Summer Memoir Mentorship: Perfecting the Personal Essay
This class is now sold out, but we will offer a new session SOON.
Email academy@narrartively.com to join an advance waiting list for the next session and we’ll make sure you’re the first to know next time it’s offered.
Student limit: 10
You’ve taken the first step in writing a personal essay: You dug deep and poured your heart out onto the page. Now you’re ready for step two: getting professional editorial feedback to refine that story so it’s ready to pitch to publications. This is not a group class, but a one-on-one editing workshop, with 10 slots available this July and August. Narratively executive editor Jesse Sposato, a longtime journalist and essayist who edits most of the personal essays that are published on Narratively, will review and critique your story, helping you polish a second and third (hopefully final!) draft.
Writers should have a completed draft of a personal essay (800 to 2,500 words) before signing up. You will receive feedback in three stages:
Week 1: You submit your personal essay draft. (When signing up you can choose which week you’d like to start.)
Week 2: Instructor edits story, providing a memo outlining overall feedback, thoughts and suggested changes, plus detailed in-line comments on the story. Student and instructor have a one-on-one phone consultation to review feedback and talk through a plan for next steps.
Week 3: You submit a revised essay draft; instructor reviews and provides further notes.
Week 4: You submit a third draft and instructor provides final polish.
This class is right for you if…
You have a completed draft of a personal essay.
You want to receive feedback on that essay to perfect it before pitching to publications.
You’ve pitched your essay but haven’t placed it, and you’re wondering how it might be improved.
After this class you’ll be ready to…
Pitch your polished personal essay to a top publication.
Your Instructor: Narratively executive editor Jesse Sposato is a longtime journalist, essayist and editor living in the Catskills. Her writing has appeared on Vanity Fair, InStyle, Shondaland, HuffPost, Gloria, Memoir Land and many other publications. At Narratively, she spearheaded our recent 4-series collaboration with Creative Nonfiction, and edits many of the stories appearing in our Memoir, Deep Dives and Secret Lives sections. Prior to joining Narratively, Jesse was a regular contributor to Refinery29 and wrote Urban Campers, a series about people living in RVs in NYC, for New York Magazine’s Bedford + Bowery for over two years. She also co-founded Sadie Magazine, an online counterculture publication, which she edited for six years. Jesse received an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, and has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Vermont Studio Center. She particularly likes to write and edit stories about social issues, feminism, health and wellness, culture, and friendship, and is working on a collection of essays about coming of age in the suburbs and being boy crazy.
“Jesse is amazing. Her technical skills and instincts are obvious, but her ability to push writers to dig deeper when needed is what really sets her apart from other editors.” —Jared Bilski
“Imagine having a top-notch editor, a wise therapist and a fairy godmother all rolled into one: That's what working with Jesse is like. Her insight and patience are unparalleled. I'm so grateful I got the chance to work with her, and would do it again in a heartbeat.” —Elizabeth Laura Nelson
Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Cancellation Policy:
Full refund when canceling 7 or more days before the class start date.
50% refund when canceling less than 7 days before the class start date.
No cancellations after the class start date.
Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.
MORE: Check out all of our upcoming Narratively Academy classes here.