The thing about your heart is that it's kinda... stuck inside your body. If you want other people to see this story, you're gonna have to put it into words on a page.
Those words will not be perfect.
They're messy. Odds are they may not even be very good.
Are you brave enough to write them anyway?
Will you choose courage, and magic?
Will you open yourself up to the alchemy of storytelling, creating something tangible on the page from nothing but the ideas in your mind, heart, and spirit?
You don't have to be confident. You don't have to be good. You don't have to be experienced.
All you have to be is willing.
Your story is waiting.
Humans are natural storytellers. We weave words into adventures, honor the legacy of our ancestors, and build community with each other with the power of story.
Story Alchemy is the magic that happens when you turn the stories you've been fed (that say your creative work should be productive, profitable, and perfect) into new stories that open you back up to your role as a storyteller for our community, our world, our future.
Stories are sacred. Art is sacred. Your work is sacred.
Before working with me, my writing clients faced these problems alone.
"It has to be perfect."
"That gifted kid avoidance of anything you're not immediately good at."
"Everything needs to be exactly perfect, or no one will like it."
"I'm mediocre."
"Not talented enough."
"I don't have the right to write a book."
"I want to write, but I don't think I can actually achieve it."
"Ideas float around forever, just ruminating for years."
"I used to write a lot as a kid, but not anymore."
"An idea that's been bugging me for a long time."
The writers I mentor are the kind of people who have a tenacious idea that won't leave them alone. Sometimes for years.
Inside your heart is a message that needs to get out.
It's up to you to share it with the world.
Not somebody more experienced. Not somebody with industry connections. Not a "real writer."
You and this story are connected now.
And we're in this together.
I'm a founding member of Writers Against Gen-AI and I do not work 1:1 with creatives who use ChatGPT, Midjourney, or any other generative AI to produce their work.
I absolutely killed it in my high school and college writing courses, but I do not have a degree in English, Literature, or Creative Writing. I'm out here coaching writers based on my human experience as an autistic author.
We can work through most things, but my community spaces have a zero tolerance policy for white nonsense, isms and phobias, and exploitive behavior.
"I don't need somebody to buy the book for me to have written a book."
"I've given myself permission to tell my story and it's okay that it's not for everyone."
"This is a thing I'm making, and it's part of who I am."
"My biggest transformation is finally seeing myself as a writer."
"I think of myself as a writer now."
"It's helped me get back to that child who would just create."
"Every little step that I take, no matter how small, is still leading me towards my goal of writing."
So glad you asked. It's because I'm auDHD as fuck and have been coaching writers since 2020 :)
Go from spreadsheeting til 3am with bleary eyes 😴 to creating an outline that's structured, but not stifling 🙌🏽
It works! Even for pantsers!
I developed the Novel Parkour method after months of trying to keep my time travel plot organized... the autistic part of my brain wanted a script to follow, but my ADHD kept coming up with new ideas on the fly.
Just ask anyone who's done one of my Novel Parkour outline workshops:
"This is the ONLY outline I have ever completed in a real way!"
"I only have the beginning and ending written, but I have an understanding of what I need in the middle."
"I am so freaking stoked about my novel idea. The framework lays out my entire novel. I SWEAR TO GOD Caitlin is a writing genius and will help you write your book."
Little bit of structure. Little bit of whimsy.
Let go of perfectionism and embrace the idea of "good enough for now." If that sounds like ass, you're not alone. Everybody fights me on this one, but I promise (with all the love in the world) that you are not the Chosen One who is fated to write the perfect first draft.
Here's what people say after we tame that stallion:
"I had more of the story thought out with intricate details than I realized."
"I'm writing a novel and learning to write a novel at the same time."
"Caitlin made me realize that 'real writing' is the writing that brings me fulfillment."
Identify the deeper impact of your writing journey.
It takes a little trial and error to find the right combination of sensory input, motivation style, and time management that works for your unique brain.
Depending on the way we work together, that trial and error might include:
Body doubling / co-working
Identifying the underlying beliefs that keep you from following through
Coaching one-on-one to target specific blocks
Developing a ritual to start your writing session
Reminders to be compassionate to yourself if something doesn't work for you
Once again, the proof is in the pudding. And the pudding is what these folks have to say:
"Co-writing was the piece I was missing, even though the idea felt awkward and weird to me. I now see my novel as an inevitability rather than a pipe dream."
"Before Caitlin = 10,000 words a year. After Caitlin = 10,000 words a month."
Caitlin tames all of the self-doubt and self-criticism and all of those nasty little monsters that keep you stuck in not writing.
My biggest transformation is now I think of myself as someone capable of writing a novel.
I've always had to justify my creative endeavors - nobody in my life has ever just believed in me and my creativity. Caitlin has created a safe space of the most incredible humans you'll ever meet. You are never too much, you are never a burden. Having Caitlin by my side has slowly mended not just my heart but my overall outlook on life.
Caitlin offers bespoke advice for each and every one of us.
After couple of sessions, they realize what your learning style is or what your biggest hurdles might be and their advice begins to shape around that.
Hey, I'm Caitlin!
I help neurodivergent, chronically ill, and queer creatives get back to the birthright of their innate creativity.
I've been a storyteller since childhood and seek out stories for comfort, adventure, escape, and growth. Stories are how we connect with each other, share knowledge, and impart wisdom.
My job as a story coach is to hold the vision of your story's future, while you do the hard work of expanding your comfort zone and actually writing the damn thing.
I'm also extremely charming and funny.
You know that part in Aladdin where he reaches his hand out to Jasmine and asks, "Do you trust me?"
That's where we're at now.
Take the leap into more in-depth work with me as your writing coach and mentor in 1:1 or group coaching. Matching tattoos optional.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Each year, I open twelve spots in the Working Title Writing Incubator for a full year of neurodivergent book coaching to help you finish your first draft without freaking out.
I've gone from doubting that my writing has value and considering giving up on a project that I've worked on for years, to finishing up a manuscript and querying agents.
I have the confidence that I'm good at this, in a way that I wasn't before.
I am so grateful I joined this Incubator, because it opened up a part of me that was dead for so long. I feel excited again with this new, healthy, creative outlet.
I know I am on the right path - it's what I was meant to do.
I had trauma related to my writing from being teased, and I had put that away for many years. If I hadn't participated in Caitlin's groups I don't think I would be where I am today.
By finding the ability to use my creative outlet, I was able to start participating in my life.
You were born a storyteller with natural curiosity and creative expression.
Then the world taught you a different story. A story that instilled the idea that you must fit in, you must produce, you must be humble, you must not question authority.
Hidden away from the rest of the world, you nurse your creativity like a fledgling fallen from its nest, but you don't really think it will make it. You aren't sure what to feed it, or how often. You can't call a rehabilitator because, in this metaphor, tending to the wild birds of your mind is illegal.
It's just a baby bird. It doesn't know that it isn't allowed here. Its demands shriek out no matter how much you try to muffle the sound.
You cannot kill creativity. You can certainly stifle it, starve it, leave it in the back of your closet, crumpled up behind a pair of old winter boots.
But it never dies.
Let's revise that book, baybeeee! Book a discovery call to discuss working 1:1 with me for a developmental edit and coaching package.