The art of writing the personal essay
Time: 10:30 - 16:30
Location: Online
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
Choose a start date
- Course Code: HW504
- Dates: 16/02/25 - 16/02/25
- Time: 10:30 - 16:30
- Taught: Sun, Daytime
- Duration: 1 session
- Location: Online
- Tutor: Erica Buist
Course Code: HW504
Choose a start date
Duration: 1 session
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
This course explores the key considerations when writing the personal essay in relation to tone, perspective, language and structure.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone can be used if you don't have a computer but please note the experience may be less optimal.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
- What kind of experiences lend themselves to the personal essay.
- Establishing tone and perspective in the personal essay.
- Using language and structure for effect in the personal essay.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Select material from their personal experience for use in an essay.
- Experiment with using tone or perspective for effect in the personal essay.
- Experiment with using language or structure for effect in the personal essay.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This is an introductory course but an understanding of basic language techniques used in creative writing would be of benefit.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
You will be a taught through a mix of tutor instruction, writing exercises general discussion of approaches, issues and skills in pairs, groups or as a class. There will also be some analysis of example essays written by a range of authors.
All writing courses at City Lit will involve an element of workshop. This means that students will produce work which will be discussed in an open and constructive environment with the tutor and other students. The college operates a policy of constructive criticism, and all feedback on another student’s work by the tutor and other students should be delivered in that spirit.
For classes longer than one day regular reading and writing exercises will be set for completion at home to set deadlines.
City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Please bring writing materials with you.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit runs a wide variety of autobiographical writing courses. For further information please browse our website.
All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Twitter.
Erica Buist has been writing features for the Guardian for over a decade. A memoir piece she wrote for Guardian Weekend ended up forming the basis for the first chapter of her debut book, This Party’s Dead. She has worked as a playwright for various theatre companies, an writer/ interviewer for the charity St Mungo’s, and is now working on her first novel. Erica has taught journalism at various universities including Cambridge, Goldsmiths, Lincoln, Exeter and Keele, and has led numerous courses with Guardian Masterclasses.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.