Personal Essay 1: Exploring
GUIDE TO NONFICTION COURSES
Personal Essay 1 is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom). It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with personal essay basics, you may go straight to Personal Essay 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Personal Essay 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
What do you think about X or Y or Z? And how have your life experiences informed your views on these topics? That’s the essence of a personal essay: viewpoints filtered through the lens of your personal experience. Any topic goes, from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Unlike the stiff essays you may have written in school, these should feel personal, imbued with your unique voice and observations. Here you’ll learn techniques for crafting personal essays and how to market your work.
Whether you seek to write about things major or minor, stimulating or tickling, we’ll show you how to write personal essays that do you proud.
This course is a non-intimidating, informative, and creative exploration of Personal Essay Writing.
Kathleen Cohen
administrative assistant
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 Essay & Opinion Writing, which includes personal essay, among other forms of viewpoint writing.
Upcoming Classes
Zoom classes are being scheduled. Please check back soon.
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
1-Day
-
NYC
In-person
Tuition: $185
-
One-on-One
Tuition:
Mini - $395, Private - $775
Available on Zoom
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of the basics of writing personal essays. Course components:
Brief lectures
Writing exercises
Topics:
What is a Personal Essay?
Finding Topics
Merging the Personal and Universal
Structure
Voice
Getting Published
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Cullen Thomas
Cullen Thomas is the author of the memoir Brother One Cell (Viking). His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Salon, The Rumpus, The Sonora Review, World Hum, Current Biography, and Penthouse. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and the National Geographic channel and has taught at NYU. He holds a BA from Binghamton University.
Read moreis the author of the memoir Brother One Cell (Viking). His nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Salon, The Rumpus, The Sonora Review, World Hum, Current Biography, and Penthouse. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and the National Geographic channel and has taught at NYU. He holds a BA from Binghamton University.
Related Courses
Essay & Opinion Writing I
Various types of viewpoint writing—essays, op-eds, reviews, and more.
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.
