The ABCDE of Writing: Coaching high-quality high-quantity writing

Coaching has been used for many purposes, and the scholarly literature demonstrates its efficacy in improving performance and well-being. However, to date, there has been no specific literature about coaching as a tool to increase the quality and quantity of writing in adult writers. We argue that writing is a significant component on many professional people’s working life (e.g. academics or PhD students), and as such, success in this area can have a major impact on career progression. The foundation of cognitive behavioural coaching, the ABCDE model, provides the basis for a discussion about how to coach high-quality, high-quantity writing. In this article we discuss what aspects of writing are most likely to give rise to unhelpful beliefs and consequences. Using evidence from the scholarly literature on writing, inaccurate beliefs are disputed and more effective behaviours are suggested. The authors conclude that there is much to be gained from coaches having a specific understanding of the psychology of writing, as successful writing may make the difference between people’s careers flourishing or stagnating.