Memoir Writing Classes in NYC, New York

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...

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...

What is so challenging about writing a memoir is that you are asking yourself to take the charged events of your life and shape them aesthetically, so they appeal to a reader, a reader who doesn’t know you and doesn’t necessarily care what happened to you – unless you can make them. Using the tried and true Writers Studio method, we will closely...

This open-level class is for anyone interested in writing personal narrative in any form: memoir, creative nonfiction, or personal essay. Through insightful critique and focused discussion, we hone the tools of strong writing: distinctive voice, precise language, resonant imagery, vivid sensory description, dramatic scene and dialogue, and inventive...

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...

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.” ...

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...

They say everyone has a story and this new writing class with Irish novelist Yvonne Cassidy will help you tell yours. Over the course of eight weeks, Yvonne will work with you to develop your story while you discover the fundamental tools of the craft of creative writing. Whether you want to write fiction, memoir, or about the lives of your Irish ancestors,...

Producer, publicist and writer Kambri Crews gave this workshop at the West Virginia Writer's Conference and the feedback was phenomenal, so she's bringing it to us. You're a performer, writer, artist, business owner, musician, athlete, you name it and you want to be noticed for how awesome you (and/or your work) are? You must toot your own horn loudly...

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...

Feature articles are the human side of journalism—pieces that go beyond the facts, exploring the world in a personal and compelling way. Such articles can examine virtually any topic, from the latest news to the newest trends to profiles of interesting people. And they can even grow into narrative nonfiction books. To succeed at features, you need...

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,...

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....

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...

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...