Fiction Writing I
GUIDE TO FICTION COURSES
Fiction 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.
Also consider Gotham’s premium Zoetrope Fiction Writing classes: Zoetrope Fiction I or Zoetrope Fiction II.
Fiction is a wonderful conjuring act. With only words and the reader’s imagination, a work of fiction can sail across the world in pursuit of a whale, or time-travel to another dimension, or zero in on a few minutes in line at the local bank, enveloping the reader in a made-up story that feels real.
To pull off this feat requires a balance of craftsmanship, daring, and insight into human nature. Here you’ll learn the time-tested elements of fiction craft and how to market your work.
Whether you seek to write short stories or novels; commercial, literary, or genre; comic or tragic, we’ll show you how to spin your thoughts into believable and spellbinding tales.
I've taken writing courses in college, adult education classes and a couple of writing workshops. Fiction Writing I at Gotham has been by far the most rewarding.
John Daley
cable television advertising
Notes
Fiction I encompasses short stories and novels. After Level I, students have a choice of Short Fiction Writing II (focusing on short stories), or Novel II Critique or Novel II First Draft (focusing on novels).
If you’re working on “genre” fiction, you may take either a Fiction/Novel course or one of our genre courses: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Mystery.
If you’re working on a YA novel, you may take a Fiction/Novel or “genre” course, or you may take a Children’s Book course, where the full spectrum of children’s books will be covered.
Upcoming Classes
10-Week
-
NYC
In-person
Tuition: $490 (returning students: $460)
-
Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $464 (returning students: $434)
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Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $464 (returning students: $434)
-
One-on-One
Tuition: $1895
Syllabus
This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of fiction craft and gets you writing a short story (or two) or a novel. 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 Fiction: The different types and forms of fiction. Where to find inspiration and ideas. The importance of craft.
Week 2
Character: Where to find characters. Making characters dimensional through desire and contrasts. Creating character profiles. Showing vs. Telling. Methods for showing characters.
Week 3
Plot: Finding a major dramatic question. Shaping a beginning, middle, and end. The difference between short story and novel plots. Pros and cons of outlining.
Week 4
Point of View: POV defined. Exploration of the many types of POV.
Week 5
Description: Using the senses. Specificity. Techniques for creativity. Finding the right words. Merging description with point of view.
Week 6
Dialogue: The importance of scene. Dialogue's illusion of reality. Quotation marks and tags. Stage directions. Summarized dialogue. Characterization through dialogue. Subtext. Dialect.
Week 7
Setting/Pacing: Time. Place. Weather. Description of setting. Merging character and setting. How to manipulate time through pacing. Flashbacks.
Week 8
Voice: Voice defined. Exploration of the various types of voice. Tips for finding your voice. Understanding style—syntax, diction, and paragraph length.
Week 9
Theme/Revision: Theme defined. Types of theme. Weaving theme into a story. Exploration of the various stages of revision.
Week 10
The Business: Proper format for manuscripts. How to target publishing houses, literary magazines, and agents. Query letters.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Aaron H. Aceves
Aaron H. Aceves is the author of the novel This Is Why They Hate Us (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), and his short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Passages North, the Florida Review, them, and Epiphany, among others, and been anthologized in All The Ways A Heart Burns: A Voyage YA Anthology (Discover New Art). He has taught for the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.
Read moreChristine Meade
Christine Meade is the author of the novels The Way You Burn (She Writes Press) and The Moon, Her Crown (LitSet Books). Her personal essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Literati, HuffPost, the Manifest-Station, and Writer’s Digest. She has taught for 826 Boston, Lasell College, and Curry College. She holds a BA from Northeastern University and an MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts.
Read moreErica Magrin
Erica Magrin has published short stories and essays in Aphros, Our Town, and Teen Ink, among others. Her play Make Believe was produced and staged at the Bridge Theater and the American Theatre of Actors, and her play Conversion was produced Off-Broadway at Theatre 54. She is an editor at Lamplight Publishing, and has worked for Persea Books, Macmillan Publishers, Disney Publishing, and Simon & Schuster. She holds a BA and an MS in Publishing from Pace University.
Read moreEsther Hayes
Esther Hayes is a winner of the Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize, and her short fiction has been performed on Selected Shorts, published in Electric Literature, Threepenny Review, and Puerto del Sol, and been named Distinguished by the Best American Short Stories series. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Guernica and the Colorado Review blog. She has worked as an associate editor for the Colorado Review, and taught for Colorado State University and Colgate University. She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and an MFA in Fiction from Colorado State University.
Read moreJessica Sticklor
Jessica Sticklor (also writing as Jessica Stilling and J.M. Stephen) is the author of the novels Just So Many Places (NineStar Press), After the Barricades, The Weary God of Ancient Travelers (both D.X. Varos), The Beekeeper's Daughter (Bedazzled Ink Press), and Betwixt and Between (Ig Publishing), and the young adult Pan Chronicles series and The Rise of Runes and Shields, book one of her Seidr Sagas young adult fantasy series (all D.X. Varos). Her short stories have appeared in The Paper Nautilus, Open Wide Magazine, Conclave, The Skyline Review, Chiron Review, and Kudzu, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Writer, Ms., and Tor.com. She has worked as an editor at The House of Books. She holds a BA from The New School and an MFA in Creative Writing from CUNY.
Read moreK Hank Jost
K Hank Jost is the editor of A Common Well Journal. He is also the author of the novel MadStone and the novel-in-stories Deselections (both Whiskey Tit Books). His short stories and poems have appeared in Hobart, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, the Burning Palace, X-R-A-Y Lit Mag, and BULL, among others, and he is a regular contributor to the New Haven Independent. He has taught for the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research.
Read moreNelsie Spencer
Nelsie Spencer is the author of the novel The Playgroup, (St. Martin’s Press). She wrote the feature screenplay A Girl's Best Friend and co-wrote the feature film Valley Inn, which debuted at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. She wrote, produced, and co-hosted the radio show The Radio Ritas, (Greenstone Media) and hosted the podcast Losing It. She co-wrote and starred in the play My Heart Belongs To Daddy, produced at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Duke University’s Pre-Broadway series. She performed her one-woman show Day of the Dead Daddy at the Chain Theatre in New York City, at the Denver Fringe Festival, and it won an honorable mention in Solo Fest at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. She studied dance and theater at Orange Coast College, and fiction at The New School.
Read morePriya Ele Rinkus
Priya Ele Rinkus has published short fiction and poetry in SmokeLong Quarterly, Waxwing, Passages North, the Blood Pudding, Pidgeonholes, and Hobart After Dark, among others. Her play Red Handed was performed off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse, and her play Rose of the World was read at the Elif Collective. She is a past reader and editor at West 10th and X-RAY literary magazines. She holds a BA from New York University.
Read moreQuinn Adikes
Quinn Adikes has published fiction in Lit Hub, Five Points, Epiphany, the Palisades Review, the Berkeley Fiction Review, december, the Southampton Review, Shenandoah, and other journals. He taught for Stony Brook Southampton, where he also earned an MFA in Creative Writing.
Read moreSusan Breen
Susan Breen is the author of the novels Merry (Alcove Press), The Fiction Class (Plume/Headline Review UK), and the Maggie Dove mystery series (originally published by Penguin Random House/Alibi and rereleased by Under the Oak Press). Her short stories have appeared in American Literary Review, the Chattahoochee Review, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, as well as the anthologies Best American Nonrequired Reading and Murder Most Diabolical, and she has won the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition. She holds a BA from the University of Rochester and an MA in Economics from Columbia University.
Read moreVarud Gupta
Varud Gupta is the author of the graphic novels Heer, and Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love, and the nonfiction travel memoir Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods (all Penguin Random House). His food and travel articles have appeared in National Geographic and America's Test Kitchen, among others, and his short graphic fiction has appeared in Comixense and Inklab. He has worked as director of the Columbia University Artist/Teachers Program, and taught for Columbia University, the Indian Institute of Art and Design, the Center for Fiction, and 826NYC. He holds a BS from New York University and and MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.
Read morez kennedy-lopez
z kennedy-lopez is the fiction editor of the Atticus Review, and their own fiction and essays have appeared in Catapult, Foglifter, Autostraddle, Have Has Had, Storm Cellar, and A Velvet Giant, among many others. They have taught at the University of California, Davis, Rutgers University-Camden, and the Cooper Street Writing Workshops. They hold a BA from Southern Oregon University, an MA in English from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University-Camden.
Read moreis the author of the novel This Is Why They Hate Us (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), and his short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Passages North, the Florida Review, them, and Epiphany, among others, and been anthologized in All The Ways A Heart Burns: A Voyage YA Anthology (Discover New Art). He has taught for the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.
is the author of the novels The Way You Burn (She Writes Press) and The Moon, Her Crown (LitSet Books). Her personal essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Literati, HuffPost, the Manifest-Station, and Writer’s Digest. She has taught for 826 Boston, Lasell College, and Curry College. She holds a BA from Northeastern University and an MFA in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts.
has published short stories and essays in Aphros, Our Town, and Teen Ink, among others. Her play Make Believe was produced and staged at the Bridge Theater and the American Theatre of Actors, and her play Conversion was produced Off-Broadway at Theatre 54. She is an editor at Lamplight Publishing, and has worked for Persea Books, Macmillan Publishers, Disney Publishing, and Simon & Schuster. She holds a BA and an MS in Publishing from Pace University.
is a winner of the Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize, and her short fiction has been performed on Selected Shorts, published in Electric Literature, Threepenny Review, and Puerto del Sol, and been named Distinguished by the Best American Short Stories series. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in Guernica and the Colorado Review blog. She has worked as an associate editor for the Colorado Review, and taught for Colorado State University and Colgate University. She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and an MFA in Fiction from Colorado State University.
(also writing as Jessica Stilling and J.M. Stephen) is the author of the novels Just So Many Places (NineStar Press), After the Barricades, The Weary God of Ancient Travelers (both D.X. Varos), The Beekeeper's Daughter (Bedazzled Ink Press), and Betwixt and Between (Ig Publishing), and the young adult Pan Chronicles series and The Rise of Runes and Shields, book one of her Seidr Sagas young adult fantasy series (all D.X. Varos). Her short stories have appeared in The Paper Nautilus, Open Wide Magazine, Conclave, The Skyline Review, Chiron Review, and Kudzu, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Writer, Ms., and Tor.com. She has worked as an editor at The House of Books. She holds a BA from The New School and an MFA in Creative Writing from CUNY.
is the editor of A Common Well Journal. He is also the author of the novel MadStone and the novel-in-stories Deselections (both Whiskey Tit Books). His short stories and poems have appeared in Hobart, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, the Burning Palace, X-R-A-Y Lit Mag, and BULL, among others, and he is a regular contributor to the New Haven Independent. He has taught for the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research.
is the author of the novel The Playgroup, (St. Martin’s Press). She wrote the feature screenplay A Girl's Best Friend and co-wrote the feature film Valley Inn, which debuted at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. She wrote, produced, and co-hosted the radio show The Radio Ritas, (Greenstone Media) and hosted the podcast Losing It. She co-wrote and starred in the play My Heart Belongs To Daddy, produced at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Duke University’s Pre-Broadway series. She performed her one-woman show Day of the Dead Daddy at the Chain Theatre in New York City, at the Denver Fringe Festival, and it won an honorable mention in Solo Fest at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. She studied dance and theater at Orange Coast College, and fiction at The New School.
has published short fiction and poetry in SmokeLong Quarterly, Waxwing, Passages North, the Blood Pudding, Pidgeonholes, and Hobart After Dark, among others. Her play Red Handed was performed off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse, and her play Rose of the World was read at the Elif Collective. She is a past reader and editor at West 10th and X-RAY literary magazines. She holds a BA from New York University.
has published fiction in Lit Hub, Five Points, Epiphany, the Palisades Review, the Berkeley Fiction Review, december, the Southampton Review, Shenandoah, and other journals. He taught for Stony Brook Southampton, where he also earned an MFA in Creative Writing.
is the author of the novels Merry (Alcove Press), The Fiction Class (Plume/Headline Review UK), and the Maggie Dove mystery series (originally published by Penguin Random House/Alibi and rereleased by Under the Oak Press). Her short stories have appeared in American Literary Review, the Chattahoochee Review, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, as well as the anthologies Best American Nonrequired Reading and Murder Most Diabolical, and she has won the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition. She holds a BA from the University of Rochester and an MA in Economics from Columbia University.
is the author of the graphic novels Heer, and Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love, and the nonfiction travel memoir Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods (all Penguin Random House). His food and travel articles have appeared in National Geographic and America's Test Kitchen, among others, and his short graphic fiction has appeared in Comixense and Inklab. He has worked as director of the Columbia University Artist/Teachers Program, and taught for Columbia University, the Indian Institute of Art and Design, the Center for Fiction, and 826NYC. He holds a BS from New York University and and MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.
is the fiction editor of the Atticus Review, and their own fiction and essays have appeared in Catapult, Foglifter, Autostraddle, Have Has Had, Storm Cellar, and A Velvet Giant, among many others. They have taught at the University of California, Davis, Rutgers University-Camden, and the Cooper Street Writing Workshops. They hold a BA from Southern Oregon University, an MA in English from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University-Camden.