New York Writers Workshop Courses

Memior Writing: From Memory to Story

Tell your story as complellingly as possible. This course will draw heavily on the techniques for writing good fiction—character, setting, and drama—because, above all, you want to tell a great story, and will include writing exercises based on the proven techniques of fine fiction. Many of the exercises will be related to the five senses, where the connection between the future writer and the world is intense and direct. Reading suggestions are offered in the firm belief that one of the essentials of being a good writer is being a good reader.

Instructor: Richard Goodman

First Person Singular: Creating Columns, Essays and Blogs

A three-time winner of the New York Press Association column-writing contest, Christopher Moore provides students with a practical, hands-on guide to opinion writing. The course will examine the changing nature of opinion writing, ways to break into the game and the characteristics of a great newspaper column, an excellent essay and a winning blog entry—with a special emphasis on learning how to write the right opinion piece for the proper place.

Instructor: Christopher Moore

Freelance Writing for Newspapers and Magazines

If you are brimming with ideas and wondering how to bring them to publication, then this is the class for you. Marci Alboher has turned many aspiring authors into published writers. In this popular class you'll learn how to find story ideas; how to get assignments and get paid for your writing; how to write essays, reviews, profiles, and service articles; how to work with editors; and how to get published even if you have no journalism experience. Guest speakers include newspaper and magazine editors.
Instructor: Marci Alboher

Advanced Nonfiction

The ultimate aim is to prepare your work for publication, whether it’s a memoir, personal essay, op-ed piece, magazine article, or nonfiction book. We’ll discuss fiction techniques of narration, description, dialogue and structure. Reserve early for one of our most popular workshops! Instructor’s approval required.

Instructor: Charles Salzberg

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Creating Children’s Fiction I

Level I: open to new and experienced writers

If you’ve ever uttered the words, “I have this great idea for a children’s book….” this course is for you. Learn how to adapt your ideas to the very specific categories of children’s literature with an eye toward developing a final draft that might be suitable for publication. Whether you come with a paragraph, a complete manuscript, or just that brilliant idea that’s been floating around in your head, you’ll refine your own writing skills and acquire a keener appreciation for what makes truly good children’s writing.

Instructor: Allison Estes

Creating Children’s Fiction II

Level II: for students who have already taken Level I or equivalent

You have a good understanding of the basics, and would like to fine-tune your manuscript and send it out for consideration by an agent or a publisher. Maybe you’ve already sent it out and gotten some feedback, but now what? Or you’ve got that novel just sitting around in a drawer…dig it out and come to this class! We’ll polish your story ‘til it shines. Come with a completed picture book manuscript or at least three chapters of a middle grade or young adult novel.

Instructor: Allison Estes

Method and Madness: An Open Fiction Workshop

This fiction workshop is open to both new and experienced writers. New writers will find grounding in techniques, and experienced writers will find their craft and imaginations stretched. The course focuses on method (plot, scene, dialogue, voice) and encourages madness (vision, prophecy, and subversion). Participants will learn the “rules” and the rules about throwing the rules away. Exercises are drawn from contemporary and classic novels and short stories, from a wide range of writers including James T. Farrell, Janet Fitch, Zora Neale Hurston, Leonard Michaels, Arthur Nersesian, Zoe Heller and Nell Dunn.

Instructor: Tim Tomlinson

Playwriting/Screenwriting Level 1

This five-week session is an introduction to the art of dramatic writing. In-class writing exercises and informal discussions will address both the similarities and differences of writing for the screen and stage, with special emphasis on character, story, scene construction and dialogue. Students have the opportunity to present works-in-progress in class for critique by the instructor. In-class exercises will be tailored to the individual needs of each student and their corresponding work-in-progress. No prior experience required. More experienced writers are welcome.

Instructor: Charles Schulman

Advanced Fiction

In this class, participants are encouraged to produce new installments of a novel or completed drafts of stories and meet a regular series of deadlines. Work is read in advance for discussion in class and critique is rigorous and thorough but sensitive. The instructor also suggests readings and conducts discussions on elements of story writing, such as timing, tension, plot and development of character.

Instructor: Maureen Brady

Getting Started: Beginning Fiction

You're desperate to write, but are feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated; you know you're creative, but you just don't know how to get started. Through a series of in-class exercises and take-home assignments, you'll have your creative juices not only stirring, but overflowing. Through assignments, group exercises, and class discussions you'll gain an understanding for the components that go into creating a successful story while learning how to start and finish one. You'll also receive encouraging and constructive feedback in a supportive environment. No writing experience necessary.

Instructor: Alix Strauss

Intermediate/Advanced Fiction Class

Are you almost ready to commit to a piece of work but need help deciding what you want to focus on? Do you have a novel or short story still in the beginning stages? We will focus on figuring out what you really want to write, and get it started, or work on something you have written, and make it shine. The class will be structured around weekly writing workshops, in-class exercises, and constructive criticism from both the teacher and your peers. Finally, you will be able to tell your 'big' story! This class is designed for you to continue on to Advanced Fiction.

Instructor: Rachel Sherman

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Playwriting/Screenwriting Level 1

This five-week session is an introduction to the art of dramatic writing. In-class writing exercises and informal discussions will address both the similarities and differences of writing for the screen and stage, with special emphasis on character, story, scene construction and dialogue. Students have the opportunity to present works-in-progress in class for critique by the instructor. In-class exercises will be tailored to the individual needs of each student and their corresponding work-in-progress. No prior experience required. More experienced writers are welcome.

Instructor: Charles Schulman

Liberating Forms of Poetry

Structure gives freedom. In this class we will play with traditional forms—sonnet, triolet, villanelle, and sestina—to free our memory and imagination to discover personal material and poetic resources. We will read the classics and contemporary re-workings of these valuable structures, and through them find our own voice and vision. This class will stimulate writers who are already familiar with these forms and welcome those who do not know an iamb from a trochee.

Instructor: Jee Leong Koh

Soul of a Poem

Learn to draw on those elusive aspects of experience that give a poem its depth and mystery. Using weekly in-class exercises, physical objects, outside texts and personal journals, students will connect to their deepest material. In addition, an emphasis on critical issues of form—line, space, and rhythm—will help students refine poems and shape them into finished works.

Instructor: Hermine Meinhard

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