Build a writing career that serves your ambitons.

I'm Marla.

I help working writers build the writing careers and creative lives they really want.

Let's Talk
Let's Talk

You make a living with words.

But is your writing career giving you the life you really want?

You're an experienced, capable writer. You know how to deliver excellent work, meet deadlines and fulfill your professional commitments.

But perhaps your career isn't giving you the freedom, opportunity or fulfillment you want.

Maybe you're ready to work with better clients, earn more without working harder, or take your career in an entirely new direction.

Perhaps you're longing to make more room for the writing that matters most to you: a novel, a book proposal, a play or another ambitious project.

Or maybe you've built a successful career, but find yourself wondering:
Is this really what I want to be doing?

You’re ready to make more deliberate choices about your work, your time and your future, so you can build a career that serves your ambitions, rather than the other way around.

Your creative life is worthy of your devotion.

You've already drawn on your skill, resourcefulness and determination to build a career as a working writer. But you want something more.

A more fulfilling writing career begins here.

Consider what you really want. The work you want to do. The people you want to work with. The opportunities you want to pursue. The life you want your career to support.

Give yourself permission.

Get the support you need to make bold choices.

You might need to rethink your business, develop new sources of income, change professional direction, or create more room for your own writing projects.

Your ambitions deserve your finest efforts.

That means cultivating the freedom to explore what's possible, the clarity to choose what matters, and the structure and strategy to bring your vision to life.

For more than twenty years, I've helped writers navigate these choices, develop their careers, and pursue work that matters deeply to them.

I've brought this experience together in an approach I call the Art of Creative Stewardship.

This is the path we’ll take.

A flourishing writing career takes more than discipline or time management. It calls for cultivating real trust, spaciousness and joy in the midst of everyday life, along with the clarity and courage to make deliberate choices about your work and your life.

Together, we'll look closely at how you're spending your time, earning your income and pursuing opportunities. We'll clarify what matters most to you, nourish your creativity and develop the structures and strategies to build the career and creative life you want.

Your Creative Self
Deepen your creative life.

Create a sense of spaciousness, where you can play, experiment and generate fresh ideas.

Reconnect with your creativity and the writing that excites and matters most to you.

Develop your craft, creative confidence and willingness to take risks.

Make time for deep thinking, research and the projects you most want to pursue.

Your Visionary Self
Choose your direction.

Clarify what you want from your writing career and creative life.

Envision new possibilities for your work, income, professional relationships and opportunities.

Make confident, strategic choices that align your career and commitments with your larger ambitions.

Expand your sense of what’s possible for you and your voice.

Your Creative Manager
Make it happen.

Develop the business strategies, systems, supports and working practices that support your goals.

Take action on professional opportunities, career transitions and meaningful creative projects.

Build momentum and confidence as you implement changes, complete important work and bring your ambitions to life.

Protect the time you’ve made for joy.

You'll begin leading your writing career and creative life

with more confidence, purpose and authority.

  • "Marla's coaching got me writing results. More important, she taught me to change the way I work as well. Now I take more breaks. I work less on nights and weekends. I give myself more time for joy and curiosity.”

    —Pamela Toler, Ph.D. historian and bestselling author

  • "Working with Marla is transformative. She helped me see the big career picture and how all of my disparate pieces fit. A year later, I have an agent, a book contract, and an editor who wants a second book.”

    —Christina Boufis, Ph.D., former director, SFAI Writing Program; writer and content strategist

  • “Marla empowered me to put systems in place that enabled me to double my income in less than three months.”

    —Dana Yates, writer

  • "It’s rare, as a writer, to collaborate with someone who understands both the delicacy of the imaginative process and the management tools needed to finish a work of art. I can’t imagine having finished this novel so quickly, and so well, without her guidance."

    —Daniel Schifrin, writer and teacher

  • “As we worked together, Marla coached me to refocus my marketing plan successfully and structure my work time to stay true to my fiction writing, too.”

    —Marya Smith, freelance writer, author and playwright

  • “I've completed a major writing project and I'm enjoying a transformed relationship to my writing—freer, less encumbered by self-criticism, full of optimism about the future. With Marla's coaching I didn't just get more done; I learned to live in a way that was truer to my own values and priorities.”

    —Richard Hermes, writer and teaching professor

  • “Within five months, I secured three new, long-term clients. A year later, I have surpassed my target earnings by 50%! Marla helped me clarify the type of writing I enjoy doing and helped me be more selective about the type of projects I accept. As a result, my writing work is more fulfilling than I ever expected it could be.”

    —Dawn Lyons, freelance writer and editor

Private Mentorship

You already know you’re capable.

You know how to think deeply, solve difficult problems and deliver excellent work. You've built a career on your ability to write.

But if your writing career isn't yet giving you the freedom, fulfillment or opportunities you want, I'm here to help you change that.

Six months of one-on-one coaching, career strategy and support.

We start wherever you are.

You may want to earn more while working less, attract better clients, pursue new professional opportunities, or take your writing career in an entirely new direction.

Perhaps you're ready to develop or finish a book, make more room for your own creative writing, or rethink how your career fits into the larger life you want to live.

We begin with a 90-minute Deep Dive to understand where you are now, what you want and what's getting in the way. Together, we'll identify your priorities and find the right place to begin.

From there, we work closely together as you:

  • make confident, strategic choices about your writing career

  • develop the business practices and professional relationships that support your ambitions

  • create more time and space for meaningful writing projects

  • take action, build momentum and bring your plans to life

And along the way? You’re going to feel better about your work, your choices and the direction your life is taking. So much better.

Our work is guided by the Art of Creative Stewardship, an approach I've developed through more than twenty years of coaching writers.

I work with just a handful of private clients at a time so I can offer you generous attention, availability and support.

Let's Talk

Hi! I’m Marla.

I'm a writing career coach and strategist. I'm also a writer and musician.

For more than twenty years, I've helped working writers shape their careers, pursue meaningful opportunities, develop ambitious projects and build creative lives that reflect their values and aspirations.

My work is informed by thirty years of meditation practice and a life that's taught me a great deal about resilience, uncertainty, attention and what truly matters.

I know from experience that a fulfilling writing life isn't simply about making things. It's about how we live, what we choose to give ourselves to, and how we care for the work and ourselves.

I bring this understanding to my coaching, working with you as a whole person.

Together, we'll cultivate the freedom your creative work requires and develop the structure, strategy and sustained attention that help your career and creative life flourish.

I hold an MFA in creative writing. I've coached journalists, freelance writers, authors and other writing professionals, including writers whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Nature, as well as Oprah Book Club authors.

My own creative work lives at Lively Future, an online living notebook where I share stories, photographs and original music.

Maybe you already know.

Maybe there's a book you've been wanting to write, a professional opportunity you've been considering, or a new direction you'd love to explore.

Maybe you're ready to make some changes in your writing career. Or maybe you don't quite know what's next.

Tell me what you've been thinking about. Dreaming about. What you'd love to do, create or change.

I'll read every word, and if I think I can help, we'll set up a time to talk and see if working together makes sense. Click the link below to get started.

Marla

Let's Talk

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