Michele Kilmer | MFA
Author | Editor | Writing Coach
“Working with Michele has been one of the most rewarding collaborative relationships I've ever experienced. We quickly established a rapport whereby her feedback and scene edits left me feeling incredibly empowered and focused. In short, she nurtured and transformed my writing to a level worthy of publication.”
Tracy T. (novelist)
Hello, and welcome!
I am glad you are here. I am an author, editor, and writing coach who supports women-identified writers in maturing their written work into submittable, publishable condition.
Like many writers, reading was my first love. There is magic in literature; for me, that magic is life-sustaining.
The level of support a writer needs is uniquely individual. Some focus on maturing their writing at the sentence level. Others want more emotional support to build confidence or find their voice. Others still want to understand how to close the gap between their taste and skill level.
As a writing coach, I teach a wide range of craft skills and help writers define and refine their processes. As an editor, my focus is to help you create the best possible reader experience. Wherever you are in your artistic journey, I will support your growth and will help you stay true to your voice while also meeting the demands of publication.
I also have experience working with writers who have learning disabilities (me too!) or mental health challenges(same!)—adaptation is vital—and I believe there is a place in publishing for all.
A master's degree is not required to write works of excellence, but studying the essential books on craft listed here will give any writer a good foundation and a leg up in writing for publication.
Writing is a practice, it is not about perfection but about getting as much time in the seat as you can muster. I don’t write every day, I don’t have that kind of capacity, but I do read every day as part of my practice. Every project will challenge you as you grow your skills and strengthen your relationship with the page. You will be amazed at what you can create if you don't give up. The wonder of writing increases the more you do it.
Please contact me at, michelekilmer1@gmail.com or use the contact page for a free, 1/2-hour chat about your writing goals and to see if we are a good fit.
Some wise words from Benjamin Dryer, the Copy Chief for Random House, and George Sunaders, the writer extraordinaire.
“…I swear to you a well-constructed sentence, sounds better. Literally sounds better. One of the best ways to determine whether your prose is well-constructed is to read aloud. A sentence that can’t be readily voiced is a sentence that needs to be rewritten.
A good sentence, I find myself saying frequently, is one the reader can follow from beginning to end, no matter how long it is, without having to double-back in confusion because the writer misused or omitted a key piece of punctuation. Chose a vague or misleading pronoun, or in some other way engaged in inadvertent misdirection.” Pg.7 Dryers English
And from George Saunders, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
“Who cares if the first draft is good? It doesn’t need to be good, it just needs to be, so you can revise it. You don’t need an idea to start a story. You just need a sentence. Where does that sentence come from? Wherever. It doesn’t have to be anything special. It will become special over time, as you keep reacting to it. Reacting to that sentence, then changing it, hoping to divest it of some of its ordinariness or sloth, is…writing. That is all writing is or needs to be. We’ll find our voice and ethos and distinguish ourselves from all the other writers in the world without needing to make big overarching decisions, just by the thousands of small ones we make as we revise.” (Page 114)
Read to Mature Your Writing
“Every Sentence has a rhythm of its own, which is also part of the rhythm of the whole piece. Rhythm is what keeps the song going, the horse galloping, the story moving.”
— Ursula K. Le Guin
Steering the Craft; A 21st-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story
“The truth of the matter is this: until the work of your heart and your mind and your hands meets the bookbinders’ work of the paper and ink and paste or thread, your novel is a fluid thing, an unpredictable thing, and every page, every paragraph, every sentence you add runs the delightful risk of changing everything that has come before.”
— Alice McDermott
What About the Baby? Some thoughts on the Art of Fiction
“We might imagine structure as a form of call-and-response. A question arises organically from the story and then the story, very considerately answers it. If we want to make good structure, we just have to be aware of what questions we are causing the reader to ask, then answer that question.”
— George Saunders
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain