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.
More Covid details
True Story: Teen Creative Nonfiction
True Story: Teen Creative Nonfiction happens in either a span of 4 weeks (NYC, Zoom), or 6 weeks (NYC, Zoom, Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to students age 13-17. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
They say truth is stranger than fiction…and it’s often more interesting. Especially if you can translate that truth into fascinating pieces by learning the craft that goes into creative nonfiction.
Here you will gain an introduction to six major forms of creative nonfiction— memoir, personal essay, feature articles, profiles, reviews, and college essays. You’ll learn what they are and how to create them. Each class is taught by a teacher adept at helping young writers discover and develop their unique voices.
Better writers produce stronger college applications, and an extracurricular writing class is an impressive addition to any profile. When you know how to express yourself well with words, you’ve got a special power.
I honestly loved the critiques of my instructor. She used praise but at the same time gave feedback, in a good way, on what to work on.
Christine Alcordo
student
Notes
For NYC and Zoom, this course is offered as a 6-week class (with 3-hour sessions), and also as a 4-week class in the summer (with two 2-hour sessions per week).
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
4-Week
-
Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $309
6-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $319
Syllabus
This course lets you explore types of creative nonfiction, and the techniques that go with them. Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
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
Memoir: An aspect of life. Mining your memory. Telling a real-life story.
Week 2
Personal Essay: Any topic goes. Make it personal and universal. Shape and voice.
Week 3
Feature Articles: Telling a journalistic story. Feature structure. Feature ingredients.
Week 4
Profiles: Selecting someone to write about. Interviewing. Capturing a person on the page.
Week 5
Reviews: Purpose of a review. Facts and opinion. Playing to your audience.
Week 6
College Essays: Finding a fresh topic. Telling a good story. Enticers—opening, details, scenes.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Shahnaz Habib
Shahnaz Habib is the author of the nonfiction book Airplane Mode (Catapault, forthcoming), and the translator of the novel Jasmine Days, for which she and the author Benyamin won the JCB Prize, India's most valuable prize for literature. Her short stories and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker online, Creative Nonfiction, Agni, Brevity, The Guardian, and Afar. She has been awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Artists' Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature, and her work has been cited in the Best American Essays series. She holds a BA from Mahatma Gandhi University, an MA in English Literature from the University of Delhi, and an MA in Media Studies from the New School.
Read moreShahnaz Habib
Shahnaz Habib
is the author of the nonfiction book Airplane Mode (Catapault, forthcoming), and the translator of the novel Jasmine Days, for which she and the author Benyamin won the JCB Prize, India's most valuable prize for literature. Her short stories and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker online, Creative Nonfiction, Agni, Brevity, The Guardian, and Afar. She has been awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Artists' Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature, and her work has been cited in the Best American Essays series. She holds a BA from Mahatma Gandhi University, an MA in English Literature from the University of Delhi, and an MA in Media Studies from the New School.
