Fiction Writing I
GUIDE TO FICTION COURSESFiction 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 learned skills that have given me a firm foundation to start realizing my dream of becoming a writer.
Erelin Emmert
housewife
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
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]).
-
You can still enroll in this class.
10-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $439 (returning students: $409)
-
One-on-One
Tuition: $1,895
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
Anita Diggs
Anita Diggs is co-author, with Ida Keeling, of the memoir Can't Nothing Bring Me Down: Chasing Myself in the Race Against Time (Zondervan). She is the author of four novels, including A Meeting in the Ladies Room, (Kensington Books), and the nonfiction book Talking Drums: An African-American Quote Collection (St. Martin’s Press). She has served as senior editor and director of One World Books for Ballantine/Random House. She has taught at Salem College. She holds a BA from the State University of New York/Empire State College and an MFA in Creative Writing/Memoir from Hunter College.
Read moreBenjamin Buchholz
Benjamin Buchholz is the author of the novels One Hundred and One Nights (Back Bay Books/Little, Brown) and Sirens of Manhattan (Bradley Publishing), and the nonfiction books Private Soldiers (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) and The Tightening Dark (Da Capo). His short stories have appeared in Storyglossia, Hobart, Mad Hatter’s Review, and Prime Number Magazine, and have been anthologized in the Dzanc Press Best of the Web collections. His nonfiction has appeared in Parameters, Military Review, Infantry, and The Writer. He has served as a foreign area officer and U.S. Army attaché in Oman, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Germany (in support of Ukraine) and lectured at Princeton University. He holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, completed the Omani Royal Air Force Staff College in Arabic Language, and holds MAs in Near East Studies from Princeton University and Strategic Studies from the US Army War College.
Read moreElizabeth Cohen
Elizabeth Cohen is the author of the memoir The House On Beartown Road (Random House), the short story collectionThe Hypothetical Girl (Split Oak Press), and the poetry collections The Economist's Daughter (Ecstatic Utterance), What the Trees Said (Split Oak Press), Bird Light, The Patron Saint of Cauliflower (both Saint Julian Press), and Wonder Electric (Kelsay Books). She is also co-author of the nonfiction book The Scalpel and the Silver Bear (Bantam). Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Newsweek, People, the New York Times Magazine, and Yale Review, as well as the anthology Walk on the Wild Side. She has taught at SUNY Plattsburgh, Binghamton University, University of New Mexico, the New School for Social Research, and Western Connecticut State University. She holds a BA from University of New Mexico, an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from Temple University, and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University.
Read moreIrene Zabytko
Irene Zabytko is the author of the novel The Sky Unwashed (Algonquin), and the short story collection When Luba Leaves Home (Algonquin). Her short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and her nonfiction has appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, the New York Times Book Review, and the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine. She received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award in Ukraine for an upcoming novel based on the life of Nikolai Gogol. She holds a BA from Vermont College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College.
Read moreis co-author, with Ida Keeling, of the memoir Can't Nothing Bring Me Down: Chasing Myself in the Race Against Time (Zondervan). She is the author of four novels, including A Meeting in the Ladies Room, (Kensington Books), and the nonfiction book Talking Drums: An African-American Quote Collection (St. Martin’s Press). She has served as senior editor and director of One World Books for Ballantine/Random House. She has taught at Salem College. She holds a BA from the State University of New York/Empire State College and an MFA in Creative Writing/Memoir from Hunter College.
is the author of the novels One Hundred and One Nights (Back Bay Books/Little, Brown) and Sirens of Manhattan (Bradley Publishing), and the nonfiction books Private Soldiers (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) and The Tightening Dark (Da Capo). His short stories have appeared in Storyglossia, Hobart, Mad Hatter’s Review, and Prime Number Magazine, and have been anthologized in the Dzanc Press Best of the Web collections. His nonfiction has appeared in Parameters, Military Review, Infantry, and The Writer. He has served as a foreign area officer and U.S. Army attaché in Oman, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Germany (in support of Ukraine) and lectured at Princeton University. He holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, completed the Omani Royal Air Force Staff College in Arabic Language, and holds MAs in Near East Studies from Princeton University and Strategic Studies from the US Army War College.
is the author of the memoir The House On Beartown Road (Random House), the short story collectionThe Hypothetical Girl (Split Oak Press), and the poetry collections The Economist's Daughter (Ecstatic Utterance), What the Trees Said (Split Oak Press), Bird Light, The Patron Saint of Cauliflower (both Saint Julian Press), and Wonder Electric (Kelsay Books). She is also co-author of the nonfiction book The Scalpel and the Silver Bear (Bantam). Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Newsweek, People, the New York Times Magazine, and Yale Review, as well as the anthology Walk on the Wild Side. She has taught at SUNY Plattsburgh, Binghamton University, University of New Mexico, the New School for Social Research, and Western Connecticut State University. She holds a BA from University of New Mexico, an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from Temple University, and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University.
is the author of the novel The Sky Unwashed (Algonquin), and the short story collection When Luba Leaves Home (Algonquin). Her short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and her nonfiction has appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, the New York Times Book Review, and the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine. She received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award in Ukraine for an upcoming novel based on the life of Nikolai Gogol. She holds a BA from Vermont College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College.