Work with me 1:1
Creativity and Writing Coaching
Rediscover pleasure and inspiration in your creative life.
Writing takes patience and discipline—but it doesn’t have to hurt. Create with more ease, less angst.
Contact me for a 15-minute free trial session. If we both feel like it’s a good fit, we’ll move on from there!
I draw on my experience as:
A fiction writer and essayist whose work has been published in The Best American Short Stories, The New York Times, Tricycle, EPOCH, Michigan Quarterly Review, Crazyhorse, West Branch, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and other publications.
A creative writing professor who teaches at Northwestern University.
A teacher and consultant at StoryStudio, a leading national creative writing center.
The creator of a newsletter that focuses on the intersection of creative practice and Buddhism.
Sarah is a keen reader and has a unique knack for seeing what a writer is striving for in a draft and what may be holding them back from achieving their aim. She has deep knowledge of craft and deft writing skills and pairs them with a level of close attention that only comes from true dedication and respect for others' work. Sarah's approach, which helps writers get outside of themselves and learn to see what's on the page (and what's missing), is truly one of a kind. It's a way of showing you yourself.
—Serena Simpson
Sign up for a creativity toolkit + coaching session and receive the following:
A preliminary questionnaire with reflection exercises that will help identify your desires, values, worldview, aesthetics, self-care needs, and goals. I’ll use this questionnaire to design your personalized toolkit and coaching session.
3-5 creative prompts personalized for your challenges and interests. These prompts may involve writing, doodling, photography, collage, music, experiential learning, and mind/body meditations.
A list of 5-7 resources, curated especially for you, that will inspire your work, help you overcome obstacles, and meet your goals.
45-minutes of 1:1 guidance and direct instruction from an accomplished writer and professor who teaches at Northwestern University.
Contact me to set up a fifteen-minute trial call. If we both think it’s a good fit, we’ll take it from there!
My Coaching Philosophy
We make art because we’re alive.
Creativity comes from the heart and body.
Cultivate an attitude of curiosity, wonder, experimentation, and joyful effort.
Gentleness and rigor are not contradictions.
The best creativity coaching is designed by working creatives—because we’ve been there.
She has a wealth of practical tips and wisdom for writers of all ages or experience levels. Time with Sarah has made me a better writer and teacher, and I aspire to her sense of joy in the craft.
—Connor Shioshita-Pickett
Pricing for coaching:
$85 for a 45-minute writing coaching session, personalized Creativity Toolkit with resources and exercises, inquiry-based feedback, and direct instruction on any craft topic you request.
Pricing for manuscript consultations:
$110 per hour for a manuscript consultation on fiction or nonfiction. Manuscript consultations include an editorial letter and a twenty-minute 1:1 meeting (included in the price) about your work-in-progress.
Book a three session coaching package at a $85 per session and receive:
Paid subscribers to Your Wild And Radiant Mind receive a 15% discount on coaching sessions.
Session 1: Reflection, Self-Care, and Goals
Reflect on your aesthetic values.
Identify areas where you need support.
Create goals that are supported by artistic self-care.
Receive your personalized Creativity Toolkit.
Session 2: Inspiration, Meaning, and Craft
Find your sources of inspiration and meaning.
Connect your creative work to your worldview.
Session 3: Joy, Devotion, and Endurance
Form strategies to support in your creative work for the long term.
Develop a plan to enhance your skills and craft.
"Sarah is deeply thoughtful, incredibly sharp, and unfailingly kind—she's the kind of educator who is committed to creating a shared understanding."
—Joe Scapellato, author of The Made-Up Man
20-minute calls at $40: Reflection and support for your wildly radiant, creative self
The Accountability Call:
Set creative goals and keep yourself accountable to them
Check-in with me (and yourself) about where you are at in your projects
Email me your pages or goals at a deadline that you set
Receive positive encouragement with a dose of reality
The Reflection Call:
Unpack the challenge you’re facing in your writing or creative life
Use inquiry and collaborative feedback based on the Critical Response Process to clarify your work and solutions
Understand your talents and strengths and how to play them up
Leave with tangible next steps
The Numinous Call:
Connect spiritual meaning and purpose to your creative work and life
Receive guidance through inquiry and reflection so that you can tap into your desires and existing resources
Leave with writing and creativity exercises to deepen the conversation with yourself after the call
The Ask Me (Almost) Anything Call:
Email me your question and then set up on call where I deliver personalized feedback. I cover the following:
Moving past writer’s block and intertia
Applying to MFA programs
Pitching to magazines + adapting Substack posts to essays, and essays to Substack posts
Processing editorial letters and workshop feedback
Managing time as a parent and/or working person
Applying to residencies
Strategies for editing and revising
Planning a long manuscript or project
Tools for creating accountability
Working with internalized biases around your social identity
Performing and reading your work in public
Empowering yourself after rejection
Connecting your work to your worldview
Auditing your website and social media to enhance depth and message
What else people say about my teaching and writing:
For the past fifteen years, Sarah has continually impressed me with her talent and unceasing imagination. She fearlessly tackles worlds, large and small, with a distillation that comes from knowing what’s absolutely essential. I’m a big fan.
—Cristina García, author of Vanishing Maps
As a teacher and mentor, Sarah is an expert at purposeful play—while mindful of the goals of a given session, she is also sensitive to the process that goes into achieving your goals. She is always prepared with an insight or exercise to move you forward, wherever you may find yourself in the creative process.
—Pedro Ponce, author of The Devil and the Dairy Princess
Sarah is a fantastic leader and teacher, and her approach to incorporating play into the classroom is both thoughtful and energizing. It’s been a pleasure for me to learn from her as both a teacher and a writer, and I’m confident that working with her can make anyone’s teaching and writing better.
—Michelle Falkoff, author of How to Pack for the End of the World