Award-winning photojournalist Ben Fractenberg has shot for The New York Times, Daily News and THE CITY, among other outlets, and his street photography was recently featured in a solo show at Gallery 198 in New York.

In this three-part workshop (Narratively Academy’s first-ever in-person class!) Ben will guide you through the intricacies of shooting compelling street photography. If you’re a writer who wants to start taking photos for your own pieces—or you’re just interested in learning about the art of street photography—this class is for you.

Classes will take place at CUNY Journalism School, 219 West 40th Street in Manhattan.

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We’ll study some of the great street photographers and discuss how they created their images, and we’ll navigate issues like: How and when do you approach strangers about taking their photo? What’s the best way to compose an image using available light? How do you find and capture moments that document the spirit of our time?

Then we’ll hit the streets, making our own photos to share and critique with the group.

This is the right class for you if…

• You’re a writer or reporter who wants to start capturing images to include with your stories.

• You want to learn how to create professional-looking images with a smartphone.

• You enjoy meeting like-minded artists and want to see the city in a new way.

After class you’ll have

• The confidence to take compelling street photos

• A new awareness of your environment

• An increased appreciation for well-composed photographs

This 3-week class takes place on Mondays from 6pm to 7pm ET, starting on June 1 and ending on June 15. All class sessions take place at CUNY Journalism School, 219 West 40th Street in Manhattan.

Cost: $235

Class Size Limit: 10

Paid Narratively Academy members get 20% off all classes, including this one. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to join—or to get the paid member promo code if you already are a member.

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Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Street Photography Workshop

Whether you write memoir or reported stories, you know writers are increasingly relied on to take our own photos. But there’s a huge difference between a quick snap and a thoughtful, composed photo. That’s why we are so thrilled to offer our first-ever photography class. Award-winning photojournalist Ben Fractenberg has shot for The New York Times, Daily News and THE CITY, among other outlets. In this three-session hands-on workshop held in New York City, you’ll spend time out in the city shooting, then come back together to review, refine, and push your work further. Whether you’re brand new to street photography or looking to get more intentional about your practice, this class is about learning to see—and capture—the moments most people miss.

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From Journal to Memoir: How to Turn Your Side Scrawls Into Literary Gold

You’ve been writing your whole life—but how do you turn all those dog-eared notebooks into something you can publish? This class is for anyone with journals, Google Docs, or years of scattered material who’s ready to start shaping it into something bigger. Led by memoirist, essayist and poet Rebecca Evans, you’ll learn how to identify the throughline in your work, structure a compelling memoir, and begin turning fragments into a cohesive, book-length project.

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Nonfiction Book Development Bootcamp

If you’re ready to take on a full-length nonfiction book—memoir, narrative nonfiction, or something in between—but you’re not totally sure how it takes shape, this intensive two-day bootcamp will help you clarify your idea, define your structure, and start building a project with real momentum. Led by an acclaimed nonfiction author and instructor Melissa Petro, who has helped hundreds of writers develop their concepts—you’ll transform your idea into a structured, strategic vision you can confidently pitch, write and publish.

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Writing About Religious Trauma

In this intimate six-week workshop, author and scholar Sara Moslener will guide writers through the complex process of writing about religious trauma. You’ll explore the emerging language of religious trauma studies, read writers who have navigated this terrain, and begin shaping your own experiences into work that is both truthful and compassionate. The class includes group discussion, workshop opportunities, and instructor feedback. This is a space for serious reflection—and serious craft.

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Theater Camp for Memoir Writers

What can memoir writers learn from actors? A lot, it turns out.

This playful, deeply practical class helps you unlock voice, embodiment, dialogue, and scene by hearing part of your first-person story read out loud. It’s about getting out of your head and into the lived, physical reality of your story—so your writing feels as alive on the page as it does in memory. Also: it’s going to be a lot of fun.

This is the first time we’re offering this class and there are only 10 seats available so if you’d like to join, be sure to sign up ASAP.

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Finding Your Writing Rhythm is a six-week course built around observation-based exercises designed to keep you in a writing frame of mind more often—so that when you do sit down to write, you can find and sustain your rhythm more easily.

Instructor Josh Krigman has taught in a wide variety of settings, with a focus on accessibility and building a generative, sustainable writing practice. In this intimate class, Josh will guide writers through a curriculum designed to make your relationship to writing both more productive and more enjoyable.

Class starts this Thursday, April 30 and is strictly limited to 10 writers—only 3 seats are left so if you want to get your writing rhythm going, sign up now.

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Welcome to finishing school.

I’ve spent years developing my Socratic AI method, turning Claude and ChatGPT into tailor-made thought partners for writers around the world. In my upcoming Socratic AI Intensive, you get six weeks to put this approach to work on your own project with the support you need to get it done: me coaching you in real time, a cohort of serious fellow writers keeping you accountable, and a complete system built around one goal: finally finishing your writing project.

Most writers leave a workshop fired up… and then life happens again. You hear a lot of helpful ideas you’re excited to implement, but you never carve out the time to actually apply what you’ve learned. Over time, the inspiration fades. The project goes back in the drawer.

The Socratic AI Intensive is designed to close that gap — and six weeks from now you’ll have something real to show for it.

Reserve Your Spot Now

How It Works

This is six weeks of learning, writing, community, and getting sh*t done. You bring your writing project. You work on it every day on your own and once a week in live, two-hour sessions with Jay (also available asynchronously) and a cohort of serious writers.

You set your own ambitious but realistic goal on day one: write your book proposal, draft the first three chapters of your memoir or novel, finish a screenplay, polish an essay for submission — and that’s what we build toward, together.

What You’ll Learn

Your Complete Project Blueprint: In week one, you and Jay map out your entire project together, breaking it into weekly milestones and daily writing assignments, so you never sit down wondering what to work on next.

Daily Writing Assignments + Accountability: Every day you get a specific, achievable task (”today: write the opening three paragraphs of section 2, rough draft, doesn’t have to be perfect”). You show up and do it.

Socratic Interviewing: Go far beyond basic prompting. You’ll master multi-step interview sequences that pull out your best ideas, memories, and stories, so when you sit down to write, you know exactly what you want to say.

Iterative Revision, Draft After Draft: Learn Jay’s full editorial feedback system — how to get specific, useful critique from AI at every stage, how to evaluate that feedback, what to take and what to ignore, and how to move from rough draft to something you’re genuinely proud of.

Unblocking in Real Time: When you get stuck, you’ll have Jay and the cohort there to help you work through it live, plus AI workflows to diagnose what’s blocking you and figure out where to go next.

The Full Toolkit: Master the advanced prompting sequences, custom workflows, and practical setups that let AI read and access your actual project documents, in real time, as a seamless part of your writing process.

Enroll Now

What You’ll Walk Away With

• A significant milestone on your writing project — a finished draft, a complete proposal, the first three chapters, whatever ambitious goal you set at the start

• The complete Socratic AI system, not just the highlights — so you can use it to plan, execute, and finish any creative project for the rest of your career

• The confidence that comes from knowing your work is authentically yours, just better and faster than you could have done alone

• You’ll shift from being someone who’s “working on a writing project” to being a writer who actually finishes things

Key Details

Format: 5 live sessions, 7-9pm ET each (also available asynchronously) + private community + small group feedback
Cost: $795 (As always, paid Narratively Academy members also get 20% off. Subscribe here and then scroll beneath the paywall at the bottom of this page for your discount code)
When: Monday, May 18, through June 22 (class will not meet on Memorial Day, May 25, but we will host optional office hours that day via Slack).

Enroll Now

About Jay Dixit

Jay is the founder of Socratic AI, a former writing professor at Yale, and OpenAI’s first Head of the Community for Writers. He’s written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Psychology Today. His approach to AI and creativity has been adopted by educators at Harvard, Wharton, and universities nationwide. At PopTech, his sold-out AI session, “Tools for Thinking,” was called “by far the best presentation I’ve seen on how to actually use this stuff.”

What Writers Are Saying

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Frequently Asked Questions

What if I miss a live session? Life happens—that’s exactly why this course is designed with built-in flexibility. Every live session is recorded and uploaded to our private community hub within 24 hours. You can watch the replay, complete the exercises on your own time, and still get your questions answered and share your progress in the community forum.

Do I need to be a tech expert to take this course? Not at all. If you know how to type into a chat box, you have all the technical skills you need. We will cover exactly how to set up your workflows, step-by-step. The focus is entirely on the thinking and the writing, not on coding or complex software.

Which AI tool will we use? Ideally Claude. Claude is currently the strongest model and it’s what the course is built around. You can also grant Claude access to your filesystem, which makes it easy to work directly with your project files as you write and revise. ChatGPT or Gemini will also work. You’ll need a paid tier — $20/month for Claude, and a bit less if you pay annually — which gives you the horsepower you’ll need for the kind of deep, iterative work we do in the course.

Will using AI make my writing sound generic or robotic? Absolutely not. We are not using AI to generate text or ghostwrite for you. We’re using it as a sounding board and thinking partner to draw out your ideas and give you feedback on the words you write. Your writing will be 100% authentically yours since you’ll have written every word yourself.

How much time do I need to commit each week? Ideally, about an hour a day for your writing assignments, plus the two-hour live session each week — so roughly seven hours total. Some days you’ll finish in 40 minutes; others, especially during revision or deep Socratic interview sessions, you might go longer. If you can’t hit an hour every day, that’s OK — you’ll still make progress, you just might not get as far by week six. The daily assignments are designed to be specific and contained enough to fit into a real life with a job and other commitments. You sit down, you know exactly what the task is, and you do it.

What stage does my project need to be at? Any stage. Whether you have nothing but a vague idea and a blank page, a messy outline, or a rough draft that you’ve been stuck on for six months, this system works. On day one, we will assess exactly where you are and map out a realistic, achievable finish line for week six.

What kinds of writing projects work best for this intensive? Almost anything that requires deep thought and sustained effort. Book proposals, essay collections, newsletters, novel chapters, screenplays, and long-form journalism. If it’s a writing project that you want to finally finish, this framework will get you there.

Stop putting your best ideas back in the drawer.

You already have the talent, the ideas, and the stories. What you need is the system, the accountability, and the deadline to finally get it out of your head and onto the page. Let’s build your system, do the work, and get you to the finish line.

Your project has waited long enough.

Enroll Now

Registration Details: Seats in this class are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

Enroll Now

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Cost: $495

Class size limit: 10

Writing is the craft that can free us from the hauntings, but it often means turning around and staring the ghouls in the face.

Sara Moslener is the author of two books on evangelical purity culture and has been teaching university courses for over fifteen years that focus on the religious roots of racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism. In this intimate six-week workshop class, Sara will guide writers through telling personal experiences and trauma related to religion, and you’ll start to share your own story with an instructor and peers who appreciate the unique nature of religious trauma and can help you represent it with accuracy and compassion.

The work of writing is hard enough and the complications of religious trauma can sink us into despair or they can be composted into creative fuel. This workshop will offer raw materials for cultivating the latter. We will spend time reading and discussing theories of religious trauma (a new field in both trauma and religious studies) in order to learn and use its language. We will read creative writers who have navigated this terrain in their fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry. Each participant will also have the opportunity to workshop a piece of their own writing during one of the class sessions.

This is the right class for you if…

• You are navigating religious trauma and are seeking strategies for using those experiences as a creative resource.

• You are seeking a creative community where the study of religion and the harm it can cause is taken seriously.

After this class you’ll have…

• Resources for understanding the nature of religious trauma.

• A vocabulary that offers genuine compassion and insight into religious-based harm.

• A project that has been workshopped in a community dedicated to building resilience for the creative writer.

This class takes place on Thursdays from 7-9, starting on June 11, 2026 and ending on July 23, 2026 (taking a break on July 2). All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world. Sessions of this class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students in case there are any you have to miss, but live attendance at a majority of sessions is required.

Students will be asked to purchase one text ($23)—all other course materials are freely available.

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Instructor Bio: Sara Moslener, PhD. holds degrees in theological and religious studies. She has been teaching university courses for over fifteen years that focus on the religious roots of racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism. She is the author of two books on evangelical purity culture, including Virgin Nation: Sexual Purity and American Adolescence (Oxford University Press, 2015) and After Purity: Race, Sex, and Religion in White Christian America (Beacon Press, 2025) which was supported by the Luce Project on Religion and Sexual Abuse. She and her work have been featured in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Sojourners Magazine, Jezebel, Religion Dispatches, Religion & Politics, Religion News Service, and The Baffler. She has appeared on numerous podcasts and in 2023 released her own series Pure White: Sexual Purity and White Supremacy with Axis Mundi Media.

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Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Cost: $95

Class Size Limit: 10

If you’re a memoir writer and you still know the words to every song from your theater camp — or if you’ve always wished you got to go to theater camp — this one’s is for you.

Writer and theater professional Chris Tebbetts is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling “Middle School” series, and the founder of the Theater Camp for Writers creative retreat. In this craft-focused, developmental writing workshop with a theater overlay, an intimate group of 10 writers will get a taste of the TCFW experience and explore what acting, directing, and improv have to teach us as writers.

However close to home your own story might be, it is still likely populated with characters you are working to bring alive on the page, scenes meant to have impact, and emotional arcs that keep your reader interested and turning pages. During the workshop, we will bring writers’ material to life with readers (fellow writers in the workshop) playing the parts of one another’s characters and narrators, as a way of generating direct feedback for the author — and ultimately, sending participants home with a new lens on the writing process, and a collection of new tools they can use moving forward.

What’s that, you say…you’re too shy for this? No worries! This workshop is introvert- and extrovert-friendly. While we will be reading aloud together in this workshop, no theater or performance skills are required!

This is the right class for you if…

• You’re currently working on a memoir and want feedback from peers.

• You are curious about finding a new way of looking at your own work.

• You’re interested in the cross-germination between writing and other art forms.

This 2-hour online class takes place on Saturday, June 27 from 12pm to 2pm ET. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance and participation is required.

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Instructor Bio: Chris Tebbetts is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Middle School series, as well as the forthcoming middle grade adventure, Dr. Zeus, with James Patterson. He also co-authored the bestselling Stranded series with Jeff Probst from TV’s “Survivor.” Other projects include two YA novels: Me, Myself, and Him and M or F? (with Lisa Papademetriou); the bestselling adult thriller 1st Case; and the audio drama 10 Rules for the Perfect Murder, also with James Patterson. Chris came to publishing by way of theater, which was his primary creative outlet from age ten to thirty, including a decade as an NYC-based stage manager, director, choreographer, and producer—everything but acting. (Trust him, he is a terrible actor.)

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Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Cost: $225

Class Size Limit: 15

If you have an idea for a nonfiction book but you’re not quite sure how it takes shape—or you’ve started writing but you want to make sure your concept is strong and marketable—this class is for you.

In this 2-day, hands-on intensive—led by an acclaimed nonfiction author and instructor Melissa Petro, who has helped hundreds of writers develop their concepts—you’ll transform your idea into a structured, strategic vision you can confidently pitch, write and publish.

Designed for writers of memoir, hybrid memoir, narrative nonfiction, and concept-driven nonfiction, this six-hour workshop focuses on the essential building blocks of a successful book:

• sharp premise

• defined audience

• strong market position

• cohesive chapter outline

Through guided exercises and expert feedback, you’ll refine your nonfiction book idea into a clear, compelling, creatively meaningful and market-ready project.

During this intensive, you will:

• Clarify your book’s core vision, including premise, thesis, and promise

• Define your primary and secondary audience and understand your book’s place in the market

• Identify 3–5 strong comparable titles to position your project effectively

• Better understand how to develop a detailed, logically structured chapter outline

• Practice pitching your book with real-time, expert feedback

This is the right class ideal for…

• Writers with a nonfiction book idea at any stage—whether you’re just beginning or feeling stuck—who are ready to move forward with clarity, structure, and a strategic plan.

After this class, you’ll be able to…

• Articulate your book idea clearly in a single compelling sentence

• Confidently describe your audience and the value your book delivers

• Position your project within traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing pathways

• Build and refine a chapter-by-chapter roadmap for your manuscript

• Pitch your book with clarity, confidence, and industry awareness

This is a 2-session intensive held on June 10 and 17, 2026 from 6pm to 9pm ET. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and are accessible to students anywhere in the world. The session will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, though live participation is strongly encouraged.

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Instructor Bio: Melissa Petro is a freelance writer and author of Shame on You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification, published by Putnam Books, a division of Penguin Random House. As a book coach and workshop facilitator, she’s helped hundreds of people push through fear, write, share, and even publish their most vulnerable stories in national publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Salon, The Washington Post, and elsewhere, and has helped still more individuals re-envision their lives by making meaning of their past and transcending traumatic experiences. She was affiliate faculty at Goddard College and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the New School.

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Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Sign Up

Cost: $235

Class Size Limit: 10

Smartphones have us all taking more photos than ever before—but there’s still a huge difference between a quick snap and a thoughtful, composed photo—especially if you’re shooting while on the move. Award-winning photojournalist Ben Fractenberg has shot for The New York Times, Daily News and THE CITY, among other outlets, and his street photography was recently featured in a solo show at Gallery 198 in New York.

In this three-part workshop (Narratively Academy’s first-ever in-person class!) Ben will guide you through the intricacies of shooting compelling street photography. If you’re a writer who wants to start taking photos for your own pieces—or you’re just interested in learning about the art of street photography—this class is for you.

Classes will take place at CUNY Journalism School, 219 West 40th Street in Manhattan.

We’ll study some of the great street photographers and discuss how they created their images, and we’ll navigate issues like: How and when do you approach strangers about taking their photo? What’s the best way to compose an image using available light? How do you find and capture moments that document the spirit of our time?

Then we’ll hit the streets, making our own photos to share and critique with the group.

This is the right class for you if…

• You’re a writer or reporter who wants to start capturing images to include with your stories.

• You want to learn how to create professional-looking images with a smartphone.

• You enjoy meeting like-minded artists and want to see the city in a new way.

After class you’ll have

• The confidence to take compelling street photos

• A new awareness of your environment

• An increased appreciation for well-composed photographs

This 3-week class takes place on Mondays from 6pm to 7pm ET, starting on June 1 and ending on June 15. All class sessions take place at CUNY Journalism School, 219 West 40th Street in Manhattan.

Sign Up

Instructor Bio: Ben Fractenberg is a national award-winning photojournalist and editor living in Brooklyn. His street photography was recently featured in a solo show at Gallery 198. His photojournalism has been published in the New York Times, Curbed, Eater, New York Daily News and THE CITY, among other outlets.

Sign Up

Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Each 2-day class has room for just 8 students, so everyone gets the time to workshop their personal statement and materials with Abeer, who has won fellowships, grants and residencies from NEA, the Fulbright Foundation, and many others.

The first four editions of this class all sold out, so we’ve added another on April 19 and 26.

If you’ve been putting together application materials for a grant, fellowship or residency — or if you’ve applied in the past and never heard back — this class is for you. There are just a few spots remaining, so if you’re interested, sign up now.

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Also, we have a brand-new class starting next week, with just 3 seats left.

So much of our life experience, or rather how we reflect back on it, centers on the “what if.” What if we’d left earlier, spoken louder, moved here or there, known our parents before they had us, known our lovers before we loved them, known our adult selves as children? These are the scenarios our minds often flip through—however impossible they are in reality.

Incorporating speculation into essay and memoir is a craft decision that allows writers to remain grounded in fact while exploring the “what ifs” of lived experience. Sometimes, this is the key to unlocking those emotional truths we aspire to find in our work that perhaps evade us when reflecting solely on observable events. For example, consider a story from childhood and how often the version held as true is itself inherited—passed down and so inevitably skewed, and then absorbed into personal memory. Should we simply ignore the gap between what “actually” happened and how it was told to us? Or, perhaps we might find that the emotional truth of the story, its core so to speak, lies in that gap. Of course, we also need to question what it means to engage with speculation and speculative elements in nonfiction not just effectively, but ethically.

In this six-week nonfiction workshop led by author and editor Haley Swanson, writers will engage with memoirs, poems, and essays that play with the “what if” of things. Readings will include selections from Jo Ann Beard’s Festival Days, Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, and Laura Kasischke’s “Bike Ride with Older Boys,” among others.

We’ll explore how these writers speculate on what could’ve been—in relation to events, time, and past selves. We’ll also look at how this strengthens their narrative conceits and how we can implement similar tools in our own essays.

Then, we’ll engage on this level with each other’s work. Each writer will workshop one essay they either feel needs to incorporate speculation or is currently asking these challenging questions.

Class starts this coming Tuesday, April 7. If you’d like to join, be sure to grab a seat and sign up now!

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PS: Interested in this class but can’t afford the full cost? You can easily apply for a sliding scale scholarship here.

You know what you want to say. You may even have it mapped out in your head. All you need to do is actually write it.

The sad reality is that most writers die with their stories still in them. Not for lack of talent, but because they never finish what they start. You set the project aside fully intending to come back to it. Then life happens.

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to do it alone.

I’ve taught writing at Yale University and written features for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Psychology Today. I was OpenAI’s first Head of Writer Community, educating writers on how to use ChatGPT to supercharge their creative process. Never by letting the AI do their writing for them, but by using it as a sounding board, editor, and thinking partner to provide instant feedback, help them get unstuck and push through resistance, and keep them accountable so they can get it done and published.

What I’ll teach you is not a replacement for your human writing coach or teacher, but a reinforcement that’s available 24/7.

At OpenAI, I developed an approach I call Socratic AI — a radically different methodology that turns AI into an iterative thinking partner instead of a ghostwriter. Rather than generate prose, the AI helps you set and achieve goals, talk out ideas, and keep you moving forward until your project is done. It’s like having a personal trainer for your creative process.

Think about this: Even the schlubbiest movie stars go through mind-bending body transformations. Why? Because the studio hires a personal trainer to develop a tailor-made program, hold them accountable, and support them along their journey.

Socratic AI is a personal trainer for writing. You have the ideas, the stories, the voice — you just need to be shepherded through the process. To talk things out when you get stuck. To make a plan and be held to it. To say, “OK, today you’re drafting the first three sections of chapter 3 today, doesn’t matter how rough, just get it down.”

In this free live workshop, on April 22, 1-2pm ET, I’ll walk you through live demos on how to use AI to help you plan and set goals, and make you stick to the plan you set and keep you on track till it’s done. You’ll get specific prompts and techniques you can use to get started right away — all without ever outsourcing the writing, thinking, or creativity that makes your work unmistakably yours.

RSVP to the Free Workshop

What you’ll learn:

• The real reason most writers never finish their projects (hint: it’s not lack of talent or time)

• Why “write this for me” is the single worst prompt you can use — and what prompt to use instead

• Three high-leverage techniques you can use immediately to get dramatically better results from ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini

• How to flip the script and have AI ask YOU questions to draw out your own best ideas, memories, and stories

• How to get AI to break down your overwhelming project into simple daily milestones you can actually achieve

• Live demos of how to talk through creative blocks, get instant feedback on your writing, and keep momentum going

Who this is for:

• Writers skeptical of AI but curious if there’s a way to use it without outsourcing their creativity

• Writers who’ve tried generating prose and been underwhelmed by AI’s generic, soulless output

• Anyone who’s ever gotten stuck, set something aside temporarily, and never picked it back up

• Writers with unfinished projects gathering dust — novels, proposals, essays, screenplays

• Writers ready to stop being someone with unfinished projects and become someone who actually finishes what they start

About Jay Dixit:

Jay Dixit is the founder of Socratic AI, a former Yale writing instructor, and OpenAI’s first head of the Writer Community. He’s written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Psychology Today, and has taught AI techniques to writers and writing students at Harvard, Columbia, and universities nationwide. His PopTech session on AI, “Tools for Thinking,” sold out immediately, and the editor of Reason Magazine called it “by far the best presentation I’ve seen on how to actually use this stuff.”

Format: Free live Zoom workshop, 60 minutes including Q&A

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, April 22, 1-2p ET; recording shared shortly after

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Want to dive deeper and put these methods to work in real time? Sign up now for my 6-week masterclass, The Socratic AI Intensive: Your Personal Trainer for Writing, beginning May 18. With hands-on expert guidance, real-time feedback on your actual project, and daily accountability to keep you on track, you’ll learn to leverage AI as your 24/7 writing coach, accountability partner, and daily action guide. In six weeks, you’ll finally finish your essay, article, proposal, manuscript, screenplay or other important writing project — without ever letting AI write a single word.

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Jay has pioneered a method he calls Socratic AI, and in our free live workshop from 1p - 2p ET today, he’ll walk us through demos on how to use AI to help plan and set goals, flesh out ideas, and keep ourselves on track until our essay, book, screenplay, proposal, white paper (or any cr…

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Amy Barnes’ prompt-based classes are some of our most popular offerings—writers love how generative, surprising, and creatively freeing they are. This brand-new class takes that approach in a fresh direction, using poetry as the entry point into personal essay writing. Each day during the month of April we’ll share a poem or two on a theme, along with a quick prompt to help you get started on your own writing. Throughout the month, you’ll learn how to use poetry as a jumping-off point to inspire your essays. Class starts this Wednesday, April 1 and you can sign up now!

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This season includes a mix of brand-new offerings and new sessions of some of our most in-demand classes—ones that consistently sell out and that past students rave about—plus a special free class.

Let’s go!

30 Days, 30 Poetry Prompts for Essayists

If you’ve been stuck—or just want a creative jolt—this is your reset. Amy Barnes’ prompt-based classes are some of our most popular offerings—writers love how generative, surprising, and creatively freeing they are. This brand-new class takes that approach in a fresh direction, using poetry as the entry point into personal writing.

Through daily prompts and readings, you’ll experiment with image, compression, and language in new ways—unlocking unexpected paths into your essays. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s momentum. Show up, write something (even something messy), and by the end of the month you’ll have a stack of new ideas and early drafts to build from.

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Writing the “What If”: Speculative Nonfiction

What if you could rewrite the past? Reimagine a turning point? Explore the roads not taken? In this inventive writing workshop, you’ll experiment with blending memoir, essay, and imagination—using speculative techniques to deepen emotional truth and expand what nonfiction can do. It’s an especially powerful approach for stories that feel just out of reach in traditional forms.

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Personal Essay Incubator (10-Week Memoir Mentorship)

Our signature essay incubator is one of our most in-demand programs, and it consistently fills quickly. This is a rare opportunity for just six writers to work directly with Narratively Executive Editor Jesse Sposato in a small, focused group. Over 10 weeks, you’ll receive detailed feedback, real accountability, and hands-on editorial guidance as you develop and refine your work.

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The Insider’s Guide to Writing Personal Statements and Applying for Grants & Residencies

If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the world of grants, fellowships, and artist residencies—or unsure how to present yourself and your work—this class pulls back the curtain.

In this intimate, two-day workshop, you’ll learn how to craft a clear, compelling personal statement and build a strong application that stands out in a competitive field. You’ll break down what actually makes these applications work, get hands-on guidance in shaping your own materials, and leave with a much clearer path toward securing funding and opportunities for your creative work.

This is one of our most in-demand classes, and it’s limited to just 8 students—so it tends to fill quickly.

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AI for Writers: The 24/7 Writing Coach to Help You Finish What You Start

Jay Dixit has taught writing at Yale University and written features for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Psychology Today. He was also OpenAI’s first Head of Writer Community, educating writers on how to use ChatGPT to supercharge their creative process. Never by letting the AI do their writing for them, but by using it as a sounding board, editor, and thinking partner to provide instant feedback, help them get unstuck and push through resistance, and keep them accountable so they can get it done and published. In this free seminar, Jay will introduce the approach he developed called Socratic AI — a methodology that turns AI into an iterative thinking partner instead of a ghostwriter.

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The Art of Micro Memoir: How to Write Great Short Essays

Short doesn’t mean small. In this fun and creative workshop led by poet and essayist Rebecca Evans, you’ll learn how to distill big emotional truths into tight, powerful pieces—often under 500 words. Drawing on techniques from poetry and narrative nonfiction, this class will help you create work that feels both concise and complete.

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Finding Your Writing Rhythm

Struggling to stay consistent? This class is all about building a writing practice that actually sticks. And let’s be honest, who among us doesn’t need that?

Instructor Josh Krigman has taught in a wide variety of settings, with a focus on accessibility and building a generative, sustainable writing practice. In this intimate class, Josh will guide writers through a curriculum designed to make your relationship to writing both more productive and more enjoyable. Through structure, prompts, and accountability, you’ll develop a rhythm that works for your life—and keeps you moving forward, even when motivation dips. This is a great entry point if you’ve been trying (and not quite succeeding) to build a sustainable writing habit on your own.

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Advanced Craft Workshop: Finding Your Structure

In this three-part class, author Kristina Gaddy will lead students to examine the ways that other top nonfiction writers structure their work in both conventional and unconventional ways. Sometimes, with the right scaffolding, a piece becomes easier to write, revise, and understand. There are only 10 seats available, and this one always sells out quickly!

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The Art of Crónica: Writing Immersive, Voice-Driven Nonfiction

I’m so excited to have this new class led by award-winning writer Javier Sinay.

In Latin America, crónica represents the pinnacle of literary journalism—deeply reported, vividly written, and unapologetically personal. In this four-week workshop, you’ll learn how to blend reporting, voice, and narrative into immersive nonfiction that pulls readers in and stays with them. It’s an opportunity to expand your toolkit—and your sense of what nonfiction can be.

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Deeply Personal: Writing First-Person Essays on Raw and Difficult Topics

This is one of our most beloved and in-demand classes, and it regularly fills up with a waitlist. In this intimate workshop, you’ll learn how to approach your most personal material with honesty, care, and craft—developing essays that are both emotionally resonant and structurally strong. Writers consistently describe this class as a rare space where they’re able to go deeper than they thought possible.

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All Narratively Academy classes are designed to be supportive, rigorous, and deeply human, taught by working writers and editors who care about your work and your growth. Wherever you are in your writing journey—just getting started, returning after a break, or pushing toward something bigger—there’s a place for you here.

If one of these classes speaks to you, I’d love to have you join us this spring.

Want to see a different class—or teach one yourself? Drop us a line: academy@narratively.com

Most of our writers who joined us for the Winter Session are continuing on for the rest of the year, so we only have 6 seats open for new writers who want to join us for the Spring Session, when we’ll get down and dirty as we focus on drafting and developing our books. Interested? Keep reading!

What is the Narratively Book Incubator?

It’s a chance for small groups of up to 10 writers to receive close, personal guidance, feedback, and one-on-one mentoring from a very accomplished book author; attend a carefully curated roster of expert panels and Q&As with agents, editors and other industry insiders; and work in community with each other to write your book in 2026.

Who can join for the Spring Session?

This incubator is open to anyone working on a full-length book in memoir, nonfiction, fiction, or hybrid genres. To join us in spring, you must have already started planning your book and have the following materials completed before the start date:

• A title, concept and synopsis.

• An outline.

• The first chapter or first few chapters of your book.

Who are the instructors and when do classes start?

We currently have a few seats available in:

• Shawna Kenney’s class, which meets Mondays, 5:30pm to 7pm ET, starting April 6.

• Kern Carter’s class, which meets Tuesdays, 1pm to 2:30pm ET, starting April 7.

• Claire Rudy Foster’s class, which meets Sundays from 12pm to 1:30pm ET, starting April 12.

More information about all of these talented instructors can be found on the main Book Incubator page and in the recording of the Meet the Mentors chat.

How do I sign up?

Head to the main Book Incubator page, make sure you’ve read the full program description, and click “sign up.”

What if I’m still not sure?

It’s a big commitment so I totally get it! If you’re thinking of joining and want to talk it over with me first, grab some time on my calendar or drop me a line at brendan@narratively.com.

So….what exactly is it again?

Check out all the details here!

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Hope to see many of your beautiful writerly faces again this Wednesday in Writers’ Room—and a quick reminder that the deadline to submit to our new flash essay contest is today.

And this Saturday, March 28 is the debut of a brand new class for us: Launching a Book and Reaching Your Readers—Without a Large PR Budget. In this three-hour seminar, Namrata Poddar will guide writers through the many pathways to launch a book, especially for early-career authors who have neither a large platform nor access to a large budget—their own or their publisher’s—to pay for promotion services.

This three-hour workshop takes place on Saturday, March 28, from 12pm to 3pm ET. For more details and to sign up, visit the class page here.

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This three-hour workshop takes place on Saturday, March 28, from 12pm to 3pm ET. For more details and to sign up, visit the class page here.

Learn More + Sign Up

Subscribe now

This class is now sold out, but we will offer a new session as soon as there are enough students on the advance wait list. If you join the advance waiting list for the next session, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know next time it’s offered.

Join the Wait List

Cost: $295

Class Size Limit: 10

In Latin America, crónica represents the pinnacle of literary journalism: a flexible, boundary-defying form that blends rigorous reporting with the craft of great storytelling. While it shares DNA with creative nonfiction, crónica goes further—embracing subjectivity, voice, empathy, and political resonance in ways that feel immediate, immersive, and deeply human.

As Martín Caparrós—one of the great cronistas—has observed:

“Faced with the current media ideology, which tries to impose neutral language without a subject…the crónica uses the first person not to talk about oneself, but to point out there is a person who is watching, and who is telling the story it is only one of many possible points of view—and that’s what makes the crónica so political, so intimate.”

So what can you learn from crónica? Everything: point of view, voice, reporting, structure, and style.

The class is led by an accomplished Argentine journalist Javier Sinay, winner of the Gabriel García Márquez Award for Journalism—often considered the Spanish-language equivalent of the Pulitzer—for the piece “Rápido. Furioso. Muerto,” published in Rolling Stone. In this four-week workshop, journalists, memoirists, and lovers of narrative nonfiction will explore crónica’s unique power—and how its perspective-driven approach can elevate your own work.

We’ll read and discuss masterful crónicas (in English translation) by writers such as Rodolfo Walsh, Leila Guerriero, Julio Villanueva Chang, Gabriela Wiener, and Joseph Zárate. The instructor will also share the step-by-step process behind their own award-winning crónicas—showing how reporting becomes finished work.

Workshop Outline

Session 1: Roots of Crónica
Explore the form’s history and evolution, and learn how to identify compelling stories in everyday life. Learn to identify: which stories can be a crónica and which cannot.

Session 2: Finding the Story—Voice, Focus and Mirada
Examine tonal variation and develop strategies to maintain narrative focus while deepening your reporting.

Session 3: Reporting for Narrative
Learn how to build scenes from reported material—using detail, pacing, and key turning points—and develop a first-person voice with presence, not ego.

Session 4: Structure and the Art of the Ending
Bring it all together: structure, voice, reporting, and theme. Learn strategies for endings that resonate without forcing closure.

This is the right class for you if…

• You’re writing memoir or personal essays and want to connect your story to broader social or political themes.

• You work in journalism but feel constrained by traditional formats—and want more depth and voice.

• You believe first-person nonfiction should reflect perspective and honesty—not self-indulgence—and want to strike that balance.

By the end of this class you will…

• Turn raw reporting into vivid narrative scenes with detail, momentum, and meaning—without cliché.

• Develop your mirada—your instinct for finding stories with emotional and cultural weight.

• Use first-person narration as a tool for perspective, creating work that is both intimate and politically aware.

• Build nonfiction narratives with structure, intention, and impact.

This 4-week class takes place on Thursdays from 1pm to 2pm ET, starting on May 7 and ending on May 28. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world.

This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students in case there are specific sessions you have to miss, but live attendance and participation at a majority of the live sessions is required.

Instructor Bio: Javier Sinay is a Buenos Aires–based journalist and author whose work sits at the forefront of Latin America’s crónica tradition. He is the author of several books, including The Murders of Moisés Ville: The Rise and Fall of the Jerusalem of South America (Restless, 2022), praised by Paul Theroux and Jon Lee Anderson, as well as Después de las 09:53 (2024) and Camino al Este (2019). In 2015, he received the Gabriel García Márquez Award from the Gabo Foundation for his crónica “Rápido. Furioso. Muerto,” published in Rolling Stone Argentina, where he also served as Deputy Editor; he previously won the Rodolfo Walsh Award for Best True Crime at Spain’s Semana Negra festival for his book Sangre joven. His work has appeared in leading international publications including La Nación, El Universal, Gatopardo, Etiqueta Negra, Jewish Quarterly, Tablet, Reportagen, and Asymptote, and his writing has been recognized by outlets like CrimeReads. A seasoned educator, Sinay has led workshops and seminars on crónica and creative nonfiction across Latin America, Europe, and the United States, including at Yale, UMass, Brandeis, GrubStreet, Lighthouse, and the Center for Fiction.

Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Cost: $60

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Great nonfiction doesn’t have to be long. In fact, flash nonfiction is one of the most exciting genres right now—because there’s something uniquely satisfying about telling a true, impactful story in a very small space. The best micro nonfiction blends the precision of poetry with the narrative tension of truth, capturing an entire universe in just a few hundred words—typically under 500—while still delivering a complete and resonant story.

In this creative, accessible workshop—open to writers at any level—memoirist, essayist, and poet Rebecca Evans will guide you in identifying powerful moments from your life and shaping them into compelling micro essays that sing.

Through three distinct approaches—photography and framing prompts, poetic craft techniques, and essay templates—Rebecca will help you transform memory into vivid, concise storytelling.

This is the right class for you if…

• You want to turn personal experiences into memoir in a fresh, dynamic way.

• You’ve written creative nonfiction and struggled to tell your stories in shorter forms.

• You’ve experimented with flash nonfiction or other short formats and want to sharpen your prose.

This two-hour workshop takes place on Sunday, April 26 from 2pm to 4pm ET. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world.

This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance is strongly encouraged.

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Instructor Bio: Rebecca Evans is a Pushcart Prize-nominated essayist and poet who writes the difficult, the heart-full, the guidebooks for survivors. Her debut memoir in verse, Tangled by Blood, bridges motherhood and betrayal, untangling wounds and restoring what it means to be a mother. She’s a memoirist, essayist, and poet, infusing her love of empowerment with craft. She teaches high school teens in the Juvie system through journaling and visual art. Rebecca is also a disabled veteran, weaving disability, military experience and Jewish heritage throughout her work. She co-hosts Radio Boise’s Writer to Writer show.

Her poems and essays have appeared in Brevity, Narratively, The Rumpus, Hypertext Magazine, War, Literature & the Arts, The Limberlost Review, and more.

She’s earned two MFAs, one in creative nonfiction, the other in poetry and co-edited the anthology, When There Are Nine, a tribute to the life and achievements of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Along with her full-length poetry collection, Tangled by Blo

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Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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This class is now sold out, but we will offer a new session as soon as there are enough students on the advance wait list. If you join the advance waiting list for the next session, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know next time it’s offered.

Join the Wait List

Cost: $350

Class Size Limit: 10

We all know how hard it is to carve out time to write—and even harder to feel like you’re using that time well. Too often, just as you’ve warmed up, it’s time to stop and return to the rest of your life. But what if you could stay warmed up all the time?

Finding Your Writing Rhythm is a six-week course built around observation-based exercises designed to keep you in a writing frame of mind more often—so that when you do sit down to write, you can find and sustain your rhythm more easily.

Instructor Josh Krigman has taught in a wide variety of settings, with a focus on accessibility and building a generative, sustainable writing practice. In this intimate class, Josh will guide writers through a curriculum designed to make your relationship to writing both more productive and more enjoyable.

Over the six weeks, we’ll explore ways to take your writing practice beyond your desk, beginning with the creation of your own writing sketchbook. Unlike a traditional notebook, a sketchbook isn’t for ideas to be saved and developed later—it’s a space to practice writing for its own sake. It becomes a tool for observing the world through language, helping you stay open and attentive more often.

Through daily observation exercises, in-class prompts, and ongoing assignments, you’ll build your sketchbook and expand your relationship to writing—from the status of a single project to the way you engage with the world. Along the way, you’ll generate plenty of new material and experiment with techniques for developing and sustaining a writing practice that works for you.

This class is open to writers of all experience levels.

This is the right class for you if…

• You love writing but struggle to find the time and energy to focus on your own projects.

• You have a big project you want to complete in 2026 and want tools to stay on track.

• You’re interested in creative writing but haven’t yet developed a consistent practice..

This 6-week class takes place on Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm ET, starting on April 30 and ending on June 4. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world.

This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students in case there are specific sessions you have to miss, but live attendance and participation at a majority of the live sessions is required.

Instructor Bio: Josh Krigman is a writer, teacher, and facilitator in New York City. He has taught creative writing at Hunter College, the United Nations International School, 826NYC, The Writer’s Rock, and for National Geographic Expeditions. He has been awarded residencies from Vermont Studio Center, and his work has appeared in The Summerset Review, Akashic Books, Necessary Fiction, and elsewhere. He received his MFA in fiction from Hunter College. He is also the founder of Little Nights, an arts programming series that hosts interdisciplinary events and creative retreats in New York and San Francisco.

Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.

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.

Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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