Creative Nonfiction 101 is a 6-week class, which includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants a refresher. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
Creative nonfiction encompasses prose pieces that spring from the real world, which are told with the finesse and fizz of fiction. The truth is shaped into stories that embrace all styles, from straight to zany to brainy to lyrical, encompassing every topic imaginable from schoolyard memories to a trek in Nepal to the creation of the universe. You’ll see such pieces everywhere: books, magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, newsletters.
Here you will gain an introduction to six major forms of creative nonfiction— memoir, personal essay, feature articles, profiles, reviews, and travel writing. You’ll learn what they are and how to create them. It’s a sampler platter, with no pressure to work on a specific project or settle on which type of nonfiction you prefer.
If you’re eager to explore the endless possibilities of nonfiction, your guided tour begins here.
Notes:
The 101 courses do not include workshopping of student projects, but students write and receive feedback on writing exercises and assignments.
This course explores the major types of creative nonfiction, and the techniques that go with them. Course components:
- Lectures
- Writing exercises
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
- Travel Writing: Travel Articles. Travel Memoir. What’s next on your nonfiction journey?
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
About
- The Online classes bring students from all over the globe to Gotham—New York City’s most famous writing school.
- The Online classes happen asynchronously—not in “real time.” You can participate in class any time, day or night, but the classes advance week-by-week, and certain things should be accomplished within that week-long session.
- You can take an Online writing class from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The majority of our Online students are located in the U.S. but we also draw students from practically every country in the world.
- Tech support will be available.
- Aside from the convenience of time and location, you have a record of everything that transpires in class, which you can print out and keep for future reference. (The material is text and image, not video.)
