Personal Essay Writing
GUIDE TO NONFICTION COURSESPersonal Essay Writing is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
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.
Valuable, motivating and relevant. It gives a very clear outline of what personal essays should be.
Alicia Bridges
journalist
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
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]).
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
2-Day
-
Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $175
-
One-on-One
Tuition: $395
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
Janet Flora
Janet Flora has published nonfiction in Yalabusha Review, Willow Review, Forge, and the Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine. Her short stories have appeared in New Orleans Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Portland Review, and Hawaii Pacific Review. She has taught at NYU and the School of Visual Arts. She holds a BA from City University, Richmond College, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from The New School.
Read morehas published nonfiction in Yalabusha Review, Willow Review, Forge, and the Sanskrit Literary-Arts Magazine. Her short stories have appeared in New Orleans Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Portland Review, and Hawaii Pacific Review. She has taught at NYU and the School of Visual Arts. She holds a BA from City University, Richmond College, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from The New School.