Shrink

I once knew a shrink who was quite possibly the most screwed-up individual I had ever met. Engaged something like six times to six different women in two years and never went through with any of the weddings. That kind of screwy. And I used to think, "Who the HELL would go to this person for advice? Who in their RIGHT MIND would lie down on a couch and talk to this guy, who is clearly nuts?" But therein was the answer. Because clearly, some of his patients weren't in their "right mind" and so maybe he was able to get away with it. Or . . . maybe he was really good at what he did (I was never a patient, so I have no idea--not that I am EVER in my right mind) and it didn't MATTER that the man was completely off his rocker in his personal life. I just don't know.

So it was that two days ago, eating lunch at my desk (and thus, effectively not able to type . . .), I instead went blog hopping until I was done eating. Using my mouse, I click, click, clicked away. And there it was. By linking, from this blog, through a series of other blogs, I came upon a woman charging for writing coaching. And she was clearly, like my shrink-friend, a little nuts. She was unpublished, her writing, at least from her site, was . . . I don't know, confrontational or just . . . not quite what I would look for in a writing coach. She had few credits that I could see. And it was the second time in a week that I had found someone like this.

And so I started wondering. What do you look for in a writing coach? In an editor?How do you pick? Can you trust someone who's never published a book before, or whose BEST experience on their resume was editing a newsletter for a local real estate agent? What do you look for in your critique partners? I mean, there are some spot-on beta readers who have never written a complete book before?

So this is a wide open post today. What are your thoughts?