Novel Writing Courses in NYC, New York

Learn the fundamentals of creating comic strips, graphic novels and cartoons in this class for writers and artists. Discover how to create a strong, compelling storyline, how to create characters and illustrate body language and facial expression, how to match words and pictures. Working in small groups to enable each student to receive individual...

Have you always wanted to write a novel? Every book has to hook the reader within the first few pages. How do you get a strong story rolling? How do you establish the characters and their world without slowing things down? We'll take a look at a number of different opening gambits through reading excellent first chapters from published authors. Students...

This workshop is a real training experience where you will have several opportunities to practice and polish your pitch with direct access to book publishing industry professionals, Hollywood, the media and others. As a writer, you will be equipped to pitch your book to get published, turn it into a film or TV series, and be able to talk about it confidently...

The quiet magic of Goodnight Moon grows into the zaniness of Dr. Seuss and widens into the dazzlement of Harry Potter then matures into the straight talk of Judy Blume and the gritty reality of The Outsiders. Such is the amazing journey children take through books. These stories are a treasured part of childhood and they linger for a lifetime. To...

Fiction is a wonderful conjuring act. With only words and the reader’s imagination, a work of fiction can sail across the world in pursuit of a whale, or time-travel to another dimension, or zero in on a few minutes in line at the local bank, enveloping the reader in a made-up story that feels real.  To pull off this feat requires a balance...

This course will look at examples of women's writing in different genres and guide students to try their own hand in these genres. We will look at works of journalism, poetry, fiction, travel writing, personal essays, graphic novels, hybrid and experimental forms, as well as theoretical and critical texts.  The course aims to introduce writers...

This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of fiction craft and gets you writing a short story (or two) or a novel. Course components: Lectures Writing exercises Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times) Fiction I is for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Students must be...

The quiet magic of Goodnight Moon grows into the zaniness of Dr. Seuss and widens into the dazzlement of Harry Potter then matures into the straight talk of Judy Blume and the gritty reality of The Outsiders. Such is the amazing journey children take through books. These stories are a treasured part of childhood and they linger for a lifetime. To...

This fiction workshop is for experienced writers looking for feedback on their short stories and novel chapters. In a warm environment, students will receive honest, detailed feedback and learn techniques to improve craft, deepen fiction, and identify and tackle common storytelling problems. Each student will get to submit two pieces for workshopping...

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....

In this class, beginning and intermediate-level fiction students work toward building short stories and novel chapters by learning the elements of craft, which include conflict, tension, characterization, voice, setting, dialogue, and scene vs. summary.   Class sessions will be devoted to craft lessons, studying excellent published works,...

Always wanted to write a book, but unsure how or where to start? Stuck on chapter four and searching for support? In our weekly sessions we'll discuss the bones of creating a successful manuscript including lessons on plotting, character development, setting, and more. We'll turn to examples from master novelists to light our way and write together...

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...

You think about writing, but every time you face the blank page, anxiety takes over and you can’t let yourself go. Maybe you have an idea for a novel, journal or essay, but feel confused and don’t know how to start. This is the class for you! Our goal is to create a relaxed and creative environment, where students will learn basic techniques to...

You’ve spent months, or years, sweating and swearing over a book and now you’re ready to draw the interest of agents and/or publishing houses. Or perhaps you’re in the midst of writing a book and you want to know the publishing challenges up ahead. The question looms: how do you get a book published? Here, you will learn how to navigate the...