff

According to a recent survey, 81% of adults have dreams of writing, but only 2% of them have actually completed a manuscript. What are we waiting for? Your Writing Coach: From Concept to Character, From Pitch to Publication goes beyond other books that only discuss style or selling. Jurgen Wolff, a highly successful author with vast experience and credits from Hollywood to the BBC, shows aspiring writers how to overcome fear, get past excuses and start writing! Featuring exercises and quotes for encouragement, Wolff explains how to hook readers and keep them engaged. He offers powerful tips on how to be productive while still being creative and how to transform your inner critic into a constructive guide to get past the dreaded writer's block. Finally, he offers advice on marketing yourself and your work and the tremendous opportunities offered by new media like the Internet and podcasts. More than just a how-to book, Your Writing Coach is a friendly companion and mentor, providing all the strategies needed to build a career as a full-time writer. "Wolff covers how to approach the work on the page and how to keep at the business end of writing-making time to write, and setting and reaching goals. He tells you how to conquer "troublesome middles," and how much agents charge. Even if you have been writing for some time, you will glean useful tips and perhaps rethink some of your habits. I also like that this seasoned writer delves into deeper issues like fear, finding your niche and writing at home.... So, if you are looking for some guidance but don't have the time or the money to spend on a face-to-face meeting with a coach, may I suggest the book version? It's quick and simple. There's just one catch. It's going to make you want to stop everything you're doing and write. But don't worry. You'll have help by your side, every step of the way." -Stephanie Dickison, The Writer, July 2008 "Your Writing Coach pays as much attention to writers as to what they write and should help seasoned pros as much as it will help beginners. Jurgen Wolff is wise and constructive when it comes to such issues as fear of failure, your inner critic and rejection, as well as brainstorming and finding the conditions in which to work. Highly recommended." -Julian Friedmann, writer's agent, Blake Friedmann, and editor, ScriptWriter magazine. "This book is the real deal-no fluff or padding, just concentrated insider knowledge. By far the best book on writing I have read." -Ruper Widdicombe, writer and journalist "This book is an antidote to the bad advice aspiring writers are often given. There are only two books on writing I recommend-Stephen King's and this one." -William F. Owen, author of Blackfoot is Missing "This book will help you find the insights of the writing craft. Pick it up and let it guide you to success." -Xavier Koller, Academy Award-winning director, Journey of Hope "Jurgen Wolff's more media-focused Your Writing Coach, can be helpful. Wolff's book is partly self-help psychological: how to maintain your confidence, motivation and energy, how to manage your time. He's full of encouraging examples. Most of Wolff's book consists of practical tips, many of them more far-reaching than they seem at first glance." -Financial Times "With compassion, wit and the wisdom gleaned from a long and successful writing career, Jurgen Wolff guides you, step by step, on the inner and outer journey to writing success. An invaluable tool for the aspiring writer." -Robert Cochran, co-creator and executive producer, 24 "Jurgen Wolff demystifies the writing process in a series of easy-to-understand steps guaranteed to make you a better writer." -Phil Doran, author of the bestselling The Reluctant Tuscan "Absorbing and inspiring, Your Writing Coach is destined to become an instant classic. Jurgen Wolff's treasure trove of advice and insider secrets will prove to be an indispensable friend to all those who aspire to the writing life." -Amanda Barry Hi

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Self Help, Crafts

248 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Jurgen Wolff is a writer and creativity and writing coach who divides his time between London and Southern California. He has taught at the University of Southern California, the Academy for Chief Executives, the University of Barcelona, the Pilots Project, and workshops around the world.
He has written nine books including “Your Creative Writing Masterclass” (Nicholas Brealey Publishing), “Creativity Now!” (Pearson), “Marketing for Entrepreneurs” (Pearson), “Focus: the power of targeted thinking” (Pearson), “Your Writing Coach” (Nicholas Brealey), “Do Something Different” (Virgin – foreword by Sir Richard Branson).
He has written more than 100 episodes of television, the feature film “The Real Howard Spitz” starring Kelsey Grammer, the miniseries “Midnight Man” starring Rob Lowe, two TV movies starring the Olsen Twins, been a script doctor on feature films starring Eddie Murphy, Walter Matthau, Michael Caine and others. He created the animated series, “Norman Normal” (56 episodes) and co-created the series “Lukas” (39 episodes). He teaches screenwriting at the Raindance Film Festivals and in workshops around the world.
He is a NeuroLinguistic Programming practitioner, a certified hypnotherapist, and has studied improvisation with The Groundlings in Los Angeles and Keith Johnstone in London.
He is currently writing “Reptile Nations,” a novel for Young Adults.
His other sites include:
www.yourwritingcoach.com (which includes bonuses to the book);
www.creativitynowonline.com (which includes bonus materials for the “Creativity Now” book);
www.focusquick.com (with bonus material for the “Focus” book);
www.timetowrite.com;
His writing blog is at www.timetowrite.blogs.com, where he posts most days with writing news and tips.
- See more at: http://jurgenwolff.com/about/#sthash....

Reviews

[Kira Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Дуже не вистачає тут, на goodreads, половинок зірочок для оцінки. Бо заокруглюю я практично завжди до більшого, але тут це 3,5, а не повних 4. І означає це, що приблизно половина книги - прекрасна і конструктивна, а половина - загальні фрази ні про що. Корисними є розділи, які стосуються безпосередньо письменництва - як будувати сюжет, формувати персонажів та їхні мотивації, обирати влучні деталі, вести оповідь. А от розділи про все решту дуже скидалися на пусту писанину, єдина функція якої - додати книзі об'єму. Ця інформація буде корисна хіба що повному новачку, який ніколи не цікавився деталями написання і публікації книг. Ну, і варто згадати про те, що автор базується на актуальних для нього реаліях книговидання, які далекі від наших. Але це все об'єктивні чинники, тут без претензій. Знаю, що у Вольфа є ще одна книга, де він більше уваги приділяє все-таки процесу написання, а не стадіям після. Спробую ще її :)

[Maryna Ponomaryova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Цікаві випадки, безліч тренувальних вправ, справді корисні поради про Все, що стосується письменництва.

[Izzati · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative read about how to approach writing and publishing. But because I only read this after 10 years have lapsed since the publication of this revised edition, many of the internet links mentioned in the book are dead. Some things in the publishing world has also changed somewhat.

Still, it's a great book and will be my go-to when I start writing.

[Deepti Srivatsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! I wish I had read this before I wrote my debut novel.

[Олена Осіпова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Незаслужено довго читала Вольфа, перестрибуючи час від часу на інші книжки. Але закінчивши, можу сказати, що поки що це найкращий з прочитаних мною путівників для авторів (не важливо чого).
Чого в книзі немає: панібратського чи зверхнього тону, повторювання одних і тих самих тез через кожну сторінку, абстрактних порад, які невідомо як використовувати.
Що в книжці є: власний, реальний досвід автора і досвід його колег по цеху на всіх етапах створення тексту, практичні вправи, легкий для сприйняття текст, безліч толкових порад.
Хороша книжка.

[Alexander Oleshkevich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Класс!!

Автор рассказывает, как структурировать историю, генерировать сюжет и много-много полезных фишек, которые помогают упростить жизнь тем, кто мечтает из простого графомана собрать рассказ или роман. А ведь все мы читая книжки нет-нет, да и задумываемся, а что если бы я написал роман? Чем я хуже.

Первая половина крутая: читаешь и делаешь закладки, пометки.

Вторую половину можно не читать. Там мотивация и маркетинг о том, как продавать себя. Классно и интересно скорее для общего развития. Ну и позволяет приоткрыть завесу в литературный бизнес. Будем откровенны - для 99% читателей данной работы инфомация бесполезна.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jurgen Wolff has created a wonderfully different type of book for aspiring writers that seems to stem from his own successes in writing and coaching writers. Once other books have instructed you on the basics of grammar, story composition and dialogie let Jurgen take your writer brain in a new direction. This book includes great chapters about how to talk to loved ones whose negativity is dragging you down, how to visualize your inner critic as a helpful partner instead of a roadblock and how to take advantage of the plethora of media in our increasingly digital age. I definitely recommend this book for writers looking for a manual on writing that goes beyond how to put words on the page.

[Katya Korolyova]

Didn't finish. Some tactics for old folks. Conservative kind of way. Writing isn't easy, but it isn't that kind of restricted to formal settings (cut off everybody kind of thing Wolff was describing). Not necessary and abundant, if you like to write in the middle of something why not write, why not just sit down and unwind whenever you feel like it instead of making some structure to this and writing at a certain hour. Some advice is good (probably, didn't try them out, and wouldn't care to), but still... Very questionable choice for writing help literature.

[Lena Glimmerdal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Под конец книги автор очень ударился в маркетинг и продвижение, учит вести авторов блоги и запускать писательские стартапы. Но в начале книги, даже две трети ее, наверное, – очень крепкий и полезный сборник ключевых рекомендаций по писательскому мастерству. Как разрабатывать сюжет и следовать замыслу, как прорабатывать героев, что делать с черновиками и редактурой, писательский тайм-менеджмент – много практических, ремесленных вещей, плюс в конце каждой главы краткий конспект и упражнения (выполнять стоит не все, но найти полезные точно удастся).

После курса по литературному мастерству книга пригодилась, чтобы быстренько освежить в памяти пройденное.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that it had some great tips to incorporate into your writing practice as a well-known author, writing coach, and teacher he provides practical advice developing and improving your writing skills highlighting common obstacles that can be faced by writers. I enjoyed learning about the different styles of writing, giving me a clearer idea of the path I would like to explore more.

[Michael Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago now. Before I read it, I couldn't string a long story together. After much thought and reading it a few times I can now write novels,.and have one that's nearly finished. Cheers Jürgen!

[Nicola Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this is your first book youre reading on writing, and you want an overview of the process, this is a good book. However, I personally felt that there wasnt anything unique from other writing books. It is, however, good at taking a writer through the whole process.

[Roxanne Troup · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic guide to the publishing industry; geared mainly toward adult markets.

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 2 out of 5]

ah... oh... meh... eh... hmm... one must love books about the act of writing to read so many of them... eeees ok...
with caveats on the author’s focus on the pecuniary...

[Enso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книга совсем начальная, новое в ней будет только для тех, кто впервые читает книги такого рода. Тем не менее, все упомянутое в ней актуально и применимо.

[Hayley Orgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with lots of tips and techniques. Some of which I've managed to use for the writing group I facilitate.

[Alannah Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. This book offered some helpful tips and guidelines to help me get started on writing. Before reading this, I have had a couple of ideas in the back of my mind, being a little afraid to put them down on paper in case of rejection but the book helped my confidence and shows how to plan your novel as well as providing some encouraging points about famous authors that you would have never have thought had problems getting their work published.

[Ricardo Ribeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I did like the book. Of course, a book of this kind will always have parts which are useless to someone. I had my share of useless chapters but I got loads of juice from other chapters. The prose of Jurgen Wolff is pleasant and light, easy to follow, addictive, to a point. A happy reader here.

[Gary Ross-Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for a newish writer like myself offering plenty of advice and giving encouragement and experience. Quite wide ranging it also talks about what we want from life. I would certainly recommend and would come back to it. Not as inspirational as Stephen King's "On writing" but will be on my shelf for a long time. Also has an excellent website back up

[Darlene Reilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has very specific ideas about how to help a writer. I love the online additions and guided imagery. There are some very good tips here on how to deal with practical issues a writer faces daily.

[Kim Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really found this helpful in motivating me in writing myself. I found some great tips and advice in here. Although I haven't made much progress writing (my reading challenge getting somewhat in the way) I will continue to refer back to this to help me out.

[Marina Sharipova · Rating 5 out of 5]

После прочтения этой книги я окончательно поняла, что всю свою жизнь связывала со словом и свяжу с ним же. Я слишком люблю язык, и неважно в какой форме это будет - устно или письменно, в виде статей, видеоблога или книги. И да, ещё больше хочется написать свою книгу, много книг.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the moment I opened up this book, I started to love it. It is exactly what I have been looking for. And I am sure I will enjoy the ride.

[Helen French · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I've read one too many writing books, because this one didn't offer anything new or special for me.

[Greg Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed

[Carol Hislop · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book-there's a lot more to writing than I thought

[Ash Stral · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disagreed with a few things but overall good tips.

[Allan Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and informative book. Lots of helpful information...

[Yimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing tips that not only motivate you but gives you a professional look into the writing world.