Gala Russ on How to Stop Doing Things the Hard Way — The Writing Coach Ep. 217

There’s a persistent myth in the writing world: that great books are created by lone geniuses, toiling away in isolation, waiting for inspiration to strike.

It’s a compelling image.

It’s also wildly unhelpful and mostly untrue.

In this episode of The Writing Coach Podcast, I sat down with Gala Russ (author, editor, and writing coach) to talk about what actually helps writers grow: community, feedback, structure, emotional intelligence, and learning when to stop doing everything the hard way.

Gala’s journey into writing didn’t follow a neat, linear path. She started publishing fiction on Wattpad, learned to write in a serialized format with live reader feedback, was eventually hired by the platform, and later moved into book coaching and developmental editing. Along the way, she studied linguistics, taught ESL, worked as a strategic consultant, collaborated with co-authors, and trained as a coach—bringing all of that experience into how she now helps writers.

In our conversation, we dig into:

• Why so many writers struggle alone for years before asking for help
• How community and collaboration accelerate growth (without taking away your voice)
• The real difference between pantsers and plotters—and why it mostly disappears after draft one
• Why perfectionism is often a misunderstanding of how writing skill actually develops
• What co-authoring really requires (hint: it’s a lot like improv—and a lot like dating)
• How learning to write is more like learning a language than finishing a single project
• Why “DIY” doesn’t mean “do it alone,” whether you’re talking about punk rock or publishing

We also talk about Gala’s approach to coaching, how she blends structure with intuition, strategy with somatics, and teaching with long-term support, plus what she’s working on next, including courses for beginner novelists and writers looking to integrate romance subplots into non-romance stories.

 Listen to the full episode below, and consider this your reminder that becoming a better writer doesn’t require more suffering—it requires better systems, better support, and a willingness to learn alongside other humans who care about the work as much as you do.