Creative Nonfiction 101
GUIDE TO NONFICTION COURSES
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.
This is the first class you want to take if you have a serious interest in writing creative nonfiction.
Mimi Gupta
engineer/blogger
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, Zoom classes are being scheduled. Please check back soon.
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
6-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $354
-
One-on-One
Tuition: $1195
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
Angie Chatman
Angie Chatman has told stories on The MOTH Radio Hour, StoryCollider, Stories from the Stage (The World Channel), and Boston's Fugitive Stories. Her essays and short fiction are forthcoming or have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Taint, Taint, Taint, Pangyrus, the Rumpus, Blood Orange Review, Hippocampus, and Business Insider, among others. She has taught for the Boston Public Library and the University of Hartford. She holds an MBA from MIT-Sloan, and an MFA in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction from Queens University of Charlotte.
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Jessica Ogilvie
Jessica Ogilvie has published articles and essays in Los Angeles Magazine, Playboy, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Dame, Condé Nast Traveler, LAist, Vice, Good, and the Hairpin, among others, and her work has been anthologized in Little America: Incredible True Stories of Immigrants in America. She has worked as a contributing editor at Playboy, a contributing writer at Los Angeles Magazine, and a section editor at LA Weekly. She has taught for 826LA. She holds a BA from New York University and an MFA from Bennington College.
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Mara Reinstein
Mara Reinstein writes the MaraMovies blog, which features reviews, essays, and reporting about the film industry. She is the film critic for US Weekly magazine, where she is also a former deputy editor, and she is a contributing entertainment editor for Parade magazine. Her nonfiction has appeared in Architectural Digest, Billboard, Glamour, the Hollywood Reporter,Variety, TV Guide, The New York Observer, and Emmy magazine. She holds a BA from the University of Missouri.
Read morehas told stories on The MOTH Radio Hour, StoryCollider, Stories from the Stage (The World Channel), and Boston's Fugitive Stories. Her essays and short fiction are forthcoming or have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Taint, Taint, Taint, Pangyrus, the Rumpus, Blood Orange Review, Hippocampus, and Business Insider, among others. She has taught for the Boston Public Library and the University of Hartford. She holds an MBA from MIT-Sloan, and an MFA in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction from Queens University of Charlotte.
has published articles and essays in Los Angeles Magazine, Playboy, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Dame, Condé Nast Traveler, LAist, Vice, Good, and the Hairpin, among others, and her work has been anthologized in Little America: Incredible True Stories of Immigrants in America. She has worked as a contributing editor at Playboy, a contributing writer at Los Angeles Magazine, and a section editor at LA Weekly. She has taught for 826LA. She holds a BA from New York University and an MFA from Bennington College.
writes the MaraMovies blog, which features reviews, essays, and reporting about the film industry. She is the film critic for US Weekly magazine, where she is also a former deputy editor, and she is a contributing entertainment editor for Parade magazine. Her nonfiction has appeared in Architectural Digest, Billboard, Glamour, the Hollywood Reporter,Variety, TV Guide, The New York Observer, and Emmy magazine. She holds a BA from the University of Missouri.
