Mentoring FAQ

Got questions? Dave's got answers!

Q: What is the difference between mentoring and coaching?

A: For my purposes, they're interchangable. I call it "mentoring" because writers may not immediately associate the term "coach" with what they do. You can also just call me a teacher.

Q: How do you teach writing? I always thought you either you had talent or you didn't.

A: While it's true I can't teach talent, I can teach the skills necessary to hone your talent. I can help you take your writing to the next level. Tiger Woods was born with talent. A coach taught him how to become a professional golfer.

We use a lot of sports analogies when we talk about coaching, because those are the examples people are used to hearing about. But writers have coaches, too. My coaches were my influences: Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Rod Serling.

I learned a lot just by reading those authors, but I would have learned so much more if I'd had just one of them looking over my shoulder while I worked, encouraging me and giving suggestions for improvement. "Here's a way to improve that dialogue," or "this technique will help you establish believeable character motivation."

I improved much more quickly through mentoring, and sold more stories in less time. I've seen its effectiveness first-hand. Now I want to share that advantage with you.

Q: How exactly does mentoring help me become a better writer?

A: First, I show you how to improve everything you write, not just the story you're working on now. When I was mentored, I sold my next six stories very quickly - first-market, first-submission sales. Those stories were never rejected. They were snapped up by the first editor who read them. In fact, two of them were later included in a "best of" anthology alongside writers like Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Richard Laymon.

You know what's even better than being featured alongside writers like that? Being the only author in the nthology to have two stories represented!

It's an amazing feeling - and mentoring made it possible.

While I still get rejected sometimes, my acceptance-rejection ratio improved permanently. Those changes affected my work as a whole, not just one story or a handful of stories. The improvements became a part of my evolving style, which meant more sales and greater success.

Second, we go deeper than just your writing. We focus on who you are as a person - your beliefs, values, and passions. These are the things that give you unique perspective and voice. Those elements lead to originality, which leads to longevity.

If you write passionately and well, you'll be around for a long time. I teach you how to tap into the core of who you are as a person, and draw your writing energy from it. This is a very powerful process that virtually eliminates "writer's block."

Lastly, we work on your career goals and how to achieve them, short and long-term planning, and setting milestones. If you start with small successes, you build momentum, which allows you to move forward to larger successes more easily.

I started by selling stories to small press magazines, which paid in copies. Those "baby steps" led to professional sales.

We construct a plan designed to earn you those successes and build momentum. Next stop - the bestseller!

Q: What if I don't want to work on my "future?" I just want to use my time to get my current story finished, submitted, and published.

A: That's fine. The mentorship program is completely customer-designed. We work on what you want to work on - nothing more, nothing less.

But consider this: whether you set it as a goal or not, your long-term success is guaranteed by building on short-term success - so the short story you sell today will lead to more sales tomorrow. You still win!

Q: I contacted you to start a mentorhip, but received a return email saying that there were no mentorships available. What gives?

A: I have a limited number of slots open at any given time. A mentorship is a unique, intensive, one-on-one program. My goal is always to give you more than your money's worth. To honor that, I find it necessary to limit the number of clients I accept.

Q: I'm interested. How do we get started?

A: To sign up for your free thirty-minute consultation, use the contact box below. I'll write back to set up a time for this valuable no-obligation review of your goals and interests.

Slots do tend to fill up quickly, particularly now that the summer months are upon us. So get in touch today!

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