If you test positive for Covid – Don’t come to class until you test negative. But let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you show Covid symptoms OR If you have been exposed to someone with Covid – Don’t come to class for at least 5 days after showing symptoms or exposure, and then take a test to confirm that you are negative. Let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you have any questions about this, you may call (212-974-8377) or email us ([email protected]).
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...
Memoir I
Essay & Opinion Writing
Feature Article Writing
Blog & Newsletter Writing
Travel Writing
Food Writing
Or...
If you want a rather short course...
Memoir Intensive
Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
Personal Essay Writing
Feature Article Writing Intensive
Humor Writing Intensive
Blog & Newsletter Writing Intensive
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.
If you’re looking for a challenging and fun overview of nonfiction writing, this is the class for you. Each week covers a different area of nonfiction, which means you get to try lots of different things, and hopefully find the one that speaks to you. I know more now than I did going in, and feel confident signing up for a more in-depth class on a particular area of nonfiction now, thanks to the great structure and teacher.
Piper Goodeve
audiobook narrator
Notes
The 101 courses do not include workshopping of student projects, but students write and receive feedback on writing exercises and assignments.
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
6-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $339
-
NYC
In-person
Tuition: $355
-
Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $339
-
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
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.
Read more
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 more
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.
Read more
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 moreAngie 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.
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.
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.
