WHEN 8 weeks, November 24 - January 12 Chats Mondays, 9:30-10:30 pm ET WHERE Online. Click here for more information. LEVEL Intermediate PRICE $499 ($475 for ) more info

Course Details

Readers --and editors -- love a good personal story. Why shouldn't that story be yours? Most magazines and newspapers publish personal essays on a regular basis. By writing personal essays, you can stretch your writing muscles, make sense of your present and past, and move readers. The best part is, you can make money and get great clips while doing it.

• How to decide which stories to tell
• How to shape your story so that it makes a universal point
• How to find the resonance in everyday events
• How to use the techniques of fiction (dialogue, characterization, scene-setting, suspense) to tell a true tale
• How to find the right markets for your essays
• How to pitch your personal essays to editors

• Your instructor's lectures are posted once a week: you can read them online, print them, or download them at your convenience. Supplemental material?readings, examples, or handouts?may also be available.
• Students post completed assignments on the course bulletin board, where the class gives feedback. Students ask questions, share resources, and support each other, creating a conversation that continues all week.
• A regular chat time allows your class to converse as a group via instant message. Transcripts are available when you can't attend, or if you want to review the discussion.
• Technical support is available from mediabistro staff.

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Instructor Bio

Andrew Craft's Courses

Andrew Craft has taught personal memoir writing at the 92nd St Y and the Makor Steinhardt Center. He also created a class designed to access the creative writer's voice. He recently completed ghostwriting a memoir about to be sold to a major publisher. He has run three writer's groups, the members of which are all writing personal memoirs of various length -- some full length autobiographies, some shorter essay pieces.

He has taught screenwriting at beginners, intermediate, advanced, and master class levels at NYU for seven years. Andrew is a busy screenwriting consultant and script doctor and has two films currently in development. He also teaches creative fiction and nonfiction. Andrew is an Englishman who has lived in New York for eighteen years.

Testimonials

Andrew provides great context and content, engages each attendee individually and personally, and is a highly entertaining and informative teacher. -- Beth Amorosi

"Andrew is insightful and experienced -- he immediately understands what each writer is trying to capture and offers spot-on advice on how to take that story to the next level!" -- Jessica Dang

"When it comes to working with a wide range of story ideas in the classroom, Andrew is a master craftsman." -- Steve Govoni, president, Connecticut Center for Patient Safety

"Andrew is at the top of his game. He is a talented, lively, well-informed teacher who brings perspicacity and humor to his teaching. I'm already on my way to writing my story thanks to him." -- Susan Schwartzman, Susan Schwartzman Public Relations

"Andrew not only knows his stuff, but he knows how to teach it." -- Nelly Sidoti

"Andrew was very good at guiding us towards the individual solutions we needed. He gave us the necessary tools to take this to the next level." -- Ann Cooper

"I found myself looking forward to this class all week. Andrew gave us invaluable writing tools in a safe, fun, non-competitive environment." -- Wendy Newman