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Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

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I help writers improve their craft, pursue publishing, and achieve their writing goals. Newsletters include instruction, encouragement, and resources—including links to industry-related articles and news. Sign up for FREE coaching today (samples below).

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Featured Post

✏️ No time to write? You can make solid progress 5 minutes at a time

Hi there! During the early years of parenthood, I wasted a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. Why can't I have my own dedicated writing space? Why can't I have blocks of uninterrupted time? The overwhelming demands of a stay-at-home mom almost shut down my creativity. In time, thank heavens, I stopped griping and started looking for solutions. My idea? Instead of waiting for the perfect conditions, I snatched time. Snatch Every Opportunity I wrote when the kids were napping. I wrote late...

10 months ago • 3 min read

Hey there, writer! Years ago, one of my clients updated me on her publishing journey. She turned in her manuscript on deadline, so that was a huge relief. Then her editor asked for one last piece she'd put off. "Ann, it took me two full weeks to track down everything for my endnotes. Two weeks!" This first-time author knew the editor would ask for endnotes, but she had not kept track of them as she wrote. Putting Off the Inevitable When words were flowing—forming chapters, shaping ideas—she...

12 months ago • 6 min read

Hey there, writer! Nearly everyone who writes personal stories in any form has agonized over how much to share. Will writing about an issue from childhood break Mom's heart? Should I change the name of a high school teacher? The next-door neighbor? The dog? The children? Are the hyacinths blooming by the mailbox worth mentioning? We write. We worry. Is this naval gazing or vulnerability? Will people feel I'm airing the dirty laundry or sharing my own struggles so others might find healing?...

about 1 year ago • 4 min read

Hey there, writer! Consider a lowly stick, memorialized by my friend: Little Y StickFragile, knobby crossroads in my fingersBring me eyes to see how God is in my midst. Jennifer Dukes Lee penned that poem after we chatted about a prompt found in poemcrazy, by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge. In Chapter 31, Susan instructs us to find something in nature that attracts our attention. Maybe the object has a quality that we're attracted to, or maybe it's just speaking to us in some way. Jennifer...

about 1 year ago • 3 min read

Hi there, writer! Ready for to be inspired? Follow the journey of a first-time author who transformed her dream of writing into reality by taking bold action. Merideth Hite Estevez’s success story involved launching a captivating podcast and partnering with a coach (yep, that’s me!) to develop a winning strategy. Her talent and tenacity helped her: build a robust platform, create a winning book proposal, secure an agent, and land a publishing deal in just a few years. Although she says it...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read

Hi there! As far back as I can remember, I wanted to unearth who I was...and who I was meant to become. And deep down, I wanted to write. In a household of word-people—both parents were journalists and my brother would eventually become an advertising executive—I seemed unlikely to work with words. I was the athlete, the creative dabbler teaching myself sketching, watercolor, photography. One afternoon, this creative dabbler strolled through the library's nonfiction section near the books...

about 1 year ago • 4 min read

Hi there! I invited Michelle Stiffler to talk about trauma-informed writing. Early in the interview, she explained: When I come to my computer or when I come to the page and I intend on making my writing public, I’m coming with the lens that reminds me that trauma is very prevalent and that people broadly have experienced all kinds of adversity. It could be little “t” trauma. It could be big “T” trauma. And I want to come to the keyboard thinking about how I can best serve people if they’re...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read
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