Caroline Allen
Tue, 03 Jul 2018 17:51:14 +0000 In 2007, Harvard Medical School conducted a study around a five-finger piano exercise. Half of the participants were told to play for two hours a day, five days and keep to the metronome's 60 beats per minute. The other half were asked to simply think about practicing the piano, holding their hands still while playing the music in their heads. Scientists then looked at the function of…
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:06:23 +0000 When I became a book coach nearly 20 years ago, I'd actually never heard the term before. I knew about life coaches and fitness coaches, but coaching on a book? I was teaching fiction writing in a university extension program when one of the students came up to me after class. Would I work with her privately on her stories? She didn't want to have…
Thu, 08 Nov 2018 21:53:51 +0000 Yesterday, I posted a blog, What is a Book Coach?, where I talked about what makes a good book coach. Today I want to describe the book coaching process. I've been coaching people on self help, memoir, and fiction for nearly 20 years, through my business Art of Storytelling. Often, people come to me not knowing what book coaching actually is. Here's what it looks…
Sat, 29 Dec 2018 23:58:11 +0000When you're building a business, they'll often tell you to get to the "why". Why are you running this business at this time? What's driving you? What's motivating you? Why you? Why this biz? Why now? I've been a book coach for 20 years and have helped thousands of people write their stories, in workshops and as a book coach for people across the planet. I…
Sun, 10 Nov 2019 19:51:02 +0000 An 8-week program for emerging expat writers Begins in January 2020 Be the writer you've craved to become your entire life. There is an urgent call for all of us to fulfill our passions and make a difference, wherever we are on the planet. Be empowered by taking control of your creative life. Sometimes as expats we can feel disempowered; we can't get a visa to work,…
Mon, 11 Nov 2019 16:18:15 +0000 The Heart of the Writer Understanding your emotions on your literary journey is just as important as knowing how to write In ninth grade, one of my teachers, Mrs. Hentges, came up to me and told me that she was entering me in a statewide fiction writing contest. Only one person from each school was allowed to enter. Every participant would get to go to the…
Mon, 12 Oct 2020 21:53:46 +0000 September 8, 2020 3 p.m. I’m sitting at my desk in my home office working on a client project. Outside the window, fat dramatic of burnt orange and deep purple float on the horizon. Earlier I’d been outside filming the shift from blue sky to lavender and burnt citrus cloud cover. It looks beautiful and scary and other-worldly. I’m not overly worried. We’ve had this…
Tue, 13 Oct 2020 17:36:13 +0000 WATER ranked No. 1 in Spiritual Healing and other categories in the Kindle Store. ART IS OUR ACTIVISM Pandemic, death of a friend, wildfires, elections -- let nothing stop you in the pursuit of your creative purpose. Art is activism! In the past few months, like everyone else globally, I’ve been sideswiped by the pandemic. Being isolated from friends, the lack of external entertainment, the…
Wed, 14 Oct 2020 17:43:46 +0000 Originally Published in Blue Lyra Review, Feb. 2015 The greatest gift I ever received was a book I never read. The winter I turned eleven, I sat at the desk in the dormer window, waiting. We got the desk at a yard sale, and it was supposed to be for all seven of us kids, but somehow I’d taken it over. In the basement, I…