This course is for those interested in writing and selling essays or memoir. Each class begins with a new element, from angle, scene, revision, publishing, etc, with a short lecture and handouts, followed by readings and in-class exercises. The weekly assignments are designed to pull a lot of great pieces out of you and stretch your notions of what you can do, but you are always encouraged to substitute ideas or projects of your own. Each evening will include two 15-minute in-class writing exercises, many of them designed to give you a head start on the assignment. I will read five pieces from each writer, in addition to class readings, and am available for private conferences before class.
You will come out knowing how to make yourself write, how to nail a piece, how to sell it. Most students publish within a year of taking the class. It is gratifying rare for anyone to drop, gratifying common for people to take the course again and again. You will have had a series of stimulating evenings and made new friends, and found yourself further down the road to becoming a writer. You will have the option of going on as a writing group after the course.