Announcing our Fall 2024 Narratively Academy Classes!
Want to learn how to finish your memoir, write a book proposal or successfully apply for writing grants? We've got all that and much more—plus a free class!—on tap this fall at Narratively Academy.
I know it’s very much still summertime, but it’s not too early to start thinking about your fall writing goals. To help you crush those goals, we’re excited to launch our full fall course catalog today. Over 350 people have taken a class with us since we launched Narratively Academy earlier this year, and we’re very pleased to bring back a few of our sold-out favorites this fall — plus debut several brand-new classes with incredible new instructors. And we’re kicking it all off with a completely free class! Keep reading to find the writing class you’ve been looking for, and save 15% by taking advantage of our early bird special when you sign up for any fall class by or before August 26.
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Free Class!
As a thank you to our amazing community, we’re starting this round by offering a completely free class for Narratively readers! The fantastic Caroline Rothstein is leading Finding Your Voice, an inspiring workshop designed to help you hone in on what makes your own writing unique and effective, whether you’re writing a memoir, a novel, articles or a screenplay. I will personally tell you it’s impossible to leave a session with Caroline not feeling inspired. Space is limited; sign up now.
September Classes
This spring I got the chance to work with a small group of diverse and talented writers in The Longform Feature: Reporting Big Stories That Demand Attention. Quite a few of you reached out to request a second section of that sold-out class, which I’m thrilled to offer, starting on September 6. If you want to write big, exciting longform stories that get published and enthrall readers, please join!
If your end-of-year goal is to start writing stories that make a difference in the world, this class is for you. Nationally renowned poet, spoken word artist and community organizer Nick Courmon is leading A Pen for the People, a unique 90-minute seminar that will help you use your writing skills to make change in the world.
This next one is honestly a class every single writer should take, because it’s about time we all started getting paid to pursue our passion projects! For now, we have 10 spots available in The Insider’s Guide to Writing Personal Statements and Applying for Grants & Residencies with Abeer Hoque, a writer and photographer who has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and more.
We’re also thrilled to bring back another one of our sold-out spring courses, Kerra Bolton’s Writing With Your Ancestors: Infusing Memoir With Family History. Whether you’re working on a series of essays or a book-length memoir, this class will help you connect with your roots, polish your prose and zero in on which parts of your story resonate most with readers.
October Classes
OK, I’m REALLY stoked about this one. Narratively Chief Submissions Reader Amy Barnes has read more pitches and story submissions than… maybe anyone on Earth tbh? There’s no one better suited to lead a class that will help you beat writer’s block and plan how to expand your ideas into full essays. In 30 Days, 30 Essay Prompts: A Month of Generating Inspiration and Ideas for Memoir, Amy will send an inspiring writing prompt every day of October. You’ll take a few minutes every day (or as many days as you want to participate) to write something new in response to that prompt. You’ll share your brainstorms with a supportive and encouraging community of writers, and get feedback from Amy on the ideas you’re most excited about.
Earlier this year we were honored to have Kavita Das, author of the book Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues, join us for a three-hour seminar. The overwhelming feedback from students was: “Great, but can we please have more?” You got it. This October, Kavita will teach a six-week class called How to Write About Social Issues, a workshop-based course designed to help writers tackle all the thorny issues that come with writing articles, essays and op-eds about the most pressing issues facing humanity.
Every writer spends an inordinate amount of time on our opening lines, and to be honest if we didn’t have deadlines we’d probably keep rewriting those first lines forever. In this very fun seminar, author Lorraine Allen will show you how to grab attention from editors, agents and readers by crafting opening words that no one will ever forget. Only 15 seats available in this hands-on class, so sign up now.
Great personal essays can set the web on fire and resonate with readers around the world. They’re also among the hardest things to write. In this intensive five-week workshop with Caroline Rothstein, students will learn how to craft compelling personal essays about the experiences that matter most to them.
One of our most in-demand classes yet is The Art of Writing a Nonfiction Book That Reads Like a Novel, and we’re pleased to announce that Audrey Clare Farley will be back to teach another section this fall. “Audrey has the rare ability to listen to each of her students, to synthesize their goals and questions and help find paths forward with our projects,” writes one recent student from this class. If you’re aiming to get that big nonfiction or memoir book project moving this fall, this one’s for you.
November Classes
Looking for a creative way to take your memoir writing to the next level? Writing only one side of a narrative offers an evocative opening, a place for the audience to engage, filling in what is left unsaid. Yet this powerful form, regularly used in theater, film and television, is often forgotten when writing personal essays and memoirs. In Using Monologues to Power Your Memoir Writing, an intensive three-hour workshop, Rebecca Evans will help writers explore innovative methods to heighten your memoir writing through the use of monologue.
This is the one new class more of you have requested than anything else. In How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal That Sells, Narratively Contributing Editor Shawna Kenney, who has published an award-winning memoir, authored two nonfiction books and edited an anthology, will guide you through how to write a compelling book proposal. There are just 10 spots available in this hands-on four-week workshop, so don’t sleep on signing up.
Finally, we’re so happy to have Kristina Gaddy — acclaimed author, essayist and editor at the literary journal true — leading this craft-focused seminar called Reporting the Personal Essay. If you’re working on a memoir or a personal essay that you want to infuse with original reporting and research, don’t miss this class.
Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com. Don’t forget to enter the code EARLY at checkout to take 15% off any class when you sign up by August 26.