To ensure everyone's good health, students in NYC classes must provide proof of full Covid vaccinations (the initial series of Covid vaccines plus at least one booster). We will accept your Covid vaccine card (or a digital scan), a NY State Excelsior digital card, or another form of government-approved proof. We will contact you before class begins about showing us proof. Masks are encouraged, but not required. We'll provide masks for those who need them.
More Covid details
Creative Nonfiction 101
GUIDE TO NONFICTION COURSES
Nonfiction Pathways
Foundation
If you’re not sure what kind of nonfiction to write...
If you know what kind of nonfiction to write...
Or...
If you want a rather short course...
Next Steps
After completing a Level I ten-week course...
After completing Memoir II, if you want to write a book...
Selling Your Work
If you hope to get published somewhere...
Also Helpful
These essential courses are great for writers of any level.
Creative Nonfiction 101 is a 6-week class, which includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants a refresher. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
Creative nonfiction encompasses prose pieces that spring from the real world, which are told with the finesse and fizz of fiction. The truth is shaped into stories that embrace all styles, from straight to zany to brainy to lyrical, encompassing every topic imaginable from schoolyard memories to a trek in Nepal to the creation of the universe. You’ll see such pieces everywhere: books, magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, newsletters.
Here you will gain an introduction to six major forms of creative nonfiction— memoir, personal essay, feature articles, profiles, reviews, and travel writing. You’ll learn what they are and how to create them. It’s a sampler platter, with no pressure to work on a specific project or settle on which type of nonfiction you prefer.
If you’re eager to explore the endless possibilities of nonfiction, your guided tour begins here.
It helps you distinguish between the various types of nonfiction writing to determine where you are on the spectrum and what to study next.
Brian Shannon
consultant
Notes
The 101 courses do not include workshopping of student projects, but students write and receive feedback on writing exercises and assignments.
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
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You can still enroll in this class.
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Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
6-Week
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Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $319
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Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $319
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One-on-One
Tuition: $1,195
Syllabus
This course explores the major types of creative nonfiction, and the techniques that go with them. Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
New York City/Zoom classes
Week 1
Introduction to Creative Nonfiction: What is Creative Nonfiction? The difference between articles and essays. The role of the angle. Imagination in nonfiction writing.
Focus: Feature articles.
Week 2
Characters in Nonfiction: Transforming flesh-and-blood people into characters in a story. Using angles to define characters. Using character sketches to craft angles.
Focus: Profiles.
Week 3
Being Subjective: The art of description in nonfiction. When to be subjective. How to be opinionated but fair.
Focus: Reviews.
Week 4
Sense of Place in Nonfiction: Setting descriptions. Finding and re-creating the mood. Use of observation. The difference between travel articles and travel essays.
Focus: Travel writing.
Week 5
Personal Narratives: Differences between forms of personal narrative. Structure of essays vs. articles. Use of reflection and point of view.
Focus: Personal essay.
Week 6
The Life of the Writer: Drawing from your own life for your stories. Making room in your life for storytelling. Persistence and perseverance.
Focus: Memoir writing.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Online classes
Week 1
Memoir: An aspect of life. Mining your memory. Telling a real-life story.
Week 2
Personal Essay: Any topic goes. Make it personal and universal. Shape and voice.
Week 3
Feature Articles: Telling a journalistic story. Feature structure. Feature ingredients.
Week 4
Profiles: Selecting someone to write about. Interviewing. Capturing a person on the page.
Week 5
Reviews: Purpose of a review. Facts and opinion. Playing to your audience.
Week 6
Travel Writing: Travel Articles. Travel Memoir. What’s next on your nonfiction journey?
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Anni Irish
Anni Irish has published nonfiction in the Art Newspaper, Bomb, Brooklyn Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Good, Hyperallergic, Men’s Health, Observer, the Outline, Racked, Salon, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Business Insider, Vice, and the Village Voice. She has taught at the School of Visual Arts. She holds a BFA from Tufts University, an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College, and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University.
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Michael Dunphy
Michael Dunphy has pubished articles and essays in CNN, USA Today, Forbes, Tablet, American Way, Travel + Leisure, Travel Weekly, Time Out, Virtuoso Life, TravelAge West, and Beer Advocate. He is a contributing editor to Fodor's travel guides, the former managing editor of FlyWashington, Air Chicago, and LAX magazines, and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper The Bridge in Montpelier, Vermont. He holds a BA from the University of Vermont and an MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College.
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Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon is the author of the narrative nonfiction book Pickleball for All: Everything But the "Kitchen" Sink (Harper Collins/Dey Street Books). Her essays, features, and opinion have appeared in in the New York Times, W magazine, Shondaland, InStyle, Glamour, Vulture, Refinery29, and NBC News. She has constructed crossword puzzles for the New York Times and New York magazine's Vulture. Previously she's been the deputy editor of HelloGiggles, entertainment-news editor for Bustle, and wellbeing editor for Mic. She holds a BA from Emerson College.
Read moreAnni Irish
Anni Irish
has published nonfiction in the Art Newspaper, Bomb, Brooklyn Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Good, Hyperallergic, Men’s Health, Observer, the Outline, Racked, Salon, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Business Insider, Vice, and the Village Voice. She has taught at the School of Visual Arts. She holds a BFA from Tufts University, an MA in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College, and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University.
Michael Dunphy
Michael Dunphy
has pubished articles and essays in CNN, USA Today, Forbes, Tablet, American Way, Travel + Leisure, Travel Weekly, Time Out, Virtuoso Life, TravelAge West, and Beer Advocate. He is a contributing editor to Fodor's travel guides, the former managing editor of FlyWashington, Air Chicago, and LAX magazines, and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper The Bridge in Montpelier, Vermont. He holds a BA from the University of Vermont and an MA in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College.
Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon
is the author of the narrative nonfiction book Pickleball for All: Everything But the "Kitchen" Sink (Harper Collins/Dey Street Books). Her essays, features, and opinion have appeared in in the New York Times, W magazine, Shondaland, InStyle, Glamour, Vulture, Refinery29, and NBC News. She has constructed crossword puzzles for the New York Times and New York magazine's Vulture. Previously she's been the deputy editor of HelloGiggles, entertainment-news editor for Bustle, and wellbeing editor for Mic. She holds a BA from Emerson College.
