There’s often only a permeable line between memoir coaching and editing. In practice, as we writers at the Memoir Network work with a writer, we find myself slipping from coaching a memoir writer to editing the manuscript we are working with and back to coaching. That’s how organically close coaching and editing really are. Depending on the state of your manuscript, coaching or editing or both are called for.

Choosing memoir coaching or editing–How it works

Generally, I, or the editor who has been assigned to you, read sections of your manuscript—say 20-30 pages—and return this edited portion to you with comments and suggestions—and sometimes edits [also known as suggested corrections]. All our notes are done in Microsoft Text Edit—which you can learn in minutes. Manuscripts are returned as an attachment—but snail mail can work well, too, but it is too slow for most people.

I find working on a short segment of your manuscript—20- to 30 pages—to be more effective for contributing to the quality of the memoir than reading the entire text. Sometimes, of course, I have a question on, say, page 17 and then you might protest, “But, this is answered on page 85! You haven’t read the whole manuscript yet!”

The fact is every part of a manuscript has to stand alone, make its own sense. And, while an early scene in a memoir (say the one on page 17) would not provide all the answers that one would get later (say on page 85), it ought to satisfy the reader sufficiently so that the reader suspends questioning, doesn’t ask, “What’s going on here?”

That is why the writer who says, “But that is on page 85,” has missed the point and has lost the reader! Memoirs are not mysteries or detective stories. The reader demands to me kept in the loop.

How does a coach / editor effectively and efficiently come to know a manuscript?

As I have stated above, on occasion, I do read the entire manuscript before starting to work on it, but I have not found this to be a cost-effective process for the client. Working portions at a time has proven more functional. The segment-by-segment review allows the client to make revisions as s/he proceeds. Often an early problem runs throughout the manuscript, and a writer can make adjustments based on feedback received early on and not continue to pay for coaching/editing to correct the same problem as it appears over and over. In that way, I am reading only the revised text, not the old text whose problems the writer has understood and learned to address. I can give immediate feedback on the revision and this results in efficiency and consistency.

Coaching and editing are a style of conversation

Yes, a coaching session is a conversation. Most frequently it is done over the telephone (but a Skype or Zoom session is great, too) that is based on the manuscript that both the writer and I  have on the computer screens before us. I have made my notes in an “editor” [track changes] function, and the writer either asks questions whenever the suggestions or corrections are not clear or makes counter remarks in support of what s/he has wanted.

Much of what appears as comments or notes on the manuscript are part of the editing function. Sometimes, however, these conversations are about theme or the portrayal of a specific character in the memoir. This is a broader conversation that will tweak a memoir for the better. This conversation veers towards coaching rather than editing—but the distinction is not important. What is important is that the manuscript becomes more and more clear and meaningful for the reader.

Once we have reviewed all the comments, based on our discussion, I might ask if you would rather set yourself the task of reworking the memoir section we have just spoken about or would you rather send a new segment in for the next session.

However, when a writer feels that s/he is very close to finishing a manuscript, an approach that focuses on editing rather than coaching is usually be called for. At this stage, the work is to polish the text rather than to develop it—although there is an approach to editing that is called developmental editing.

Is this for you?

You can find out in a complimentary session which allows you to meet me and me to meet you and for both of us to explore how/if working together will work.

After that, we can collaborate in earnest with a mutual commitment.

Coaching or editing–which stage is your memoir in?

Actually, it doesn’t matter. We are going to get your story right. That’s what matters.

Remember: whatever you do today, write a bit on your memoir.