Testimonials

I credit Nichelle with being an influential person in my writing journey. I signed on with her for coaching and editing my first novel. I was stuck and didn't know how to move forward with my story. With her professional writing experience and coaching knowledge, Nichelle gave excellent feedback and writing tips with detailed and creative revisions. I have learned so much from her and have made significant strides in my writing. Her support, wisdom, and developmental insight were priceless in helping unlock my voice and story. This was the best investment in my writing and in myself. I highly recommend Nichelle's coaching and Plot and Pen.

As a new author, I approached Nichelle to assist me in preparing a thriller/adventure novel in her capacity as a developmental editor. She was informative and courteous in two phone conversations. Nichelle responded in a timely manner and not only edited my novel but offered some very useful tips to improve the novel’s flow and entertainment quality. I am much more confident of a successful publication after Nichelle’s assistance. Many thanks to Nichelle as an editor and writing coach. I strongly recommend her to any author.

Nichelle performed a developmental edit of my novel, and I couldn't be more pleased with her work. She went above and beyond to provide the insights I needed to improve my manuscript. Her guidance made all the difference, and I'm grateful for the dedication and care she put into the process.

I highly recommend Nichelle as a writing coach. She was great help through a major revision of my novel. She was responsive when I changed the direction and timing of the work in response to a looming contest deadline. Nichelle really understood the story and what I was trying to do with it, and provided clarity and vital feedback.

After surviving a very aggressive medical treatment, I felt I had a story to share and no idea how to start. Connecting with Nichelle opened my eyes to the craft of storytelling and I received direct feedback on my manuscript. Nichelle provided an inside out approach to both the skills needed to write a memoir and how to improve the narrative flow of my own work.

I especially appreciated that Nichelle provided both structural editorial notes and worked with me to understand the larger context of my story to provide valuable insights that made the work stronger. We especially focused on writing for an audience instead of writing a journal. Would recommend Nichelle to anyone looking to write their memoirs regardless of experience level.

I really appreciated the breadth and depth of Nichelle’s editorial comments regarding my novel. She made concise suggestions about specific word choices and phrases I used. She was able to pinpoint several concepts I have struggled to grasp. I finally understand the difference between to “expand” or to be “explicit,” and “trope” versus “new material.” She supported my vision for the shape of my novel and encouraged me to follow those initial instincts as being the right path to follow moving forward with revising my novel. Nichelle made it easy to have a conversation about my work without my feeling overwhelmed by her opinions. It was nice to have a “back and forth” discussion about possible solutions to issues I’ve had with revision. I now feel I have a plan to move forward, and thanks to Nichelle, I don’t feel stuck in my rut anymore.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I started to write my memoir. Yet with Nichelle’s guidance, I finally feel less overwhelmed and far more focused on the story I want to tell.

With nearly a decade of blog and personal journal entries to work with, I was so overwhelmed that I kept losing my perspective. From our first meeting, Nichelle put me at ease, was genuinely invested in my story, and guided me in fine tuning my vision. In just two months time, she has helped me take thoughts and scenes that were little more than vague ideas into a solid direction.

Nichelle’s skills in organizing my random thoughts, asking pointed questions, and helping me gain clarity has motivated me to finally take the project seriously. Working with Nichelle has been challenging in a good way, and I really appreciate her professionalism.

Nichelle was so helpful to me in preparing a pitch package for my historical mystery novel. She was professional, caring, and really paid attention to my project as well as who I am as a person to make a list of agents to begin my query process with. I was so impressed! As an experienced writer in other genres, I am aware of the work involved in researching agents, and she came up with a list where every name made sense and felt like a potential match! She was also clear and helpful with my synopsis and query letter, pieces that most writers despair over. I now feel really prepared to start the query process. I can’t recommend her enough, whether you are looking for a manuscript edit or help in preparing pitch materials, or even getting started in the writing process. She’s a seasoned writer herself, and a great communicator. Honest, kind, professional!

After a (mostly) great career teaching English to students from around the globe, I yearned to pursue my first love: humor writing. I wrote a goofy advice column in our high school newspaper and a few stories here and there. Fifty plus years later, I want to write more than ever. Why not? Margareta Magnusson, aged ‘between 80 and 100’ is the author of three best sellers about Swedish Death Cleaning and Aging Exuberantly. Kudos to her!

When I retired, I completed a two-year writing program at the YMCA in Syracuse, N.Y. It was a wonderful experience and resulted in my first book, Pretend You Know What You’re Doing: My Voyage from Teacher to Humor Writer (2014). I also began a humor blog called Odds & Ends from Ermigal that was an enjoyable pursuit, and I had positive feedback from readers.

In 2022, I self-published EVolution: Rose and Vera Save Mother Earth (2022).

If Nichelle had been my writing coach for these endeavors, I believe ‘I coulda been a contender’ in the literary world!

In 2023, I decided to turn EVolution into a screenplay because I believed it is a timely story that would be of interest to a wide audience. I knew little about screenplays except for “Show, Don’t Tell.” Although I had several sessions with a screenwriting coach and received some good feedback, I was not accomplishing much.

A few months ago, I found Plot & Pen, and am very excited that my story for the screen is becoming a reality!

Nichelle has helped me establish accountability to my project in an encouraging but firm way, breaking my work into manageable chunks that have been enjoyable and do not overwhelm me.

Our time together so far has been very productive, with plenty of targeted feedback and the rationale for changes. Together, we have identified ambitious but possible goals for progress, and I reached my goal to produce a first draft in record time!

Nichelle’s knowledge of storytelling has taught me many aspects, such as how to determine which portions of my story had unnecessary or irrelevant events and characters. This one item alone has made a dramatic improvement in the strength and logical flow of my writing.

I have also learned more about what the elements of a quality story are, such as character development, types of conflict and powerful themes.

Plot & Pen has opened the door for me to become not just a writer, but a better writer. I recommend Plot & Pen highly!