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Personal Essay – Fall II ’26
Develop, write, edit, and publish!
Got a personal story you’re eager to share? Need help starting? Join our hands-on introduction to crafting and submitting personal essays.
What is the personal essay? It’s a first-person narrative, typically between 900 and 1,500 words, that many publications feature. Additionally, this format creates excellent opportunities for getting published, from literary journals to popular guest writer slots in Huffpost, The New York Times, Slate, Salon, and others.
During the first two weeks, we examine successful essays to uncover their effective techniques while we develop our pitches, identify target venues, and begin drafting our stories. Then, we spend the final four weeks workshopping and revising these pieces. Consequently, you’ll finish with an engaging, publishable personal essay ready for submission.
Throughout these six weeks, you learn:
- How personal stories become universal and compelling
- Techniques for creating attention-grabbing pitches that editors notice
- Methods to develop your unique voice and writer “brand”
Join Personal Essay and transform your personal experiences into a polished, submission-ready piece!
Price range: $250.00 through $275.00
A good personal essay offers the reader a chance to peer inside another person’s head and live vicariously through them, if only for a moment. I like to think of the personal essay as a “mini memoir.” Like a memoir, a good essay can travel far, and sometimes stay with you forever.
Mark McDevitt is a writer and screenwriter with the Writers Guild of America. His written work has appeared in The New York Times (Modern Love, “Best of” Anthology), The Sunday Independent, The Examiner, Giant Magazine, Body + Soul, The Iconoclast and many others. He has written over a dozen feature film scripts and more than a few TV pilots and treatments. In 2007, he was a finalist for the Disney Fellowship in writing, and is a three-time semifinalist for the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting awarded every year by AMPAS. He is passionate about biography and history, and believes that inside every person is a natural-born storyteller, just waiting to be released. Together with his wife, he is the co-author of the book Painting With Scissors. They live in Fair Haven, New Jersey, with their two young sons. You can find him at markmcdevitt.net.
Watch Mark’s video to learn more about his Personal Essay class.
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Project Write Now offers no refunds or credits once registered, except in the unfortunate case a class or event is cancelled. We reserve the right to change instructors if necessary. We reserve the right to cancel, postpone, or reschedule any class, workshop, or event because of low enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. Contact us at info@projectwritenow.org or call 908.675.0467 for more information. Please note that when you register for a class you are reserving one of a limited number of spots available. Your registration also counts toward our consideration of class minimums.
Our organization was founded to help amplify the voices of those who are often not heard—including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other historically marginalized groups. We have witnessed how writing and sharing stories has the power to effect change by generating greater love, compassion, and empathy in the listener. In all of our programs, we provide an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming environment. We do not tolerate writing and/or behavior that perpetuates harmful stereotypes or fuels hate. Failure to align with our philosophy can result in your removal from class.