A great monologue stays with us. Not just in our memories, but in our hearts. We love watching them on the screen. But for some reason, this powerful form of expression is often forgotten when writing personal essays and memoirs. It shouldn’t be. Monologue can be so powerful in writing, both in fiction and in memoir.

In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Baby Suggs has an epic monologue that honors all the golden rules. She hooks us at the beginning with: “Here, in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass.” And she keeps us hooked, line by line. (Of course she does, it’s Morrison!) In Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt rounds the end of one of his most stirring monologues with: “You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” These words remind us to cherish what we truly own, what no one can interfere with. They linger long after we close the book. Whether on screen, stage or the page, the best monologues do exactly that: They resonate like no other kind of writing.

I’m so excited to be teaching Using Monologues to Power Your Memoir Writing, an intensive craft seminar for Narratively Academy. It’s going to be a very fun, generative session where we’ll study examples of great usages of monologue in memoir and explore how to use them as templates and models for our own narratives. If you’re interested in learning how to write memoir monologues that are as vibrant as Morrison, McCourt and Waller-Bridge, I hope you’ll join me on Sunday, August 23.

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For our brand-new edition of this class, we’re focused on family. This new course is designed to help you find inspiration, focus your memories, and introduce ways to write about the people and relationships in (and out) of your life. The prompts will help you find your own unique storytelling approach to essays about your family members, and your relationships with them and other people.

This class is self-guided so you can join and respond to the prompts on your own time, at your own pace. You aren’t required to participate every day; the goal is to challenge yourself to write as much as you can. You might write just a few sentences, or when you’re inspired, much more. Class starts this Saturday, August 1, so sign up now!

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Class starts this Wednesday, July 29 and there are just three seats left, so if you’d like to join be sure to grab one ASAP. Read on for all the details and to sign up.

UPDATE: 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.

Cost: $325

Class Size Limit: 15

Paid subscribers to Narratively Academy get 20% off all classes, including this one. If you already are a paid subscriber, scroll down to the bottom of the page to get the paid subscriber promo code. Or click here to become a paid subscriber today.

One of the hardest things we can do as personal essayists is to be vulnerable in our writing. It’s also one of the most important. Being able to admit on paper our flaws, fears, mistakes, failures, embarrassing thoughts for all the world to see can be, well, very, very difficult. In this analysis-meets-generative class, we are going to look head-on at how some of the most successful authors write vulnerably in their own work, how they talk about it, what it means to write vulnerably when others are involved (often people we love!) and what we’re so afraid of.

We will do this through close readings of several exceptional essays from some of the top writers of today and yesterday — from authors such as Roxane Gay, Brian Doyle, Kiese Laymon, Meredith Hall, Meghan Daum and more — as well as craft pieces and author interviews. In class, we will discuss and analyze our readings, and then to give our learnings a test-spin — and because we’re writers who like to write! — we will end each class with a generative writing exercise and optional share aloud.

This class will meet four times this summer, on Wednesdays, from 12-1:15 p.m. ET, starting July 29 and running through August 19.

In this class, we will work to answer questions like:

• What does it mean to write vulnerably?

• How can we write vulnerably, well?

• What does it mean to write vulnerably when other people are involved (often people we love)?

• What are we so afraid of when we write vulnerably, anyway?

• Does vulnerability have to be shocking and/or controversial?

This class is right for you if…

• You write personal essays and wish to go deeper, but aren’t sure how.

• You’re new to essay writing or you’ve been doing it for a long time, but would like to take a close look at how the pros do it — and let’s face it, you probably won’t do that on your own!

• You dabble in personal essay writing, but could use some accountability, guidance, inspiration, motivation, and/or someone to light a proverbial sparkler under you.

This class takes place on Wednesdays from 12 to 1:15 p.m. ET, starting on July 29 and running through August 19.

All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and are accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance and participation at a majority of class sessions is strongly encouraged.

Instructor Bio: Narratively executive editor Jesse Sposato is a longtime journalist, essayist and editor living in the Catskills. She has written about feminism, friendship, adolescence, culture, parenting and more for a variety of outlets, including Vanity Fair, InStyle, Slate, Gloria, The Rumpus, Memoir Land, The Bump and many others. At Narratively, she edits the Personals section, and has worked on many of the stories 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, Vermont Studio Center and Wildacres. She is currently working on a collection of essays about coming of age in the suburbs, discovering punk rock and being boy crazy.

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.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

More: Check out all of our Narratively Academy online writing classes here.

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Our popular month-long prompts courses are designed to help you break through writer’s block and generate lots of ideas for your memoir writing. Developed by Narratively Chief Submissions Reader Amy Barnes, these self-guided classes help you figure out what you really want to write and how to get it started. Next month, we’re focused on family.

Everyone has family issues to write about…and we all put it off, because it’s too hard too complicated, or we just don’t know how to write about the people closest to us. This new course is designed to help you find inspiration, focus your memories, and introduce ways to write about the people and relationships in (and out) of your life. The prompts will help you find your own unique storytelling appro…

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In this brand new workshop with cultural critic Alizah Salario, you’ll learn how to identify compelling cultural entry points, develop your own perspective, and craft essays that engage with the conversations happening around us right now. If you’ve ever read an essay about a current cultural trend or moment and thought, I wish I’d written that, this class may be for you. Class takes places tomorrow, Wednesday, July 15 at 1pm ET and we have just a few seats left, so if you’d like to join, sign up now!

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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.

Cost: $325

Class Size Limit: 15

Paid subscribers to Narratively Academy get 20% off all classes, including this one. If you already are a paid subscriber, scroll down to the bottom of the page to get the paid subscriber promo code. Or click here to become a paid subscriber today.

One of the hardest things we can do as personal essayists is to be vulnerable in our writing. It’s also one of the most important. Being able to admit on paper our flaws, fears, mistakes, failures, embarrassing thoughts for all the world to see can be, well, very, very difficult. In this analysis-meets-generative class, we are going to look head-on at how some of the most successful authors write vulnerably in their own work, how they talk about it, what it means to write vulnerably when others are involved (often people we love!) and what we’re so afraid of.

We will do this through close readings of several exceptional essays from some of the top writers of today and yesterday — from authors such as Roxane Gay, Brian Doyle, Kiese Laymon, Meredith Hall, Meghan Daum and more — as well as craft pieces and author interviews. In class, we will discuss and analyze our readings, and then to give our learnings a test-spin — and because we’re writers who like to write! — we will end each class with a generative writing exercise and optional share aloud.

This class will meet four times this summer, on Wednesdays, from 12-1:15 p.m. ET, starting July 29 and running through August 19.

In this class, we will work to answer questions like:

• What does it mean to write vulnerably?

• How can we write vulnerably, well?

• What does it mean to write vulnerably when other people are involved (often people we love)?

• What are we so afraid of when we write vulnerably, anyway?

• Does vulnerability have to be shocking and/or controversial?

This class is right for you if…

• You write personal essays and wish to go deeper, but aren’t sure how.

• You’re new to essay writing or you’ve been doing it for a long time, but would like to take a close look at how the pros do it — and let’s face it, you probably won’t do that on your own!

• You dabble in personal essay writing, but could use some accountability, guidance, inspiration, motivation, and/or someone to light a proverbial sparkler under you.

This class takes place on Wednesdays from 12 to 1:15 p.m. ET, starting on July 29 and running through August 19.

All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and are accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance and participation at a majority of class sessions is strongly encouraged.

Instructor Bio: Narratively executive editor Jesse Sposato is a longtime journalist, essayist and editor living in the Catskills. She has written about feminism, friendship, adolescence, culture, parenting and more for a variety of outlets, including Vanity Fair, InStyle, Slate, Gloria, The Rumpus, Memoir Land, The Bump and many others. At Narratively, she edits the Personals section, and has worked on many of the stories 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, Vermont Studio Center and Wildacres. She is currently working on a collection of essays about coming of age in the suburbs, discovering punk rock and being boy crazy.

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.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

More: Check out all of our Narratively Academy online writing classes here.

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In this three-part class, author 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.

Students will come to the first session having read a few contemporary essays, and together, we will examine the structure of those essays as well as other classic nonfiction texts. You will learn unconventional structures, including those explored in Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode, and how the structure adds to the piece as a whole.

In the second session, you will consider the story you are trying to tell, figure out your current structure, and begin a practice exercise for revising a work of shorter or longer nonfiction to understand improvements to your structure.

The third session is a 20-minute one-on-one with the instructor to discuss specific questions and challenges you are facing and work through your structure.

This is a small class with just 10 seats, and every student will have a chance to discuss their own project and get feedback. As of right now there are just three seats left.

Sign Up

Cost: $275

Class Size Limit: 10

Paid subscribers to Narratively Academy get 20% off all classes, including this one. If you already are a paid subscriber, scroll down to the bottom of the page to get the paid subscriber promo code. Or click here to become a paid subscriber today.

This class is right for you if…

• You’ve been working on a shorter or longer piece of nonfiction or memoir and are struggling with structure.

• You’ve published nonfiction writing and want to explore more unconventional forms and shapes in your writing .

• You’re working on a longer piece and feel you need to organize it in a more compelling manner.

Sign Up

The first two sessions of this class take place on Monday, July 6 and Monday, July 13 at 7pm ET. The third session will be a one-on-one meeting for 20 minutes, scheduled on Monday, July 20.

All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and are accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance and participation is strongly encouraged.

Instructor Bio: Kristina R. Gaddy is the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History and Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis. Her essay in Narratively about Jewish teenagers before WWII won the American Society of Journalists and Authors 2022 Best Reported Essay. Her essay “Intersection Landscapes” appears in the anthology A Harp in the Stars (Nebraska 2021) and her personal writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Museum of Americana and Fearsome Critters. She is one of the editors of true, a literary journal that explores the craft of nonfiction. She lives in Baltimore and has taught writing locally and presented about nonfiction craft at national writing conferences.

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.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

More: Check out all of our Narratively Academy online writing classes here.

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Narratively Chief Submissions Reader Amy Barnes’ popular “30 Days, 30 Essay Prompts” class has given hundreds of writers a full month of inspiration and generative ideas. Now her new month-long course, “31 Days, 31 Revision Prompts: A Month of Self-Editing Your Essays,” uses a similar format to guide you in self-editing and polishing your drafts, whether you wrote them last week or years ago.

This self-guided course is designed to help you tighten, strengthen, expand and contract your own essays or memoir. The course will help you add depth and background, make your narration shine, be more active with your word choices — in short, take what you’ve already written and prepare it for potential publication.

Learn More + Sign Up

First, a quick reminder for those of you who are looking to double down and write all summer long: we still have a few spots open for the summer session of the 2026 Narratively Book Incubator, our year-long mentorship program featuring close guidance from acclaimed authors and a supportive community of fellow writers.

Here’s a first look at what else is coming to Narratively Academy this summer.

Advanced Craft Workshop: Finding Your Structure

Finding structure is one of the hardest parts of writing nonfiction. You may have all the scenes, all the memories, all the reporting… but how do you turn it into a compelling narrative that readers can’t put down? In this small-group workshop, award-winning author helps writers solve exactly that problem. Through close feedback and practical exercises, you’ll learn how to identify the shape of your story and build a structure that supports its emotional and narrative arc.

This intimate workshop for just 10 writers has become one of our most beloved — and fastest-selling — classes, so we’re excited to offer a new session starting very soon!

Learn More + Sign Up

Writing the Zeitgeist: Weaving Pop Culture and Politics Into Timely Essays

Some of the most powerful essays published today use a seemingly small cultural moment — a television show, a celebrity, a trend, a viral news story — to illuminate something much larger about the world we live in. But how do you write these pieces in a way that feels insightful rather than reactive? How do you connect the personal, political, and cultural in ways that resonate with readers?

In this brand new workshop with cultural critic , you’ll learn how to identify compelling cultural entry points, develop your own perspective, and craft essays that engage with the conversations happening around us right now. If you’ve ever read an essay about a current cultural trend or moment and thought, I wish I’d written that, this class may be for you.

Learn More + Sign Up

The Art of Crónica: How to Write Immersive, Voice-Driven Nonfiction

Crónica — a form of immersive literary journalism that blends reporting, memoir, history, and personal voice — has produced some of the most vibrant and unforgettable nonfiction in the world. Yet it’s still an under-appreciated form among many English-language writers.

In this 4-week workshop led by an accomplished Argentine journalist Javier Sinay, winner of the Gabriel García Márquez Award for Journalism, you’ll explore the rich traditions of crónica and learn how to bring more voice, immersion, and emotional depth to your own nonfiction.

Our first session of this class sold out quickly, and we received so much wonderful feedback from writers that we knew we had to bring it back for another round.

Learn More + Sign Up

Using Monologues to Power Your Memoir

Writing only one side of a narrative offers an evocative opening, a place for the audience to engage by filling in what is left unsaid. Tension soars, and the stakes increase. Monologues are widely used in advertising, theater, film, poetry and song lyrics. Yet this powerful form of expression is often forgotten when writing personal essays and memoirs.

This intensive workshop led by explores innovative methods to heighten your memoir writing through the use of monologue. Through fun and interactive exploration, writers will learn to refine and redefine their craft, distilling scenes into their succinct essence.

Learn More + Sign Up

And finally, a reminder that we have two more self-guided prompts classes coming up this summer.

July: 31 Days, 31 Revision Prompts: A Month of Self-Editing Your Essays

So you’ve written some essay drafts—maybe even a lot of drafts—but now what? Does the idea of revision and editing strike fear in your creative heart? That’s natural, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This self-guided course is designed to help you tighten, strengthen, expand and contract your essays or memoir. It will help you add depth and background, make your narration shine, be more active with your word choices — in short, take what you’ve already written and prepare it for potential publication. Daily exercises and prompts include creating a narrator personality chart, finding the most resonant starting/point of your essay, and identifying ways to make your writing more active. The overall goal is to provide you with a self-editing toolbox of techniques you can use to polish your current drafts and perfect future essays.

Learn More + Sign Up

August: 30 Days, 30 Prompts For Writing About Family and Relationships

Everyone has family issues to write about…and we all put it off, because it’s too hard too complicated, or we just don’t know how to write about the people closest to us. This new course is designed to help you find inspiration, focus your memories, and introduce ways to write about the people and relationships in (and out) of your life. The prompts will help you find your own unique storytelling approach to essays about your family members, and your relationships with them and other people.

Learn More + Sign Up

Questions about any of these classes? Drop us a line at academy@narratively.com.

We’d love to write with you this summer!

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 explore what acting, directing, and improv have to teach us as writers. 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!

Class takes place this Saturday, June 27 and there are just 3 seats left, so if you want to join, be sure to g…

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What is the Narratively Book Incubator?

It’s a chance for small groups of 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 Summer Session?

This session is for writers who have made substantial progress on their book and want to develop all the tools and confidence needed to help you stay on track as you reach the finish line—and yes, start the daunting but rewarding process of revising.

You don’t need to be at any particular word-count or chapter-mark in your writing process in order to join; as long as you’re at the place where you’ve written a substantial part of the book and want the guidance and accountability to get it finished. In biweekly group lessons and monthly office hours with the instructor, you’ll assess your progress and zero in on how to hone your manuscript.

When does the section for new writers meet?

Our section for new writers starting in Summer, led by Claire Rudy Foster, takes place on Thursdays from 7pm to 8:30pm ET on the following days:

• July 9, July 23, August 6, August 20, September 3

This section will be limited to just 6 new writers.

Can I join one of the other sections?

Our other sections are currently waitlist-only, but we may have one or two spots open up.

• Shawna Kenney: Mondays 5:30pm to 7pm ET

  July 6, July 20, August 10, August 17, August 31

• Kern Carter: Tuesdays, 1pm to 2:30pm ET

  July 7, July 21, August 4, August 18, Sep. 1

• Audrey Clare Farley: Wednesdays 7pm to 8:30p.m. ET

  July 8, July 22, August 5, August 19, Sep. 2

• Claire Rudy Foster: Sundays 12pm to 1:30pm ET

  July 12, July 26, August 9, August 23, August 30

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 and make sure you’ve read the full program description. Then fill out our Writer Intake Form and we’ll reach out ASAP.

What if I’m still not sure?

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!

Learn More + Sign Up

This class is now sold out. To join the advance wait list for a future session, email academy@narratively.com

Cost: $95

Class Size Limit: 15

If you’re a voracious consumer of culture and find yourself obsessing over the latest literary, cinematic, or streaming sensation (or flop), then this course is for you. We'll discuss what cultural trends reveal — about our society, our fractured political moment, and even our human impulses and desires — and how to write about them.

This two-hour participatory intensive is led by experienced writing teacher and cultural critic , whose essays, op-eds and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, The Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. You’ll learn how to alchemize the raw ingredients of creative passion, meaning, and obsession into a cohesive essay concept that you can execute with clarity and confidence. Whether you're an extremely online writer or an analog artist, a pop culture generalist or a niche obsessive (say, Taylor Swift’s lyrics or the generational trauma in Succession) this course is for you.

Through lively discussion and guided exercises, you’ll turn inspiration into a concrete essay idea with a clear point of view.

During this two-hour intensive, you will:

• Analyze a piece of cultural criticism for structure and tone

• Unpack the meaning and importance of voice

• Learn to differentiate a review and cultural criticism

• Discuss how art, humor and satire are potent forms of resistance

• Explore the process of honing expansive, fertile ideas

• Scaffold examples that will serve as essay building blocks

This is the right class for you if…

• You find deep satisfaction in thinking, talking, and writing about pop culture or high art that moves you.

• You know you have important things to say and want to find the right way to frame them.

• You have taken a stab at cultural essays before and want to learn more about how to frame them in a way that will help you get published.

This 2-hour online class takes place on Wednesday, June 15 from 1pm to 3pm 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.

Instructor Bio: Writer, editor and teacher Alizah Salario has been telling stories for over 20 years. Her current (and constant) cultural obsessions include RENT, satirical fiction, the -90s, female ambition, When Harry Met Sally, mominfluencers, all-girl bands, novels about mothers on the verge, identity and the politics of fashion. Her essays, op-eds and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, The Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. A graduate of the Columbia J-School, Alizah was a longtime editor for local and legacy media, with roles at CNBC, Stacker Media, Time Inc. and more. Currently, she’s teaching and working on a novel about resistance and rebellion during WWII. You can find her semi-regular musings on Substack at Alizah Explains It All.

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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In this intimate six-week workshop class, Sara will guide writers through how to approach 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.

If this sounds like the class you’ve been waiting for, don’t wait any longer! Class starts this Thursday, June 11 and there are just two remaining seats available.

Learn More + Sign Up

Jeff’s incredible story, The Man Who Got America High, appeared in Narratively and was optioned by Fox Searchlight, and his story about the McDonald’s Monopoly fraud became the subject of a historic bidding war, won by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for a record $1 million. With more articles in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and many other publications—30+ of which in development for film and television—Jeff has been called “the most optioned writer working today”—after Stephen King.

He also happens to be a very nice and relatable guy, which you’ll see in the video above!

Jeff’s new course, Magazine to Movie—How to Write True Stories That Get Optioned, is a true masterclass. This 10-part self-guided course is available for you to dive into any time. It encompasses:

• Over two hours of video workshops and lessons

• Handouts, sample structures, reading lists and more

• Detailed interviews with Jeff about the business of publishing.

As you make your way through the 10 chapters, you’ll work through the full arc of long-form narrative nonfiction: how to find a story worth telling, how to research it with the rigor of an investigator, how to structure it so it moves like a film, how to pitch it to editors, and how to protect your intellectual property when the entertainment industry takes notice.

By the time you finish this class, you’ll have a framework for finding your next story, the tools to structure it with cinematic precision, and a clear understanding of how to pitch, protect, and option your work to the entertainment industry.

Cost: $200

Sign Up

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

This class is right for…

• Magazine writers hoping to turn their work into film and television

• Journalists ready to write longer, more ambitious pieces

• Authors who need to know how the entertainment industry works

• Anyone who wants to write stories that belong on the big (or small) screen.

  Sign Up

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the 10 chapters of this course.

Chapter 1: Find Blockbuster Ideas

• Unearth forgotten stories using surprising research methods

• Turn a small historical newspaper story into an irresistible longform hit

• Learn how a single question can unlock incredible local legends hiding in plain sight

Chapter 2: Research Like A Pro

• Hunt through courthouse transcripts and newspaper archives

• Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to make PDF documents searchable

• Set up a bulletproof evidence recording system

Chapter 3: Organize Your Sources

• Build a serial number system for every source and an archive that makes fact-checking straight-forward

• Create a phone log to track every call, wrong number, and voicemail

• Handle foreign language sources quickly and accurately

Chapter 4: The Art Of Cinematic Writing

• Apply fascinating narrative structures to make non-fiction stories feel as fun as fiction

• Transform any true story into a cinematic experience with clear acts and narrative turning points

• Understand the power of the midpoint

Chapter 5: Simplify Your Schedule

• Use simple spreadsheets and Gantt charts to break 10,000-word stories into manageable daily targets

• Write with forward momentum and create drafts without backtracking

• Avoid writer’s block and blank page paralysis

Chapter 6: Get Your Facts Straight

• Build your story structure with facts BEFORE writing a single word

• Annotate every quote and fact with footnotes as you go

• How to stop fact-checking becoming a nightmare

Chapter 7: Self-Edit Longform Stories

• How to avoid your words feeling familiar during long projects

• Use the highlighter method to track dates and characters

• Apply the “30-word cut” rule and the “week off” technique—plus how to use beta readers

Chapter 8: A New Way To Pitch

• How to write pitches that grab any editor’s attention

• How to use screenwriting techniques to write a killer pitch

• How to overcome pitch frustration

Chapter 9: Fight For Your Rights

• Learn to negotiate with publishers for favorable IP rights

• Understand “work made for hire” red flags

• How to self-publish when necessary to retain 100% ownership

Chapter 10: How Film/TV Options Work

• Decode complicated Hollywood deal structures

• Navigate royalties, spin-offs, sequels, and merchandise rights—and other hidden compensation

• Get the insider’s guide to option agreements

Sign Up

Registration Details: This is a self-guided class. After signing up, you’ll receive a link to access the full course materials, which you can navigate at your own pace.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

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Speaking about dishing dirt…what if you could turn your old diary entries into publish-ready memoir stories…or even a book? Many of us know we have a memoir or a series of essays buried in our journals. But where to begin?

The next edition of one of our most popular classes, From Journal to Memoir: How to Turn Your Side Scrawls Into Literary Gold, starts this Sunday, June 7 and there are still a few seats left. 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 , you’ll learn how to identify the through line in your work, structure a compelling memoir, and begin turning fragments into a cohesive, book-length project.

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I can’t believe June is almost here already, which means we have not one but two classes starting on Monday. The first is our in-person photography class, led by veteran photojournalist Ben Fractenberg and taking place in NYC. There are still a few spots left in that one, so grab a seat now if you want to join.

The second is 30 Days, 30 Essay Prompts: A Month of Generating Inspiration and Ideas for Memoir. This fun self-guided class is made for you if you know you have revealing and relatable stories to share, but you rarely find the time in your busy schedule to write — and when you do, you catch yourself staring at that dastardly blinking cursor on the white screen and just can’t find a way to start. This June is the time to break those habits, get moving on your writing and never look back.

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Now, onto prompts… Some of our most popular offerings over the past year have been our month-long prompts courses, which are designed to help you break through writer’s block and generate lots of ideas for your memoir writing. Developed by Narratively Chief Submissions Reader , these self-guided classes help you figure out what you really want to write and how to get it started. We’ve had a lot of requests to offer our original prompts course again—and to debut some brand-new prompts for those who’ve already completed the first course. Ask and ye shall receive! In June, we have the original 30 Days, 30 Prompts class for those who haven’t had a chance to take it yet; July is all about prompts for self-editing your work; and August is our next brand new prompts class, focused on writing about family and relationships. These classes are self-guided and you can complete the prompts at your own pace, so it’s totally doable to sign up if you’re traveling this summer and not available every single day.

June: 30 Days, 30 Essay Prompts: A Month of Generating Inspiration and Ideas for Memoir

We’ve all been there. You know you have revealing and relatable stories to share, but you rarely find the time in your busy schedule to write — and when you do, you catch yourself staring at that dastardly blinking cursor on the white screen and just can’t find a way to start. June is the time to break those habits, get moving on your writing and never look back. Every day, you’ll receive a short personal essay or two to read, paired with a related prompt to inspire your own writing. You’ll set aside a few minutes of your day to respond to that prompt and, if you choose to, share a short piece of writing with a supportive and encouraging community of writers.

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July: 31 Days, 31 Revision Prompts: A Month of Self-Editing Your Essays

OK, so you’ve written some essay drafts—maybe even a lot of drafts—but now what? Does the idea of revision and editing strike fear in your creative heart? That’s natural, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This self-guided course is designed to help you tighten, strengthen, expand and contract your essays or memoir. It will help you add depth and background, make your narration shine, be more active with your word choices — in short, take what you’ve already written and prepare it for potential publication. Daily exercises and prompts include creating a narrator personality chart, finding the most resonant starting/point of your essay, and identifying ways to make your writing more active. The overall goal is to provide you with a self-editing toolbox of techniques you can use to polish your current drafts and perfect future essays.

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August: 30 Days, 30 Prompts For Writing About Family and Relationships

And here’s the brand new one! Everyone has family issues to write about…and we all put it off, because it’s too hard too complicated, or we just don’t know how to write about the people closest to us. This new course is designed to help you find inspiration, focus your memories, and introduce ways to write about the people and relationships in (and out) of your life. The prompts will help you find your own unique storytelling approach to essays about your family members, and your relationships with them and other people.

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Cost: $95

This August is the time to find a new relationship with your writing, about family and relationships. Narratively Chief Submissions Reader Amy Barnes’ popular “30 Days, 30 Prompts” classes have given hundreds of writers a full month of inspiration and generative work. This new month-long course uses a similar format to guide you in writing about your family and relationships — from parents to marriages to children, best friends to colleagues.

This self-guided course is designed to help you find inspiration, focus your memories, and introduce ways to write about the people and relationships in (and out) of your life. The course will help you find your own unique storytelling approach to essays about your family members, and your relationships with them and other people.

For six days each week, you’ll receive a short piece or two to read. The inspiration story might be a short personal essay or memoir, piece of fiction, poetry, a craft article, or a news story. That reading will be paired with a prompt/thoughts to hopefully inspire you to write about your own interpersonal relationships or family. The last day of each week will be set aside for looking more closely at what you’ve worked on or read during the week, and to catch up with any prompts you’ve missed. You can interact with the community if you want, reading their posts and offering light feedback or, if you prefer, you can work on the prompts all offline.

This is not an overly time-consuming class. The idea is to set aside half-an-hour each day to focus on your writing. You aren’t required to participate every day; the goal is to challenge yourself to write as much as you can. You might write just a few sentences, or when you’re inspired, much more.

The overall goal is to provide you with inspiration and guidance. And along the way, you’ll also expand your knowledge of potential publication options to submit to, via the daily readings. We’ll also take a look at ways to approach writing essays that may be more personal or sensitive, how to include/not include information about relatives/partners/children, using a pen name, or fictionalizing your nonfiction account of events

This is a self-guided class. You have the option to share your daily writing with the group and respond to your peers’ work, but there are no live meetings or feedback from instructors.

This class is right for you if …

• You have essays ideas that you’ve struggled to write because they’re about people close to you.

• You have interesting life experiences that you want to share, but you’re not sure if your essay drafts will resonate with readers and editors.

• You want directed readings and inspiring prompts on ways to approach tough topics, family dynamics, life experiences, or interpersonal relationships.

By the end of this class you’ll be ready to…

• Finish and submit multiple personal essays this year, and/or move forward on your full-length memoir.

This is a 30-day self-guided prompt-based class, running from August 1 to August 31, 2026. Students can work at their own pace, at a time of their choosing, and are not required to write every day.

Instructor Bio: A Narratively editorial team member for the past eight years, Amy Barnes stepped into the new role of chief submission reader in 2024. Her third collection of fiction and essays, Child Craft, was published by Belle Point Press in September 2023. She has read over 2,500 essay submissions for Narratively, along with nonfiction and memoir stories as a reader and editor for sites and presses including Fractured Lit, Craft, The Porch TN, The MacGuffin, Orison Books, Ruby and Gone Lawn. She taught online courses for over 20 years for JER Group. Her own essays and creative nonfiction have appeared in many publications: McSweeney’s, JMWW Journal, SmokeLong Quarterly, Southern Living, Allrecipes, Motherly, Romper, Reckon Review, Simplemost, Forbes, Fodor’s, AARP, Business Insider, The Lonely Crowd, and others. She’s also been nominated for writing awards, including Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize, was included in Best Small Fiction 2022, and longlisted for the Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions from 2021 through 2025

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.

Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.

More: Check out all of our Narratively Academy online writing classes here.

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This brand new class is a six-week intensive aimed at making sure you have the tools you need to actually finish that book proposal, draft that troublesome chapter in your novel or memoir, or finish that screenplay — all without having AI write a single word.

Jay’s spent years developing his Socratic AI method that turns Claude or ChatGPT into a tailor-made thought partner for writers around the world, and in this class, you’ll be motivated like never before to finish your work with a community of fellow writers.

Class starts Monday, May 18 and you can sign up now!

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is one of the leading thinkers and writers in this burgeoning field. She’s been teaching university courses for over fifteen years that focus on the religious roots of racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism, and she’s written two books of her own about evangelical purity culture: Virgin Nation and After Purity.

We’re very fortunate to have Sara on hand this spring to teach a brand new Narratively Academy class on Writing About Religious Trauma.

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.

Learn more and sign up here.

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