- $425
Essay Incubator
- Starts Jul 26
This class is for you if you want to write a personal essay that explores a challenging topic. It’s also for you if you want to experiment with hybrid nonfiction forms.
Have you lived through something that caused you to change your mind, appearance, residence, overall outlook on the state of the world? Do you want to develop your ideas into an essay collection, memoir, or work of longform journalism? Are you curious about testing the limits of autofiction? In this three-week class, we’ll discuss all of the above as well as the mental and emotional stumbling blocks that can make writing nonfiction feel challenging.
This class will focus on resilience-building and goal-setting in the writing process. There will be generative writing exercises, lectures, and peer feedback opportunities.
Schedule
July 26, 10:30-11:30 PT: Class #1
August 2 10:30-11:30 PT: Class #2
August 9 10:30-11:30 PT: Class #3
About Your Teacher
Rafael Frumkin is the author of two novels – Confidence and The Comedown – and a short story collection, Bugsy. Her essays and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Believer and The Point, and she’s at work on a third novel about gender and deception in a small-town cult. She can be followed on Substack at The Cosmic Cheeto.
— kate davis jones
ghostwriter at Truancy Writing and writer of Recurrent Concussion
“Raf gave me excellent editorial review, but her insight goes beyond craft. She understands how art and life intersect and influence each other, and offered me laser-focused exercises to help me unstick myself in both. Thank you for kindly and honestly pushing me to nurture my own voice!”
— Claire
writer of Irreplicable
“Raf is so helpful and smart. She has pushed me to develop my voice. She gave me the confidence to write creatively in directions that I wouldn’t have been brave enough to pursue without her encouragement!”
FAQ section
Frequently asked questions
Does this class include a traditional workshop?
No, this class is about as far from the Iowa-style fishbowl workshop as you can get! We focus on craft by focusing on fear and resistance to the idea that our projects can and will get written – feelings that have notoriously not been helped by the formal workshop setting! Instead of workshopping, we’ll focus on craft through process writings, problem-solving, and connecting with other like-minded writers.
What are process writings?
A process writing is like a journal entry where you write about your writing. Another way of thinking about it is like an interview question about your body of work: What are the themes that preoccupy you most right now? You say the character you’re writing is an “upside-down version” of yourself – what does that mean? What sort of essay do you think millennial readers most need to read right now? In your opinion, where does the “hot take” end and real criticism begin? These are all questions we may have answers to, but don’t trust ourselves to answer because we think we lack the credentials to be “experts.” But the plain fact is that we’re all experts on our own work, and treating ourselves that way is how it gets written!
Are there any genre, topic, or style expectations for this class?
None whatsoever! You can write realism or sci-fi in the novel incubator! You can write journalism, hybrid criticism, or memoir in the essay incubator! You can incorporate other mediums like original art or photography into your work! You can write about topics heavy, light, controversial, uncontroversial, and everything in between. All is welcome; nothing is recoiled at.
What do you mean by a “goal-oriented” writing class?
By this I mean that the only expectations for entry into this class are that you have a project in mind and a sense of what you’d like to do with it. I want to write film criticism, and I want to eventually collect six of my essays into a book, or I want to write a dystopian romance novel and pitch it to my favorite small press. This class will help you break your goal(s) down into manageable, actionable steps and make real headway towards their achievement!
What if I want to keep on working with you longer-term after the class is over?
I would love that! I often have classes end and students ask to opt into coaching modules and manuscript evaluations. If you become a Founding Member at my Substack this year, you’ll get half-off all my services – classes, coaching, manuscript evaluations – plus your first two coaching sessions free!