Memoir Writing Classes in NYC, New York

This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of memoir craft and gets you writing a short memoir (or two) or a book.  Course components: Lectures Writing exercises Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times) Memoir I is for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Each week a new...

Every life holds many tales. Whether your life is wildly unconventional or relatively normal, there’s bound to be something fascinating about it. That’s why the contemporary memoir—everyday people telling their stories—has become such a popular phenomenon. A memoir covers an aspect of a life, whether it’s a short piece about, say, a bicycle...

In accordance with CDC recommendations, all NYC classes will meet via video chat until further notice. Class will be held at the scheduled time and students will have the option of using video chat with or without the camera enabled, or simply calling in with their phones. The technology is supplied by Google and is extremely easy to use. The teacher...

Nancy Slonim Aronie inspires us to reclaim our authentic voices, to write in our own rhythms, in our own language, without trying to sound like a “writer.” She creates a safe space where all who want to write can access boundless inner creativity, let go of the inner critic, and let the juices flow. In this workshop, you cannot be “wrong.” ...

Nabokov said that the true purpose of memoir should be to discern and follow “the thematic designs of one’s life.” In that spirit, this class attempts to guide students in the quest to discover what story to tell and how to tell it. Class discussions — of works in progress and of weekly exercises written in reponse to excerpts from classic...

The Creativity Workshop in New York City will help you become more creative in your personal and professional life. We use many techniques in creative writing memoir, art, photography, storytelling, mapmaking, mindfulness and guided visualization to help you explore your inner creativity. The Creativity Workshop is an experiential course of doing...

Are you eager to test the waters of creative writing but not sure where to start, or how? Have you written previously but been away for a while and hope to dip back in? Here you will be guided surely and safely into the writing life. There’s no pressure to work on a specific project or even settle on which type of creative writing you prefer. The...

Nonfiction—pieces that spring from the real world—is everywhere. Magazines, newspapers, books, blogs, websites. And nonfiction has grown more diverse and creative than ever, embracing all styles from straight to zany to lyrical, encompassing every topic imaginable from schoolyard memories to a trek in Nepal to the creation of the universe. Here...

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,...

Writers often find their richest material in their everyday lives. This material is easy to overlook as too pedestrian because it’s hard to see what’s so close to us. The exceptional poet, James Schuyler, revealed his longing for home in writing about his breakfast and Yannis Ritsos revealed his and his fellow prisoners’ anguish in exile in...

Who doesn’t love the pleasure of literary laughter? We’re talking about essays, memoirs, articles, short stories, and novels that are humorous. It can be anything from a true story about the special hell of raising kids to a far-fetched tale of a would-be knight tilting at windmills. As Mark Twain says, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to...

Who doesn’t love the pleasure of literary laughter? We’re talking about essays, memoirs, articles, short stories, and novels that are humorous. It can be anything from a true story about the special hell of raising kids to a far-fetched tale of a would-be knight tilting at windmills. As Mark Twain says, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to...

Everything in your life, from the mundane to the extraordinary, is a story waiting to be told. Many of us want to leave behind a record of our lives that we were here. Yes, our footprint. In this workshop, you will discover your own unique and powerful story. We will use the memoir form of writing to encourage you to live out loud and to help you...

Do you find it hard to get yourself in a chair to write for a good stretch of time? If so, you’re not alone. That’s the beauty of Just Write. You gather with a group of writers once a week for three hours and you…just write. You work on a project of your choosing, which can be any type of writing—novel, script, memoir, stand-up routine, etc....

Dreaming on the Page: Creative Empowerment through Writing and Dream Analysis Nighttime dreaming and writing make perfect bedfellows. Tapping into the intersection of these two universal and powerful modalities will allow us to home in on the wisdom of our dreaming minds and supercharge our writing. Exercises, games, and guided meditations in a safe,...