REGISTER NOW  $425 (Early bird) | $450

LIVE ON ZOOM | Mondays, 2-3:30 pm Eastern | Jun 10th – July 15th 

Develop, write, and edit a publishable personal essay in six weeks, while building community.

A sweet spot for many literary and upmarket-mass-media publications is the 900-1600 word personal essay–and the goal of this class is for you to write and revise a new piece, ready to be submitted for publication. We’ll spend the first two weeks testing, expanding, and refining our ideas, and pairing ideas with potential publications. In the following four weeks, you’ll revise your draft, workshop, and identify craft in action in your classmates’ work.  

Over the six weeks, students will receive feedback on five ideas and one finished draft as well as a revision. 

Over these six weeks, you will …

• LEARN to develop ideas for pieces that are publishable, even before you’ve started writing
• SHARE your personal stories
• DISCOVER the universal lessons within your experiences
• EXPLORE the publishing landscape for personal essays

This workshop is ideal for emerging writers who want to break into publishing personal essays in popular venues like Slate, Salon, the NYT opinion pages (essays, not op-eds), Newsweek, Washington Post, and elsewhere, and for more established writers looking for a jumpstart or focusing on a new venue.

Closed captioning is available. ✔
Think you might miss a class? No worries, replays will be available. ✔

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR

PETER MOUNTFORD is the author of the novels A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism (Washington State Book Award), and The Dismal Science (NYT editor’s choice). His work has appeared in the New York Times (Modern Love), Paris Review, Southern Review, The Atlantic, The Sun, Granta, and The Missouri Review. He teaches at University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe’s MFA.

“Peter is honest in his feedback, which is a rare quality among writing instructors who always want to encourage their students. As a teacher myself, Peter’s pedagogical approach to craft lessons, workshopping, and revision is quite refined, and based on his own experience and wisdom. Even after going through an MFA, Peter stands as one of the best writing instructors I’ve ever had.” -Jeremy Sheuer

“Peter helped me improve in just about every facet of my writing life. He gave me critiques that encouraged me while setting high standards; set me up with a mini-group who were fun, dedicated, and generous; advised me on writing life in a way that totally reframed my conceptions about progress.” -Michael Barry

SYLLABUS

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE; LET THE BRAINSTORMING BEGIN

This week, you’ll begin to develop ideas and consider the types of ideas that work best for personal essays of this length. 

WEEK 2: TESTING IDEAS FOR PUBLISH-ABILITY (BEFORE WRITING A WORD!)

Come to class with five ideas and have them tested out by the group. Winnow your ideas to a single winner and develop a plan to write that essay. 

WEEK 3: WORKSHOP #1

This week we workshop 1/3 of the essays, focusing on specific elements of craft (characterization, hook, pacing (balance of scene and summary), eliminating confusion, tension, and theme), and specific techniques that would heighten each piece’s overall effect. You’ll get plenty of revision ideas to apply to your own draft, too!

WEEK 4: WORKSHOP #2

This week we workshop 1/3 of the essays. Workshop will focus on specific elements of craft (characterization, hook, pacing (balance of scene and summary), eliminating confusion, tension, and theme), and focus on specific techniques that would heighten each piece’s overall effect.

WEEK 5: WORKSHOP #3

This week we workshop 1/3 of the essays. Workshop will focus on specific elements of craft (characterization, hook, pacing (balance of scene and summary), eliminating confusion, tension, and theme), and focus on specific techniques that would heighten each piece’s overall effect.

WEEK 6: REVISIONS AND SUBMISSIONS

During the final week, we look at new openings for all the essays; talk about plans for other pieces; and places to submit the finished essays. Also: how to submit–strategy, pitching, and when (and how!) to follow up.

THE FINE PRINT

We understand that life can get in the way of your plans. We want you to be able to get the most out of your course, and our refund policy is designed to balance your need for flexibility with our deadlines and obligations to our teachers.

Before the first class, you may request a refund  (less a $25 processing fee).
After class begins, you may request credit for the remaining value of the course (less a $25 processing fee).

Credit may be applied to other CRAFT TALKS offerings.

Please keep in mind that no refunds or credits will be issued after August 19th.

Questions? Please email Info@craft-talks.com