Begins Thursday, September 17, 2026

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Thursdays, September 17 and 24, and October 1 and 8, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET

Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Bio

Instructor Anne Stuart is a veteran Massachusetts-based writer, editor, instructor, storyteller, and former columnist. She's written about everything from entrepreneurship to higher education, but is currently focusing on regional lifestyle and travel stories, essays and opinion pieces, and profiles of people and organizations. Anne's work has been published by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Boston Magazine, CFO, Fodor's Travel Guides, Inc.com, Newsday, Northeastern Magazine, Edible Berkshires, Seventeen, and many other print and online publications. She has also created business content for corporate clients and edited or contributed to books on business and history. She is working on a book about conducting journalistic interviews. Her stories have been featured on the Moth Radio Hour (PRX/NPR) and Stories From the Stage (PBS). She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, the Biographers International Organization, and the Society for Features Journalism. In addition to freelancing, she has held senior editorial positions at MIT Sloan Management Review, MIT Technology Review, Inc., Harvard Magazine, and CIO, among others. She began her career as a reporter and editor for several daily newspapers and The Associated Press.

Meet the Teaching Artist

Anne Stuart on Opinion, Place, and Writing What Only You Can Say

Who is this class for?

This online writing workshop is for writers who live in — or know intimately — a particular place that others want to visit. That might be where you currently live, a second home you spend significant time in (Cape Cod, "up north" in Michigan, Florida's Gulf Coast), or a region you visit multiple times each year. Previous writing and publishing experience is helpful but not required — the real advantage here is the expertise that only comes from deep, long-term familiarity with a community or region. All levels welcome.

What to expect:

You already have something most travel writers spend years trying to acquire: you know your corner of the world intimately. In this lively, intensive four-week online writing workshop, you'll discover how to turn that local expertise into compelling, publishable nonfiction — from city and regional magazine features to out-of-town newspaper travel pieces to guidebook entries.

We'll explore the full landscape of writing and publishing about the places we call home, including how to find and approach the best markets for your work. You'll brainstorm and develop your own ideas, receive respectful, constructive feedback from the instructor and your fellow writers, and leave the workshop with a list of vetted story ideas and concrete information on how and where to pitch them. The course covers city magazines, regional and lifestyle publications, specialty food, culture, and outdoors titles, and the particular pros and cons of working with travel-guide publishers.

Whether you're in a big city, a scenic region, or somewhere in between, your hometown likely has a story that's worth sharing — and readers somewhere are eager to read it.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will generate and refine a slate of story ideas about the place they know best, identify potential publishing markets matched to those ideas, and draft at least one pitch letter aimed at a specific publication. Feedback is verbal during class sessions, from both the instructor and fellow participants.

Readings

Reading materials will be provided by the instructor as Word documents, PDFs, or links. Selections may include published examples from city magazines, regional and lifestyle publications, newspaper travel sections, and travel guidebooks, along with tip sheets and a curated resource list for pitching and publishing.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 — Thursday, September 17, 2026: Introductions and course orientation. We'll review examples of place-based writing across the major publication categories — city magazines, regional publications, specialty lifestyle, food, culture, and outdoors titles, and travel guidebooks — and discuss what works in each format and why.

Week 2 — Thursday, September 24, 2026: Brainstorming, workshopping, and refining your coverage ideas. Each writer will surface a set of story angles drawn from their own deep knowledge of place, and we'll workshop those ideas together with respectful, constructive feedback.

Week 3 — Thursday, October 1, 2026: Identifying markets and customizing pitches. We'll match ideas to specific publications, study what successful pitches look like, and begin drafting tailored pitch letters for the markets best suited to your work.

Week 4 — Thursday, October 8, 2026: The pros and cons of approaching travel-guide publishers, including the realities of guidebook assignments (often listing updates rather than original writing). Time permitting, guest talks from the editor of a regional lifestyle publication and a working journalist who regularly publishes about her hometown. Closing session: students leave with a list of additional resources and a customized list of next steps.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Discover how deep familiarity with a particular place provides a specific advantage, even with limited prior publishing experience
• Develop story ideas tailored to different types of publications — from city magazines and regional lifestyle titles to out-of-state newspaper travel sections
• Learn how to identify the right markets for the kind of writing you want to publish
• Craft pitches customized to those markets
• Where applicable, learn how to approach travel-guide publishers, with candid discussion of the pros and cons of guidebook work

TESTIMONIALS:

"Anne was simply phenomenal. I was admittedly not looking forward to three- and five-hour classes, but Anne kept the class moving, provided interesting and applicable examples to the subject matter, fostered engaging discussion and shared an encyclopedic knowledge of the material. What an amazing professor!"

— Michael G., Former Student

"I truly enjoyed this class and wish it were longer! Anne is such a great professor and more importantly, she is a very kind and considerate person. The course was well-organized, had up-to-date material, and Anne structured it in a way that those long classes flew by. They were honestly fun and very interesting! Although we had only a few students in the class, it was nice because we really got to connect with Anne and were able to participate cohesively."

— Mike M., Former Student

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $330 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Anne Stuart
• Begins Thursday, September 17, 2026
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Thursdays, September 17 and 24 and October 1 and 8, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $330 USD.