Sara Lippmann

To say I wouldn’t have a published novel without Sara Lippmann would be an understatement.

Sara guided my journey from a raw first draft, then through another two drafts, to my completed manuscript. While she was “brutally” honest along the way, she was always encouraging and focused on getting me to write my best.

When editing my soon-to-be novel was done, Sara kept in touch, always available to answer any “next step" questions I might have and calm my anxieties. While I’m convinced I may have received special treatment, I am just as convinced this is how she treats everyone. Hiring Sara Lipmann to edit my work was the best decision I made.

- GENE GREENBERG, author of No Matter How Far

Sara's Flash Fiction Intensive was the best thing I could have done to shake off the rust and get inspired to create short work again, after taking a break for several years to focus on long-form work. In addition to leading her workshop with honesty, trust, and encouragement, Sara packs her Slack channels full of bonus materials like recommended reading, craft essays and prompts. Add in the quality writers she attracts, and you end up with incredible value. Highly recommended!

- JOE KAPITAN, AUTHOR OF CAVES OF THE RUST BELT

Sara is the best writing teacher in the multiverse. I have never met a bigger hearted, more intuitive reader, nor do I know anyone with such vast knowledge of novels, stories, and craft essays. Her comments are generous, her instincts spot-on, and she'll diagnose exactly what's holding your stories back without being prescriptive. Here is someone with a contagious passion for storytelling, so bring her your stories, and yours, and yours.

- JOSEPHINE TOLIN

Sara Lippmann made me love workshops again. Her generosity and expertise created a safe and stimulating environment, where we were challenged to read closer, listen better, and trust our own vision. Her readings, prompts, and craft discussions were wonderful, and I felt a renewed energy to write and revise. I am so grateful for her guidance and the community she fosters.

-MARCELLE HEATH, AUTHOR OF IS THAT ALL THERE IS?

Sara Lippmann is the best creative writing teacher/editor I’ve ever worked with and runs the most effective workshop I’ve ever taken part in. My work has moved farther in the seven months I’ve worked with her in many years prior.  Her questions, comments are always spot on, and mostly free of dogma and pedagogy which I try very hard to avoid. I cannot recommend her strongly enough. I have recommended to Sara that she increase her rates. I have paid far more for less value.​

-LISA J. TRIGG

Sara Lippmann will grow your writing, period.  She’s supportive when it’s needed, and she’s direct as an exacto knife when it’s needed.  Her casual expertise creates a safe community where you’ll be taken on your own terms but also pushed.  Sara has an encyclopedic knowledge of every story or novel ever written and she will prescribe stuff that meets you at your personal edge.  Oh and she’s a hilarious genius brave writer to boot!  Her class makes my life better.

— BRIAN ZIMBLER

Signing up for Sara Lippmann’s Short Form Fiction class was one of the best things I ever did for my writing. The classes were so fun and welcoming, and I came away with several stories marked up with Sara’s thoughtful and incisive feedback. With this new confidence and support, I decided that maybe I’d see if I could get into an MFA program. With Sara’s advice and encouragement, I applied using two stories I’d workshopped in our class, and was offered a fully-funded spot at the University of Montana. In other words, the class literally changed my life. I can’t recommend highly enough!

— DAVID BYRON QUEEN

I spent 2+ in Sara’s workshop and it was a joy and honor from beginning till end. Her warmth, her generosity, and most of all, her detailed, constructive, feedback on my work  were invaluable in developing the tools to continue my writing journey.

— AHARON MESHCHANINOV

Sara Lippmann teaches with heart. She invests in her students and their stories like no writing teacher I've encountered before. Her feedback is honest, insightful, and delivered in a way that always builds up, never tears down. She creates the space for people to bring their full selves to the page, to create work that is raw, to take risks. Sara's workshop has made me a better writer.

— SHAYNE TERRY

Working with Sara Lippmann has been an incredible experience. As my editor and teacher, her commentary on my writing has been generous, heartfelt and encouraging. Her command of language and extensive knowledge of literature is evident and contributes to her ability to express her thoughts with precision and clarity. She is thorough, detailed and responsive. I fully trust that my writing is in capable hands when in hers.

— SUSAN FARWELL

I haven't been a participant in a workshop in about 10 years, but I needed something or someone to push me out of my own dead space. We're all wide-eyed and eager early on but writing life is a whole thing and it can get you in bad ways.  Every week, we brought our pages and every week, Sara brought the same level of enthusiasm and knowledge. She's your best cheerleader with a razor-sharp editorial eye. Your story hit an emotional wall? She has a craft talk for that. Your plot falls off a cliff? Here's a few recommended stories similar to yours that might help you. This workshop was the most high-caliber group I've been with in all my years of writing. My community has grown. I'll never get to lie in the grass outside my childhood home but this workshop felt pretty close. I'm re-energized. I feel lighter. I'm excited again

— STEPHANIE AUSTIN

Working on my first novel, I was limited by my thoughts and imagination, hitting walls at each step that seemed insurmountable. That’s when Sara Lippmann stepped in as a developmental editor and showed me doors and windows that I did not know existed. My subject and setting were foreign to her, but on the first read, she was all in, and I knew she was the editor I needed. She understood the culture and the conflicts marring my characters, provided her insights, and questioned my choices in a supportive manner, without being didactic. Her suggestions on where to insert a scene, where to remove extraneous detail helped me make my chapters purposeful and engaging. She provided a list of reading recommendations relevant to my story. Her extensive editorial letters are a guiding light as I continue to revise and edit my drafts. I highly recommend Sara as a developmental editor and partner in writing.

— SARA CHANSARKAR