Novel Writing | Creative Writing Classes in NYC and Online with Professional Writing Instructors

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"Enlightening...a truly life-enriching experience. I can't praise the teacher enough. He opened my eyes to aspects of novel writing that would never have occurred to me if I hadn't enrolled in the course. I consider it a privilege to have been a member of his class."

- Julian Desser
Journalist & Copywriter

"A great way to see your work through your readers' eyes."

- Crystal Walker
writer

"I learned several specifics about writing a novel, such as story drivers and presenting character attitude when writing description. I also feel far more confident on how to approach the writing of a novel—what essential elements I need to map out before getting to work on writing it."

- James Hornbeck
Retired

More Student Quotes Here

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A novel is the ultimate literary adventure—a journey into the lives and trials of characters a reader comes to know in a deeply personal way. With a multitude of personalities and situations, a great novel offers endless fascination for the reader. For many, a favorite novel—Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, Beloved—stands as a peak experience in a life.

For the author, writing a novel is the ultimate challenge—a steep climb over hundreds of pages that must work as a unified and engrossing whole. In our courses, you will learn about the special demands of a novel and refine your knowledge of basic fiction craft. You will also learn how and where to market your work.

If you’re up for the challenge, we’ll show you how to write a novel that readers will not forget.

Note: Our Fiction courses focus on short stories while our Novel classes focus on novels. If you are a beginning student, you should take Fiction I and work on short stories before moving on to Novel II. You may, however, work on material that will eventually end up in a novel in a Fiction class.

Note: If you are working on genre fiction—science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery—then your work will fit more comfortably into the appropriate genre course, as opposed to a Novel course.

Select a class: Advanced, Master Class
See also: Letters from Gotham Students

Advanced
Novel Writing | 10-week Workshop

Focusing on developing projects and receiving feedback from the instructor and classmates, this course helps students sharpen their skills and work toward completion of publishable work. Writers often repeat Novel II to continue their projects.

Begin or work toward completion of a novel
Lectures that expand on basics of fiction craft and the novel form
Present work for in-depth critique (three times)

Prerequisite: Fiction I or the equivalent. Beginners who wish to write novels should take Fiction I before Novel II.
Which level is right for you? How to Choose a Level

(3.0 CEU)

New York City Classes

Tuition: $420, Returning Students $390. Registration Fee $25.

Each class strictly limited to 14 students, ages 18 and up.

Starts	Meeting Day	Location	Time	Special	Enroll
Jul 10	Tuesdays	555 8th Ave.	7:00PM - 10:00PM
Jul 11	Wednesdays	555 8th Ave.	7:00PM - 10:00PM

Online Classes

Tuition: $399, Returning Students $369. Registration Fee $25.

Each class strictly limited to 14 students, ages 18 and up.

Starts	New Lecture	Location	Time	Special	Enroll
May 9*	Wednesdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class
May 9*	Wednesdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class
Jul 18	Wednesdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class
Jul 18	Wednesdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class
Aug 8	Wednesdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class

* You can still enroll in this class!

Master Class
Novel Writing | 10-week Workshop

The Novel Writing Master Class provides students deeply immersed in the writing of a novel with the opportunity to work with a published novelist and other dedicated writers in a small class setting. The class is devoted almost exclusively to workshopping — the reading, critiquing, and discussion of student novels. Every student will be allowed to workshop approximately 150 pages of a novel. Class size is limited to six students, all of whom have done a substantial amount of work on a novel and are experienced in the workshop process.

Prerequisites: The following are prerequisites for students who take the Novel Writing Master Class:

A complete (or nearly complete) draft of a novel
Completion of two terms of Gotham’s Novel II course (and we may accept one term of Novel II and one term of Fiction II)
Acceptance by Gotham based on a sample of the student’s work

To be accepted into the Novel Writing Master Class all students must first submit a sample of their work.

Your writing sample may be no more than ten pages. Ideally, the sample will be the first ten pages of the novel you plan to workshop in the Novel Writing Master Class. If that material is not yet available, you may submit ten pages from another work of your own fiction.

A Note on the Class: All students in this class will be expected to read and critique segments of one hundred pages or more per week. The success of the class depends on the full participation of all students. Students should only take this course if they are confident they can handle the weekly load of reading and critiquing. To make this more manageable, students should have already done most or all of the work on the novel that they plan to present to the class before class begins.

A Note to Applicants: The Master Classes often get far more applicants than can be accepted, and so talented and dedicated students are often not accepted. If you are not accepted in a Master Class, you are welcome to apply another time, and you may well be accepted then.

(3.0 CEU)

Online Classes
Instructor: Carter Sickels

Tuition: $545, No Discounts. Registration Fee $25.

Each class strictly limited to 6 students, ages 18 and up.

Starts	New Lecture	Location	Time	Special	Enroll
Jul 19	Thursdays	Online	24 hrs. a day	Sample Class