Nonfiction

This is a class for those who are familiar with the techniques and approaches Jay uses in helping writers find the stories and themes they care about the most: “plot talks” for digging deep into emotionally powerful material, playing with point of view and setting, compressing premises to get to the heart of the story... more

To write our best, we must write from the heart. But finding which subjects mean the most to us can be difficult. Each week Jay Ridler will lead you through a series of fun, engaging, and effective exercises to help you discover and explore the deep and most compelling themes in your life... more

In this class you will plunge into the personal themes that make your real life stories uniquely yours. In the first half of this class, instructor Alison Luterman will give you writing exercises carefully designed to elicit the undertones and overtones that elevate events and anecdotes into the realm of art... more

Have you ever experienced the nagging feeling you ought to be writing down your life stories, but have simply lacked the time and the tools to do it? If so, this is the class to jumpstart your memoir-writing engine... more

When we picture writers at work, we often imagine them at their desk, in a kind of sacred solitude, drawing from imagination or memory to create their stories. But what happens when writers leave their desk and venture forth into the wider world in search of stories to tell? ... more

Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, or both, this class will show you how to draw on your own background to generate writing that is deeply meaningful to you, to the people you love, and even to complete strangers... more

“You know that feeling when a story you’re writing finally clicks into place,” says instructor Karen Bjorneby. “For many of us, that moment arrives once we discover how character, plot, and meaning interlock... more

“Personal essay takes the messy unfiltered stuff of life and molds it into something of beauty, meaning, wisdom, and hopefully, a great story,” says instructor Gila Lyons... more

Want to write into your family stories, but feel stuck at the foot of your family tree? During this holiday season, we’ll gather to find new ways to tell family stories, fill in the gaps in our ancestral narratives, and play with the voices of those who’ve come before us... more

"The journey of recovery is the Hero’s Journey,” says instructor Alison Luterman. “We search for something outside ourselves, or we are chased by our own demons and run to escape. We go to Hell; we come back from Hell with some wisdom to offer the tribe... more