ONE-ON-ONE COACHING FOR WRITERS
Photo by Jasmin Hunter
I currently teach Playwriting at Bates College, and also coach one-on-one. I’m happy to work with beginners, or more experienced writers seeking feedback on a specific project. While my focus is playwriting, I’ve worked with novelists, journalists, memoirists, and television writers. Many students have seen the work we focused on be published or win awards.
I also work with students on college and graduate school entrance essays.
HOW IT WORKS
We can schedule a one-off, or weekly sessions. My current rate is $120 hourly, and will include time spent reading your work outside of our sessions. For a typical session, you might email me 10 or so double-spaced pages (12-point font, one-inch margins, with pagination) the day before, and then we meet for 30-45 minutes. I’m happy to offer 15% off for booking five or more sessions and paying in advance.
We can meet over Zoom, over the phone, or in person. Meetings are usually scheduled for Monday or Tuesday afternoons or evenings.
I also do thorough script consults, where I spend hours reading your work multiple times, writing pages of detailed notes, and then meeting with you for hours to discuss my notes. These engagements typically cost upwards of $1,500 and are priced on a case-by-case basis.
Please send a message through my Contact page to start the conversation!
MY BACKGROUND
I’ve been a Guest Artist or Lecturer at Kings College London Shakespeare Centre, the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Maine College of Art, Southern Maine Community College, and the ACS International Schools in London.
My first teaching job was bringing Shakespeare to a juvenile detention facility, and I’ve taught playwriting to over 1,000 students through various nonprofit arts organizations and colleges.
I love teaching. There’s a picture taken at my 8th birthday party, and I’m sitting in a circle, reading to everyone. That pretty much sums it up.
WHAT MY STUDENTS SAY
“Callie was my first professional mentor and one of the best. Her class for Maine Playwrights Festival was eye-opening for me as a young writer and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my art professionally. Callie is an incredible teacher, artist, and friend. Her characters are surprising, witty, and impossible not to love. Callie’s own story is as epic as any stage play - I’ve never met someone with such strength and resilience who always sees the beauty of the world, on and off the page. ”
“As a playwright and short story writer, I’ve searched much of my life for a world-building vision and implementation guide to help me to see my plays from someone else’s eyes. The kind of real guide who shows you to experience your play as a world with a horizon instead of just a script. Callie Kimball is that guide—her creativity, focus, and observations balance finding your plays’ strengths with pushing your playwriting to its next level. She jointly experiences your play with you so you learn the critical importance of not just being the playwright but being the audience. Playwriting never feels like work with Callie; it’s always exciting, always a new discovery, a new experience. This is my third set of sessions with Callie and I happily look forward to more!”
“As a novelist, I went to Callie Kimball’s playwriting workshop in Portland, Maine to sharpen dialogue in my books. I came away with that and much more. Callie is the kind of teacher/mentor who wades right in with the work minus pontification. We always wrote in class. We critiqued each others’ work in an atmosphere of collegiality and not competition. Callie shared her own process, its ups and downs both as a playwright and an actor, with humor, vulnerability, generosity and expertise. I highly recommend working with her.”
“I’ve made a living as a writer, but I knew very little about playwriting. Callie’s course changed that. With her help finding my voice and honoring my vision, I found the play I needed to write. She taught me that structure and rhythm help reveal the story. Callie is kind, the course was constantly moving forward, and her insights and knowledge of her craft and life have left a permanent mark. I looked forward to every class.”
