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Personal Essay Writing

First-person pieces are one of the best ways to break into top magazines

Course is closed.

WHEN 8 weeks, June 25 - August 13
Chats Wednesdays, 9-10 pm ET

WHERE Online. Click here for more information.

LEVEL Intermediate

PRICE
$499 ($475 for )
more info

Course Details

Readers --and editors -- love a good personal story. Why shouldn't that story be yours? Many magazines, newspapers, and web sites publish personal essays on a regular basis. And increasingly, book publishers are publishing anthologies of original essays. By writing personal essays, you can stretch your writing muscles, make sense of your present and past, and move readers. Best of all, you can make nice money and get great clips while doing it.

This intensive 8-week online class covers the basics of writing and selling first-person narratives. We will look at compelling examples of the form plucked from contemporary magazines and literary collections. Students will write and submit short (2-4 page) pieces-the length most editors want to see. We will read student work, and discuss it online.

In this class, you will learn:

How to decide which stories to tell
How to shape your story so that it makes a universal point
How to find the resonance in everyday events
How to use the techniques of fiction (dialogue, characterization, scene-setting, suspense) to tell a true tale
How to find the right markets for your essays
How to pitch your personal essays to editors

By the end of class, students can expect to have:
At least two complete and publishable personal essays.

Admission requirements:
Please submit submit a letter of interest (including a brief work history) and a writing sample (less than 2,000 words).

The online classroom has several interactive components:

Your instructor's lectures are posted once a week: you can read them online, print them, or download them at your convenience. Supplemental material—readings, examples, or handouts—may also be available.
Students post completed assignments on the course bulletin board, where the class gives feedback. Students ask questions, share resources, and support each other, creating a conversation that continues all week.
A regular chat time allows your class to converse as a group via instant message. Transcripts are available when you can't attend, or if you want to review the discussion.
Technical support is available from mediabistro staff.

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Instructor Bio

Pamela Kruger's Courses

No courses available at this time.

Pamela Kruger is a writer, editor, and blogger whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, Fast Company, LifetimeTV.com, and The Huffington Post. She is the co-editor (with Jill Smolowe) of the much-praised anthology A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents, published by Penguin's Riverhead imprint. She also has contributed essays to several anthologies, including Searching for Mary Poppins,Blindsided by a Diaper, and the upcoming Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About the Pleasures, Pains, and Politics of Breastfeeding. Further details are available at her website, www.pamelakruger.com.

Testimonials

Simply put, Pam is phenomenal. Her course forced me to expand the way I think about my writing and helped me learn what really constitutes a finished essay. Her edits and insights help me tremendously. A month after the course ended, I sold my first piece. -- Jennifer Leckstrom

"Pam's class helped me turned the corner on my writing. Her focused criticism and honest analysis of strengths and weaknesses led to the publication of one of my essays. The way she drew the students together was just terrific." -- Catharine Cooper

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