BE HYSTERICAL: A Seminar on Voice, Style, Emotion (Zoom) with Elissa Bassist, Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
Live Seminar via Zoom from 7:00PM - 9:30PM EST
Now Enrolling!
Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.
Elissa Bassist is the editor of the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus and the author of Hysterical, a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. As a founding contributor to The Rumpus, Elissa has written cultural and personal criticism since the website launched in 2009. INSIDE JOKES, a humor writing craft book, co-written with Caitlin Kunkel, is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing in 2026. Elissa teaches humor writing at The New School and elsewhere, and she is probably her therapist’s favorite.
Q: When is writing bad?
A: When anyone could have written it.
Q: Has anyone ever called you “too much”? Have you ever been accused of being “dramatic”?
A: Good. We’ll use that. Because to write "too much" is exactly enough, and our emotion is a writing skill.
Having a “voice” and a writing “style” is like having a fingerprint. Readers should hear your voice in their heads. A speaker (or narrator or character) can’t be “just anyone,” and in writing, "too much" is exactly enough.
In this once-in-a-lifetime seminar, we’ll cover every element of style and how to use each one to sound like you on the page. We’ll also cover every emotion and how to use each one in writing to make readers understand you or fear you.
This is a lecture-style class where we’ll read voicey examples and gossip about what to steal from them. There will also be writing exercises to make your voice so distinctive that any reader can pick it out of a police lineup. Finally, we’ll practice making an extremely big scene whenever someone says, “Don’t make a scene.”
Preparation and workload: Read (and love) Hysterical (if you want). There will be handouts (to reference during classes) and brainstorming and writing exercises (to be done in class). Elissa will provide PDFs of voicey pieces. You’ll bring in one page of your own writing to revive it with everything you learn in class.
Can't Make It Live?
No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes.
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- A Distinctive and Unmistakable Voice: By the end of the seminar, you'll have honed a writing style so unique that your voice will stand out on the page, making your work instantly recognizable to any reader.
- Practical Techniques for Voice Development: You’ll learn concrete strategies to either discover your voice or reclaim it if it's been lost, ensuring that your writing is authentic, bold, and impossible to ignore.
- A Refined Sense of Humor in Writing: Through studying voicey examples and engaging in creative exercises, you'll gain the tools to infuse your writing with humor and personality, making your work both entertaining and memorable.
TESTIMONIALS:
"I loved this class. Elissa was an extremely generous teacher/storyteller. I think listening to her talk about her experience/struggles to get words on the page was the most valuable part. I was amazed with Elissa’s ability to focus and maintain passion and energy for 3 straight hours. I was completely engaged in her personal writing journey and was satisfied with spending 3 hours listening to her speak." -former student
"This was a fun class! I found Elissa's personal takes and experiences in both the process and in finding a home for her writing most valuable. The process seems much more manageable to me now, and I would take another class with Elissa." -former student
"I heard about WritingWorkshop.com via Hippocampus Magazine. I'm so happy I found Elissa's class, which was filled with many small insights that added up to a lot. I left the class feeling inspired. Thank you." -former student
"Elissa's seminar exceeded my expectations! She provided real-world solutions for rejection and included so many thought-provoking prompts. This class was so rich with information it could have easily been a 6-week course."-former student
"This class was SO, SO GOOD!!!! By far, my favorite ever of the many many I have taken with Catapult, Grubstreet, Porch, CFF, and WritingWorkshops.com. Big compliments! Thank you!!! Learned a lot and was furiously taking down notes; what marvelous advice and stories you have. Can't wait to read HYSTERICAL and the books that will come after that." -former student
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Class is on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025, via Zoom from 7:00PM EST - 9:30PM EST
- Tuition is $75.
If you have questions, please use the Chat Button or contact us via email HERE.