Mentorship
Working through my own process as a creative writer has shown me how we can truly get in our own way. My training in counseling psychology along with many years of personal work have given me the ability to see these roadblocks with insight and compassion.
I work with folks who are ready to confront what gets in their own way and who have the drive to be guided in that process. I can see how core wounds prevent us from reaching our goals and full potential, and therefore, I am able to guide someone towards the steps needed to pursue a creative life.
As much as this work is a lot about setting goals and discussing accountability, it is also about the creative process and the writing.
You may want to start a specific writing project like a personal essay or maybe a full-length book, but you might not know where to start. Or maybe you’ve started a project and feel lost in the woods and need some direction. I can midwife you through that process and will also offer feedback and editorial support along the way.
MY BACKGROUND
My career trajectory has been organic every step of the way and every shift in the type of work that I have pursued has carried me further along on my path.
I have worked as a project manager in advertising, design, and academia. And I have practiced as a psychotherapist in both community mental health and private practice settings. My academic training is in both philosophy and counseling psychology. And I am a writer with a committed creative writing practice.
In terms of my worldview, I take inspiration from a combination of Buddhist thought and Western psychodynamics. I look at how our life experiences, core wounds and unbalanced egos might get in the way of achieving our potential. I also look towards attachment theory and how our relationships and experiences with others, including our families of origin, truly infuse our sense of being in the world. And I firmly believe that we all have the ability to heal and to reach our potentials as creatives.
I hold a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., and master's degree in counseling psychology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
LOGISTICS
Twelve-week Mentorship
Step one: email me for a mentorship questionnaire. The information you provide will help me determine if we might be a fit.
Step two: If I feel like I might be able to be of help to you and to your work, we will schedule a free 30min consult over Zoom.
Step three: If it seems like this work is a fit for both of us, I require an initial twelve-week commitment.
This is what you get during the twelve-week mentorship:
- Two 75 min 1:1 sessions per month / six sessions in a twelve week period (we will meet bi-monthly).
- Content/developmental editing notes on work that you provide to me prior to our session (up to 5k words).
- After session notes/goals for the following two weeks.
- One interim email check in between sessions to see how the work is going and if you have any burning questions/need support.
- An ongoing discussion of comparison titles for your work and/or a reading list.
All sessions will take place over Zoom.
There is the opportunity to continue this work after the initial twelve-week period, which we can discuss towards the end of your mentorship cycle.
If you have any questions about this work or if you would like me to send you a questionnaire (includes mentorship logistics), please email me.
FEES
Mentorship fees will be laid out in the mentorship questionnaire. I do offer limited sliding scale rates.
Email me for more info.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Frances has mentored me for almost two years now. She is a great editor, with a strong instinct of how to help writers learn to develop their own work. And her formatting skills are fantastic!
Kim J., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Frances was instrumental to my writing process and helped me get my work to a place where I felt confident to consider publishing. She is quick to provide astute observations, suggestions, and the technical education I didn’t even know I needed. She created an environment where I felt comfortable to show her my work in all its stages, and always provided the right balance of encouragement and constructive feedback, exploration and structure. She treats her students as peers, and is generous with sharing her expertise and advice as a published writer - and she always points you back to what is important!
Elyssa D., Brooklyn, New York
Frances is organized and efficient, which is exactly the energy I needed to get my manuscript to the next phase. She helped me narrow down my focus, set reasonable goals and deadlines, and construct an outline that I was able to use as a roadmap for writing. Frances was a great help in recommending authors and books for me to read as well as encouraging me to look into writing workshops. I was accepted to Bread Loaf and wouldn’t have applied had it not been for Frances’s encouragement.
Steph H., Detroit, Michigan
When I first started working with Frances a year and a half ago, I only had two pages of a story written and the deep desire to return to writing after a ten-year hiatus. By the end of our introductory Zoom call, I knew Frances was exactly what I needed. Not only is she a wonderful writer and fantastic editor, she also has a deep understanding of human behavior. Frances has mastered the psychology behind writing and the reasons why writers have a tendency to get in their own way. Through private mentoring with Frances, I have learned how to overcome my perfectionism as a writer, honed my narrative voice, and have gained a better understanding of the literary landscape as a whole. I have also majorly improved my ability to generate/edit my own work and will have a completed short story manuscript by the end of this year.
Overall, Frances is my first reader, my only editor, the person I bounce ideas off of, and the most important writing mentor I have ever had. I did not feel like a "real writer" until I started working with Frances. Frances has changed my life and I cannot recommend her enough.
Mary O., Miami, Florida