Award-Winning Creative Writing Tutors
serving Portland, OR

A published author with work in Poets & Writers, Longreads, and New Orleans Review, Thea knows what it takes to move a piece from rough idea to polished submission. She digs into the specific craft elements — scene construction, image, rhythm, revision strategy — that turn competent writing into memorable writing.

Whether the project is a personal essay, a short story, or a poem, Henry approaches creative writing as craft that can be studied and sharpened. He breaks down elements like voice, structure, and imagery with the rigor of a PhD-trained reader, then applies that analysis to each student's own work-in-progress. His 5.0 rating speaks to the encouragement he brings alongside that critical eye.

A blank page is less intimidating when a writer has concrete tools: sensory detail, voice, structure, the difference between showing and telling. Robin approaches creative writing as a discipline with learnable techniques, then gives students the freedom to experiment within those frameworks. Her background spans poetry, personal essays, and short fiction.

A good creative writing tutor doesn't just say "show, don't tell" — they explain exactly how sensory detail, voice, and structure work together to create an effect on the reader. Aaron earned his MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, where he workshopped across genres and developed a sharp editorial eye. Whether a student is experimenting with poetry, personal essays, or short fiction, he digs into the craft choices that separate flat drafts from compelling ones.

Before Gabby ever taught fiction workshops, she was a working journalist — and that reporter's instinct for finding the story inside the story is what she brings to students' drafts, whether they're writing a short story, a personal narrative, or experimenting with genre for the first time. Her Master's work in Strategic Communication at University of Oregon sharpened her understanding of how storytelling structure actually works on an audience, so she can explain not just what to revise but why a particular scene, line of dialogue, or pacing choice lands or falls flat.

I am passionate about helping students when they are feeling stuck or frustrated, especially in math classes. For 2 years, I have tutored Algebra, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus. I have found it is most helpful to reteach concepts in a setting where students can ask questions along the way. When students feel comfortable asking for help and can work through adversity, they are better able to succeed in the classroom and learn valuable problem-solving skills they can use in the future.

A decade of teaching artistry in theater has given Meg an instinct for storytelling — character voice, tension, pacing — that translates directly into creative writing instruction. She tackles everything from flash fiction drafts to personal essays, pushing students to revise with intention rather than just correct surface errors. Her Master's in Reading/Writing/Literacy grounds that creative instinct in solid pedagogy.

An electrical engineering student at Duke might seem like an unlikely creative writing tutor, but Brooke's deep Latin studies — through AP level — trained her to obsess over how individual word choices carry weight, rhythm, and layered meaning in ways that map directly onto crafting strong prose and poetry. She also writes and edits across genres, from college application essays to literary analysis, giving her a practical sense of when a draft needs tighter structure versus more room to breathe. Rated 5.0 by students.

Psychology training at Colgate gave Suzanne something quietly useful for creative writing — a deep understanding of how people think, what motivates them, and why they behave in contradictory ways, which is exactly what makes fictional characters feel real rather than flat. She brings that behavioral insight into drafting sessions, especially when students are building characters or writing personal narratives that need emotional precision. Her research background also sharpens her revision instincts, catching where a piece makes claims about a character's feelings instead of showing them.

Mathematical thinking trained Valerie to build arguments step by step — a habit that turns out to be surprisingly useful when a student's short story has a pacing problem or their poem loses its thread halfway through. Her applied math degree means she approaches revision almost structurally, mapping out where a draft's logic holds and where it collapses, then working with the student to rebuild those sections with sharper language and clearer intent. Rated 5.0 by students.

I love to help students to do well on the SAT and ACT Verbal, Reading, and English sections. I have tutored these areas of standardized tests for more than 3 years. My approach is not "standardized" because I enjoy working one-on-one with clients to tailor learning experiences that address each person's unique needs. As a former professor of communication, I also have the skills to help professionals and graduate students with their research and writing. I am currently helping a doctoral student with her dissertation.

Rachel's background spans research, editing, and persuasive writing — which means when she sits down with a creative writing draft, she spots structural problems fast and knows how to talk a student through fixing them without flattening their voice. Her own reading life is wide-ranging, and she draws on that to match students with mentor texts that illuminate whatever craft element they're wrestling with, whether it's building tension in a short story or finding the right register for a personal essay. Rated 5.0 by students.

Good creative writing isn't just inspiration — it's craft decisions about voice, pacing, point of view, and when to break the rules you've learned. Mollie has worked as both a content writer and a game designer, two fields where storytelling meets structure and every word has to earn its place. She digs into drafts with students to sharpen dialogue, tighten scenes, and find the story underneath the first attempt.

Performing improv comedy and writing musicals at Yale has given William a practitioner's understanding of voice, structure, and revision — the three pillars that separate interesting creative writing from flat drafts. He teaches techniques like writing compelling dialogue, controlling pacing through sentence length, and developing characters whose choices drive a story forward rather than just narrating events.

Songwriting, fiction, college essays, music composition — Jordan's creative output spans an unusual range, which means he knows firsthand how the same core moves (finding a voice, building tension, cutting what doesn't serve the piece) play out differently across forms. His American Studies background adds a storyteller's instinct for weaving cultural context into personal narrative, and he's especially sharp at helping writers figure out what their draft is actually about underneath the first version they put down.

Four years in Boston elementary and middle school classrooms taught Yan how to get reluctant writers past the blank page — using prompts, visual cues, and structured brainstorming that turn scattered ideas into stories with real shape. Her curriculum design background means she builds each session around where a student actually is as a writer, whether that's a second grader dictating their first narrative or a middle schooler learning to revise for stronger dialogue and pacing.

Studying child development at Yale taught Arielle something most writing tutors learn the hard way — that the stories kids want to tell and the language they have to tell them are two very different things, and the gap between them is where creative writing instruction actually lives. She uses that developmental lens to meet each writer's imagination with the right scaffolding, whether that means building a picture book narrative with a first grader or helping an older student craft a short story with real scene structure and dialogue. Rated 5.0 by students.

Strong creative writing comes from learning to trust your own voice while also understanding craft — when to linger on a detail, how to build tension, why word choice matters at the sentence level. Mary brings a rare combination of literary training from Yale and hands-on teaching experience to workshop students' poems, personal narratives, and short stories with specific, actionable feedback.