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.
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Essay & Opinion Writing I
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.
Essay & Opinion Writing I is a 10-week workshop, which includes lectures, exercises, and the critiquing of student projects. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
Do you enjoy sharing your viewpoints? What do you think of, say, global warming or the latest water-cooler TV show or the forgotten value of handkerchiefs? No topic is too major or minor to warrant exploration. There are many places to air your views—magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, books, newsletters—and many forms to encapsulate them.
People will be eager to hear you out…if you know how to elucidate your thoughts better than the average loudmouth on the bus. Here you’ll learn about the leading forms of viewpoint writing—personal essay, lyric essay, op-eds, reviews, and others—as well as writing craft and how to market your work.
Whatever you have to say, we’ll show you how to say it effectively and compellingly.
It pushed me to get over some of my fears associated with submitting essay-style pieces and think through ways to improve. my writing.
Blakeley Decktor
human rights attorney
Notes
A personal essay is similar to a memoir; both incorporate elements from the writer’s life. But a personal essay focuses more on the viewpoint, and a memoir focuses more on the story. Gotham also offers courses on Memoir Writing and an Intensive on Personal Essay Writing.
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
10-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $419 (returning students: $389)
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Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $419 (returning students: $389)
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One-on-One
Tuition: $1,795
Syllabus
This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of essay/opinion writing craft and gets you writing an essay or opinion piece (or two). Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times)
New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.
Online classes
Week 1
Introduction to Essay & Opinion Writing: The different forms of essay and opinion writing—personal essays, reviews, op-eds, persuasive essays, exploratory essays, lyric essays. Creative nonfiction structure—lede, nut graf, body, kicker. The basics of framing.
Week 2
Purpose and Meaning: Your point (and you do have one). Finding an essay’s guiding principle. The role of theme in creative nonfiction.
Week 3
Description: Putting the “creative” in creative nonfiction. Finding the right word. The art of selection.
Week 4
Voice: Elements of voice. Role of voice in essay writing. Finding your writer’s voice.
Week 5
Personal Essay: Blending the personal and universal. Using your experience to shed light on a larger subject.
Week 6
Review Writing: Structure of reviews. Balancing honesty with mutual regard.
Week 7
Op-Ed/Persuasive Essay: Logic in creative writing. The art of persuasion.
Week 8
Reported/Exploratory/Lyric Essays: Reported—narrative nonfiction using style, dialogue, and description. Exploratory—essays that begin with a question. Lyric—nonfiction that experiments with rhythm, sound, and syntax.
Week 9
Revision: The art of revision.
Week 10
The Business: Finding the right market. Making your pitch.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Anita Gill
Anita Gill is the nonfiction editor for Hypertext Magazine, and her nonfiction has appeared in Coachella Review, Kweli Journal, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Brevity, Hippocampus, The Citron Review, The Offing, and the Baltimore Sun. She has received two Fulbright fellowships in creative writing, has worked for the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and has taught at the UCLA Extension and Santa Monica College. She holds a BA from New York University, an MA in Literature from American University, and an MFA in Writing from Pacific University.
Read more
Fran McNulty
Fran McNulty is the author of the nonfiction books Power Play (Simon and Schuster), a New York Times best-seller, and Most Likely to Succeed (Random House), and of the poetry chapbook Weight (Choeofpleirn Press). Her poetry, fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, The Nation, and North American Review. She has taught at City University of New York and William Paterson College. She holds a BA from Harvard.
Read moreAnita Gill
Anita Gill
is the nonfiction editor for Hypertext Magazine, and her nonfiction has appeared in Coachella Review, Kweli Journal, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Brevity, Hippocampus, The Citron Review, The Offing, and the Baltimore Sun. She has received two Fulbright fellowships in creative writing, has worked for the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and has taught at the UCLA Extension and Santa Monica College. She holds a BA from New York University, an MA in Literature from American University, and an MFA in Writing from Pacific University.
Fran McNulty
Fran McNulty
is the author of the nonfiction books Power Play (Simon and Schuster), a New York Times best-seller, and Most Likely to Succeed (Random House), and of the poetry chapbook Weight (Choeofpleirn Press). Her poetry, fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, The Nation, and North American Review. She has taught at City University of New York and William Paterson College. She holds a BA from Harvard.
Related Courses
Personal Essay Writing
The writer’s view on a topic, interlaced with experiences from the writer’s life.
Memoir Writing I
True stories about aspects of the writer’s life, whether essay or book-length.
Creative Nonfiction 101
A great entry point for the creative forms of nonfiction—memoir, essay, feature articles, reviews, etc.
