Here’s how you finish the exact book you’ve always wanted to write WITHOUT white-knuckling your way through
Work with me 1:1 to unlock the Mindset to Finish Your Book and along the way, shift your relationship with your creativity and your self-concept.
Dear Creative,
You have a calling to tell a story.
You have exquisite powers of observation, and you see the world as it is and as it could be.
The story you want to tell is more complex than the one that fits on twitter — it’s rich and textured. It contains multitudes and generations.
Whether that’s a novel, or a literary memoir, or a rom com, or a book that adds something amazing to the coaching landscape.
You’re smart-enough and hard-working enough and talented-enough to write your book, but you also have a lot of proverbial balls in the air.
So by the time you get to your writing, you’re exhausted and depleted
That’s why right now, getting your book out of you looks and feels something like this:
You got into storytelling because it felt FUN. But perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and the culture of criticism that you’re surrounded by tells you that everyone’s looking out for the MISTAKES and what’s WRONG with your words. You know this because they’re always talking about everything that’s wrong with the books that are winning the awards. Your brain says, “If people are criticising the books that have won awards/are best sellers, then they’re gonna think mine is juvenile/corny/superficial.”
You have a fantasy about how to set up your life to get all the amazing creative ideas out of your head and into the world. But you also have a day job and/or a family and/or your own human body to care for. Plus, the world is on fire and your text messages keep telling you it’s your responsibility to save democracy.
You wonder if you should get your first (or second) MFA so you have the structure and support and deadlines to finish your book. Surely that will solve the anxiety that shows up whenever you sit down with the limited time you have to write…
You feel like you don’t deserve pleasure or joy until you finish your novel. So when you’re on vacation, you’re never fully ‘off’. Your brain says, “I could be using this time to write.”
Writing feels lonely, so you join a writing group for companionship. But everyone is so focused on the commas and what’s wrong with your piece that you feel worse when you leave than when you arrive.
All of this lands you in this particular dilemma…
You’re trapped in the drama of the gifted adult
You know you’re creative and talented.
That’s why you’re mad at yourself for all your wasted potential.
That’s why you think to yourself, “If you really wanted this, why’s it so hard to do?!”
Because you secretly believe that you are a failure and you have deep, deep shame around that, and you think that shame should motivate you.
But if bullying and shaming yourself for not finishing your book WORKED, you would’ve finished your book by now
Here’s why that feels like an impossible mindset problem to break:
Up until now, you’ve internalised the idea that art = suffering.
That’s the message that’s been reinforced since you were old enough to know you wanted to write.
But here’s the truth…
When you learn how to motivate yourself to get your book done WITHOUT self-shaming, that’s when it gets really fun.
That’s when you get back to why you originally wanted to be a storyteller in the first place.
Here’s what it actually takes to finish your book
Step 1
Rewire your thought patterns from criticism to celebration
Step 2
Rewrite your thoughts around feedback and visibility
Step 3
Mine the Multiverse to move from scarcity to abundance in time, money, and creativity
When you learn these mindset skills, you empower yourself to enjoy your writing life instead of ENDURING it.
And that’s when you’ll actually be able to finish the book you’ve always wanted to write.
Wondering how I know this to be true?
Hi, I’m Zahie
(Za-hee-yah)
(she/her/hers)
I spent years where you are.
I left a successful career as a lawyer to get an MFA in fiction writing.
And then spent years afterwards trying to force myself to finish a novel.
I hired DOZENS of editors, therapists, and teachers to help me but was never satisfied with what I wrote while working with them.
Because I kept giving up my sovereignty, and my vision to please them.
They would give me a piece of advice or commentary about a part of my book…and because I didn’t understand WHY that piece was important to me, it was easy to make the changes they suggested even if it didn’t feel right.
It made the whole writing process feel heavy and exhausting.
It made me not want to write at all.
So in my rush to finish any book, I was losing the book I wanted to write
It wasn’t until I worked with a 1:1 coach and I learned the skill of using my brain FOR me instead of against me that I was able to claim my creative vision.
That’s when I started to trust my creative vision.
That’s when I started to look forward to sitting down to write.
That’s when I associated my writing environment with something that gives me pleasure and joy.
That’s when I started to pick the most fun scene to write instead of the most difficult.
That’s when I decided to count all the meta writing about the book as progress instead of only the words in actual scenes and exposition.
That’s when I dared to let myself imagine that I could finish exactly the book that I was always meant to write, on my own terms.
I know you can do this too.
And I’ve created this 1:1 coaching series to show you.
Introducing
Mindset To Finish Your Book
Coaching Series
The MFB is the place where you learn what you didn’t learn in your MFA.
It’s where you learn the mindset to finish or find or follow your book.
This is NOT a workshop where everyone critiques and criticizes your work.
There’s no A+ for you to earn.
Because it’s not that you don’t care about quality; it’s just that you don’t need any more help holding yourself to the highest standards.
Instead, this is the place where you celebrate and cultivate your creative vision.
This is the place where you devote your time and attention to the art you want to create and the beautiful life you want to build.
During our 3 months together you’ll:
Renew your excitement and enthusiasm for your creative project.
Engineer the alignment of your time, talents, and energy to make time and space for your creative flow.
Develop a process for receiving and integrating feedback from your beta readers, your agent, your editor, your publisher, your fans, and reviewers so you can improve your art without feeling like your value as a human depends on it.
Develop a permanent practice of celebrating what’s going well in your life every freaking week so you enjoy your life instead of enduring it.
Use your novelist brain as a superpower instead of as a weapon against yourself.
Devote yourself to the things that are most important to you so that you can enjoy both your writing time AND your non-writing time.
“Working with Zahie has transformed my creative life for the better. She’s helped me put my art at the center of my life, both practically and spiritually.”
- Shannon P.
Claim your creative vision and enjoy your creative life instead of enduring it
By the end of our three months together you’ll actually trust your writer brain and be the creative leader in your own life.
Mindset To Finish Your Book Coaching Series
$4500
12 x weekly 50-min sessions
“Zahie was my most fervent cheerleader when I needed one, and the most gracious, tenacious critic (because we all must have one to help us grow).
Zahie made me confront my most uncomfortable feelings and come to peace with them.”
- Rosa P.
Here’s how it breaks down
For three months, we’ll meet 12 times - once a week, every week.
I’ll coach you to align your time, talents and energy to find spaces for your creativity.
Once I know about you, your particular habits for writing, and obstacles and blocks to writing, I’ll create what I call a Custom Launch Sequence for your writing - specific hypnotic suggestions that allow you to sit down and write much faster than you would otherwise.
You’ll receive this recording in week 2 of our 12 weeks together (and we can continue to refine this recording as we go).
You’ll also receive personalized writing assignments so you don’t have to decide what you’re writing (e.g which scene, which plotting task) in the same limited time that you’ve got marked in your calendar to actually write it.
“Zahie helped me see where I was still holding myself back from being fully honest about my true vision.
By asking the right questions and mirroring things back to me, she brought me to the essence of why I’m writing the book. It was empowering and motivating, and made me be more direct and raw in my writing.”
- Sara L.
In our coaching series, you’ll create results in your book without having to show me what you’ve written
Because sometimes showing someone what’s on the page gets in the way of creating what you WANT to be on the page.
It means you’re able to stay in full command of your vision and you’re the only one assessing whether your draft is becoming what you want it to be.
You can’t change your vision to please me because I’m not checking your work.
I’m here to help you clarify and articulate your own vision and you don’t need me to read your words to make that happen.
“I have been waiting a long time, I think, for someone to give me permission to really pursue my career as a writer, and by listening, empathizing, and guiding me with questions and other tools, Zahie helped me give that permission to myself.
Our work together felt, and continues to feel, life-changing.”
– Melanie B.
Unlock the Mindset to Finish Your Book
By the end of our three months together you’ll actually trust your writer brain and be the creative leader in your own life.
Mindset To Finish Your Book Coaching Series
$4500
12 x weekly 50-min sessions
“Zahie is amazing! Both inspirational and practical -- I love that I come away from each coaching session with a concrete list of action items, to help me make the switch into being a full-time creative. And to bring my dreams -- the ones that have been whispering at me for so long -- into loud, clear reality.
I've gotten more done with Zahie in one month than in the last six!”
- Sean P.
In case you’re wondering…
I’m a coach…I don’t want to write a novel but I want to get my genius on paper. Is this for me?
I can absolutely help you do that.
I have experience writing and editing non-fiction and helping people, self-publish, or complete a non-fiction book proposal for a traditional publishing deal — which is why I’m excited to offer ghostwriting and co-writing services for coaches. Click here to find out more.
I’ve finished my book and I’m about to send it out to agents…can you help me with that?
Yes, I help people claim leadership in their relationships with agents, critique partners, and editors. These are the kinds of questions I have helped clients work through:
Which agent should I choose to represent me?
Should I take this offer with a bigger advance or the one with the editor who gets me?
What if it doesn’t sell? What do I want out of this experience?
I’m juggling my creative dreams with parenting and a day job. Can we talk about all that stuff as well?
Yes, please and thank you. Your book and your life are not independent, they are part of the ecosystem of your life. You can always bring all parts of your self and your life to our calls and will get much more out of our relationship if you do.
I have a therapist…may I still work with you?
Yes, if your therapist is on board. Most of my clients also have therapists and find our work to be complementary. If, however, you have a diagnosed mental health condition and have chosen not to continue with therapy and meds, I am not the right coach for you.
I feel embarrassed about hiring a coaching because I help other people write and edit their books…
I get it. I also do this for other people and still have my own lush ecosystem of support. Let’s normalize getting support for all the things we need to thrive.
I don’t want people to know that I’ve had help with my book.
Our work is confidential unless you say otherwise, so you don’t need to tell other people you had support unless you choose to.
Do I have to have already done an MFA to do this?
Not at all — everything is customized for you.
But if you *are* already doing an MFA, this might be helpful. If I had to do it all over again — if I was able to hire myself when I started my MFA, it would have accelerated my progress by decades.
I’ve already written a successful book and I know I *could* do it on my own if I worked hard enough. Is this for me?
Yes, this is especially for people like you. Just because you could do something on your own does not mean that is the more efficient use of your time and energy. But you are in charge. If you feel happy finishing your next book on your own, I can’t wait to read it!
Questions answered and ready to unlock the mindset to finish your book?
Book your free consultation today
Mindset To Finish Your Book Coaching Series