Advanced Personal Essay 6-Week Online Workshop with Diana Spechler, Starting Monday, January 13th, 2025
Begins Monday, January 13th, 2025
Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.
Taught by New York Times Columnist and Novelist Diana Spechler (read two stories in The New York Times Opinion and a cover story in The New York Times Sunday Review). You can also find Diana's work in GQ, Esquire, Harper's, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She writes a Substack about travel writing called Dispatches From The Road.
This class is for writers who have taken a previous nonfiction workshop and want to build on the foundation, work, and momentum created in their writing practice.
As an intensive class, members of this workshop will move on from learning the craft to practicing and perfecting it. No lectures, no reading assignments, just writing and feedback with the goal of publishing our work.
Each week, Diana will provide four prompts from which you'll pick two. That means that every week, you'll turn in and get feedback on two pieces (from both your classmates and Diana).
In lieu of prompt writing, you're also welcome to turn in revisions or continuations of pieces you've submitted in a previous course.
This workshop is all about writing, revising, accountability, and community and is designed to put your work first with a plan to get it out into the world.
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- Intensive peer and instructor feedback on workshop submissions
- More confidence as a writer, on and off the page!
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:"I would take this class again in a heartbeat!" -former student
"I just finished Diana Spechler's Personal Essay workshop. Her responses to our responses, the prompts she offered, and the sense of community she engendered made the sessions both marvelously difficult and simply engaging. And so useful. I recommend this class highly. Just take it!" -former student
"Diana changed my view on writing/my writing. Diana was such a positive force for authentically and constructively encouraging the writer in me. I am forever grateful." -former student
“I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed my online class through Writing Workshops with Diana Spechler. I was encouraged, challenged and had a blast; and my writing is finally getting the workshopping it needs. Thank you Diana for creating such an incredible experience! Will definitely be taking more classes ASAP!” -former student
“Diana’s personal essay workshop was a very good experience. It provided some good direction and structure for my writing, and that is exactly what I needed. I may want to repeat the course in the not too distant future in hopes of taking the next step with my personal essay writing.” -former student
"Taking Diana Spechler's 6-Week Online Advanced Personal Essay Workshop was a game-changer for me. Diana's prompts were both challenging and inspiring, pushing me to dig deeper into my writing. The intensive feedback from both Diana and my peers was invaluable. I emerged from the workshop with polished pieces ready for submission and a renewed sense of confidence in my abilities. Highly recommend!" -former student
"This workshop was exactly what I needed to push my writing to the next level. Diana's expertise and insightful feedback helped me refine my essays and find my unique voice. By the end of the six weeks, I felt more confident in my writing and ready to pursue publication. Diana is a fantastic instructor, and this class is a must for any serious writer!" -former student
"Diana Spechler's advanced workshop was an absolute pleasure. The focus on writing and feedback without the distraction of lectures or readings allowed me to fully concentrate on honing my craft. The sense of community and the detailed feedback from both Diana and my classmates made a huge difference." -former student
"Joining Diana's advanced essay workshop was the best decision I've made for my writing journey. The structure of the class, with its emphasis on writing and feedback, was perfect for someone like me who has already taken introductory courses. Diana's prompts were excellent, and the feedback I received helped me improve my writing significantly. The camaraderie among the participants was wonderful, creating a supportive and motivating environment. I left the class with several strong pieces and a clear path to getting them published." -former student
ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:
This class is entirely asynchronous which means you complete the weekly assignments on your own schedule. There are no set meeting times in order to allow for greater participation; your cohort will consist of writers from across different time zones, which allows for a wonderful diversity of voices.
Along with your weekly deadlines there is plenty of interaction with Diana and your peers within Wet Ink, our dedicated online classroom. Craft materials, lectures, reading assignments, and writing prompts are all available through the online classroom. Students also post work and provide and receive feedback within the online classroom environment.
You can get the work done as you see fit week-to-week, so it is perfect for any schedule. There are discussion questions each week inspired by the assigned readings and topics in the lecture notes. Students are encouraged to take these wherever is most compelling and/or useful for them. Diana engages with these discussions throughout the week and you will receive feedback from all assigned writing activities.
HOW DOES WET INK WORK?
Wet Ink was built and designed specifically for online writing classes. Wet Ink is private, easy to use, and very interactive. You can learn more about the Wet Ink platform by Watching a Class Demo.
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Instructor: Diana Spechler
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Class starts Monday, January 13th, 2025
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Course is fully ONLINE; students can work according to their own schedule within weekly deadlines. Once you have enrolled the instructor will send you a link to our online classroom, provided via Wet Ink.
- Tuition is $495.
Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this class.
Instructor Diana Spechler is the author of the novels Who by Fire and Skinny and of the New York Times Opinion series Going Off. Her work has appeared in GQ, the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Harper's, Esquire, Playboy, National Geographic Traveler, BBC Travel, Washington Post, Ploughshares, and many other publications. She is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships, including a Hawthornden Castle Residency, a Yaddo Residency, the Steinbeck Fellowship, and the Orlando Creative Nonfiction Prize from A Room of Her Own Foundation. She is also a seven-time Moth Story Slam winner who has been featured on NPR.