Art of Storytelling

art of storytelling

ABOUT

SERVICES

CASE STUDIES

MEMOIR LESSONS

MEMOIR FILES

BIO

WORKSHOPS

CONTACT

ABOUT
Welcome to Art of Storytelling, a coaching service for writers. Are you a closet fiction writer? Have you always wanted to write a memoir? Do you have a secret desire to develop a screenplay? Have you been writing for years and need support? I'm a former international journalist and current novelist, and as a writing coach, I provide ongoing support to writers, weekly one-on-one sessions where we speak to the soul of the work and tackle the practical aspects of good writing. * We begin the coaching process with a free initial consultation, where we talk through your process and goals, and I suggest ways we could work together. When you become a client, we use a disciplined, step-by-step approach to the writing process. We brainstorm ideas for novels, memoir or short stories; we study characterization, plot, setting and theme; we learn the technicalities of writing; we engage deeply in the revision process; and we study how to get your work to market.As an artist, both through fiction and visual art, I understand the dynamics involved in committing to your soul's path. Coaching includes exploring the peaks and valleys of what it means to be an artist.Finally, voice is deeply important to me. I believe many of us have been taught to standardize our modes of expression. Writers and artists must undo this learning, and seek their unique voice, their eccentric style. This passion for voice has grown with my increasing exposure to other countries, other voices and other artists. Please contact me for a free initial consultation. *Please note: coaching cannot in any way be considered counseling or therapy. If a client finds the writing process emotionally challenging, I strongly recommend therapy, and I can provide referrals if needed.
SERVICES ServicesI offer a free initial consultation over the phone, where we discuss your writing project and goals, as well as how I work as a coach. Don't hesitate. Contact me today.I've worked for years helping writers develop novels, memoir, self-help books and screenplays.. I work with both experienced and new writers. Experienced writers want a well-honed creative ear. Inexperienced writers have wanted to write for years and only now have the time to engage the process. They hire a coach to help them fulfill their writing dreams. Whatever your needs, don't hesitate to contact me. In all of the packages below, I assist you with what it means to be a writer, the fear, required tenacity, how to handle the process, as well as the technicalities of good writing, characterization, setting , plot , theme, stucture, and much more. I have nearly 25 years' experience as an editor, as well, and assist you with revising and polishing their work. One-month coaching, Take-the-Leap PackageThe Take-the-Leap Package is a one month consultation where l read your work, provide written feedback and speak to you on the telephone (or Skype) to anywhere in the world.Here's what you'll get: Before you sign up, we will have a one-hour free phone call where we discuss your writing and how I work. This free consultation will help you see if I'm the right fit for you. When you sign, I'll read your writing and give you feedback on all aspects of your fiction, memoir and nonfiction writing: organizing chapters; writing vivid description; building characters; exploring plot; deepening setting; and understanding theme. If you do not have writing to show me, but you have a deep, almost primal, desire to write, we'll focus our sessions on providing you with the tools to help you write. Meanwhile, I provide other kinds of support - emotional, intellectual, spiritual - on what might be hindering your progress. I have vast experience helping many artists understand their blocks and break through them. You'll also get practical advice on where to go with your writing. What week-to-week discipline can you engage to finish your book? What is a weak area that you might study further through workshops or how-to-write books? What how-to-write books would best serve you? What emotional or spiritual area of your creative development might you focus on? Ongoing coaching, New Writer PackageIf you haven't written for years, and you feel a strong pull to be a writer, to write that novel or memoir, contact me. I have worked with dozens of new writers who are now full-fledged successful professional writers. I worked with one client, for example, who came to me with little more than an idea for a character and a passion to fulfill a long-held dream to become a writer. We were able to finish a successful novel. I have a tried and true process that will lead you step-by-step through the process. Many new writers are frightened. Don't worry. I have a gentle approach. It is my passion to see people fulfil their writing dreams.Ongoing coaching, NovelsDozens of writers have worked with me on their novels. Through a step-by-step, chapter-by-chapter process, I partner with you to finish your rough draft, and then go through the revision process to polish the book. I can work from the very beginning on a novel, or if you already have a rough draft written, I can help you with the final revision process. Ongoing coaching, MemoirA memoir is a powerful legacy to leave the world, whether you're writing it for your family or you're hoping to find a mainstream publisher. With a decade of experience working with memoir writers, I can help you remember stories, and write, structure and polish them. IA difficult process emotionally, memoir requires tenacity and courage, but is well worth the effort. Ongoing coaching, ScreenplaysA new client came to me and asked if I'd coach him on a screenplay. I told him I'd never written one. He said my skills as a storyteller were what he needed. A few years later, the screenplay is now finished. It was a rich, dynamic, edifying process. I was able to help him deepen the characterization, evolve the story, pinpoint inconsistencies, polish awkward areas and most importantly give him an ongoing soulful response to the heart of his work. If you need a screenplay coach, contact me.Ongoing coaching, JournalismWant to be a freelance journalist? Interested in learning journalism to land a job in print media or with an online magazine? I worked as a journalist for nearly 20 years, in major newsrooms like London's Financial Times and Independent, and at glossy magazines, both as a writer and editor. As a coach, I have access to other journalists, as well, reporters and editors with experience at publications like Time magazine. If you're interested in learning the who, what, when, where, why and how of writing articles, we can help. We can teach you how to: come up with story ideas; interview key players; research facts; write the article; copy edit; proofread; and sell the article. ProofreadingHave a book that needs proofreading? I work with a team of proofreaders who can correct punctuation and grammar, format your book and clean it up to prepare it for agents and publishers, all at a very competitive rate. Contact me for a free quote.Don't see what you're looking for? If you don't see your project listed here, contact me and we can discuss your needs. If I am not able to help, I will refer you to another writer/coach.
CASE STUDIES

Case Studies

Click the button to to the right of each client to read about our work together, as well as an excerpt of their work.

Tess excerpt.doc

Luanne excerpt.docx

Novel

Luanne Brown, Lake Forest Park, WA

Memoir

Linda Hansen , Seattle, WA

Short Stories

Danny Litowitz, Spokane, WA

Novel

Tess Hardwick, Snoqualmie, WA

www.tesshardwick.com

Memoir

Ellen Newhouse, West Seattle, WA, www.ellennewhouse.com

Novel

Julie Mannina

Ellen excerpt.doc

Linda Hansen excerpt.doc

Danny excerpt.doc

Julie excerpt.doc

MEMOIR LESSONS Memoir LessonsWant to learn how to write a memoir? For $25 you'll have access to 10 Memoir Lessons, developed over 20 years of teaching and coaching writers. You'll learn how to:begin your memoirstructure the storiescreate vivid descriptionwrite engaging dialoguedevelop strong charactersexpress settingand do research. Click the PayPal Buy Now button below to pay, and a link and password will be emailed to you within 48 hours, giving you access to extensive information on how to write your memoir.

Buy Now

MEMOIR FILES BIO
No Frame

Writing samples

My first novel Earth is out to publishers and is one in a series of four: Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Click the buttons below for samples of my writing.

Novel

Earth

Short Story

"Antique Clock"

Journalism

" Images of Hell"

Welcome. I'm a former international newsroom journalist and current short story writer, novelist and visual artist. Visit my personal writing and art site here www.carolineallen.com. In rural Missouri, I grew up close to the earth -- planting, sowing, canning and caring for and butchering hunted game and livestock. I was the family storyteller, later winning contests in school for writing. In 1986, I graduated from the prestigious University of Missouri, School of Journalism, and left rural life to work abroad. For more than a decade, I lived and worked in foreign countries as an international journalist, working as an editor and reporter with newspapers and magazines in Tokyo, a travel writer for a year in Asia and as a reporter and editor in London. I was an editor in Tokyo when Emperor Hirohito died, a subeditor in London when Princess Diana died. I covered mostly social issues, becak drivers in Indonesia, a country mourning the loss of its princess, kids writing poetry in juvenile detention in Seattle. At the age of 29, I knew I had to follow my calling to write fiction. For the past 15 years, I've written and published short stories, and completed my first novel, Earth, one in a series of four novels, Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Earth is being shopped around to publishers. I've also coached and taught several hundred people around the world in writing fiction and memoir. I've assisted hundreds of people from Shanghai to Spokane in unlocking their creativity and telling their stories.

Earth excerpt.doc

Antique Clock excerpt.doc

photo by myles blankenship

Images of hell excerpt.doc

WORKSHOPS Upcoming WorkshopsWatch this space for workshop listings.
CONTACT

Contact: Caroline Allen

TESTIMONIALS TestimonialsCarrie is an insightful and gifted teacher. Her wisdom and humor have illuminated deep inner truths for my creative process and ultimately pointed me in more fulfilling directions. Carrie's knowledge of what it takes to be a woman and an artist is profound.- Gail McMeekinAuthor of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women Career/Creativity coachMassachusetts, USAwww.creativesuccess.comCarrie brings enlightening conversation (to a coching session), rare insight and a sophisticated, well-honed instinct for "advanced creativity." Her point-of-view is both worldly and other-worldly and she magically creates a safe space where I can explore and ultimately discover what I am longing to express. - Luanne BrownNovelist, screenplay writer and former film criticLake Forest Park, WACarrie always says just the right thing to propel me forward. I scan my reviewed chapter for her suggestions and find myself sitting in my office in Seattle saying out loud: Oh, of course! Off I go on the computer at 90 miles an hour because her comments make so much sense. Perhaps one day I will write without a coach, but for now, I can't imagine writing without her non-judgmental, intelligent and thought-provoking guidance and her positive comments that scream: YES, YES, Well done. Keep going! For anyone looking for a Writing Coach, let me be the first to say: Hire Carrie and watch your life and writing unfold in magical ways. There may indeed be tears, but they will bear fruit, I promise. With love and gratitude. Ellen NewhouseAccupunturist, Sound Healer, TeacherWest Seattle, WAwww.ellennewhouse.com Caroline Allen is an incredible writing coach and mentor. She has a technique which allows your highest level of creativity to emerge. She is detailed in her responses to your writing but also has a soft enough touch that her criticism never seems too harsh. I have learned more from her in the last four months than from all of my other writing teachers combined. If you are serious about writing but need encouragement, or need to work on your skills and want someone who is very invested in your success, hire Caroline. - Tess HardwickAuthor of RiversongSeattle, WAwww.tesshardwick.comCaroline and I met six years ago at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, where we swapped stories about journalism practices in other countries. It was very good to talk to her, not only because she has extensive first-hand experience at newspapers in Asia and Europe, but also because her outlook is both open-minded and sophisticated. Our relationship as writers has grown over the years, and we exchange our work frequently. She has been an excellent coach in my essay writing: sensitive and constructive in her critiques, a sharp line editor, and able to bring out the best in me.I have seen first-hand Caroline's ability as a teacher and a coach at various venues in Seattle. She is supportive, clear and concise, and has a natural talent for explaining concepts in ways adapted to her audience, whether it is novices in her writing group or young visual artists struggling with English composition. Last year, she set up a public reading of student work as the finale for a class she taught. Each piece drew upon many levels of the students talents. The quality of the writing that evening gave eloquent testimony to her talent as a teacher. - Lisa SchnellingerInternational Journalist/Fine Art PhotographerGeorgia, USAwww.barakaphotos.com Working with Caroline has been a life-changing experience. I had always wanted to write, but didnt know where to begin. When I first heard about Art of Storytelling I was nervous and reluctant as it seemed to be a big commitment, but then decided to give it a try. I figured I had to start somewhere. It was the best decision I have ever made! The program is organic and natural which made the writing process a joy. Through gentle guidance and tried and true writing exercises Caroline taught me the basics of writing and I was finally able to let it out. - Lisa SharpeConnecticut, USA We've got career advisors, financial advisors and relationship advisors. But who is here to take care of our creative health? Carrie is that kind of coach. She offers you the dimensional feedback that goes beyond what is expected of you, to what your soul really wants. She helps you express yourself, and in so doing she helps you change your life, and the world around you. - Leah KohlenbergVisual artistBrooklyn, NYwww.leahkohlenberg.com

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