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Writing Personal Essays That Get Noticed and Published

ESTELLE ERASMUS

Writing Personal Essays That Get Noticed and Published

ESTELLE ERASMUS

$599.99

01/22/2026 - 04/16/2026

Enroll Now

Writing a compelling personal essay requires clarity, structure, and emotional movement—the transformation that happens between the beginning and the end. In this foundational course, participants learn how to turn lived experience into vivid, publishable narrative by developing story, selecting the right structure, and crafting scenes that resonate.

Through lessons, examples, guided exercises, and instructor feedback, you’ll gain the tools to create essays with strong openings, clear throughlines, and meaningful change. You’ll also learn the key distinctions between personal essay and memoir, how to identify the heart of your story, and how to begin shaping work suitable for publication.

Throughout the course, students work with guided readings and exercises from Writing That Gets Noticed, which provides a practical, contemporary framework for developing strong personal essays.

$599.99

01/22/2026 - 04/16/2026

Enroll Now

Writing a compelling personal essay requires clarity, structure, and emotional movement—the transformation that happens between the beginning and the end. In this foundational course, participants learn how to turn lived experience into vivid, publishable narrative by developing story, selecting the right structure, and crafting scenes that resonate.

Through lessons, examples, guided exercises, and instructor feedback, you’ll gain the tools to create essays with strong openings, clear throughlines, and meaningful change. You’ll also learn the key distinctions between personal essay and memoir, how to identify the heart of your story, and how to begin shaping work suitable for publication.

Throughout the course, students work with guided readings and exercises from Writing That Gets Noticed, which provides a practical, contemporary framework for developing strong personal essays.

Course outline

Course outline

This is a 12-week course with essays submitted every other week. Each of the six sessions includes reading assignments, a written lecture, creative exercises to further your learning, and a writing assignment to turn in for personalized feedback from your instructor. You'll also gain access to a curated list of submission venues to help move your work into the world. Please note: due to the extensive personal attention each student will receive, this course has a limit of 8 students per session.

Meet the instructor

Estelle Erasmus

Estelle Erasmus is a 2025 TEDx Speaker, award-winning writing professor at New York University, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published, named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers. An award-winning journalist, she has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Next Avenue/PBS, HuffPost, Business Insider, Marie Claire, WIRED, AARP the Magazine, and more. Her essays for the New York Times and Washington Post have gone globally viral, and she has appeared on Good Morning America, Fox News, and her work has been mentioned on The View.

She hosts the award-winning Freelance Writing Direct podcast and teaches memoir and personal essay writing for Writer’s Digest and NYU. Estelle is currently writing a memoir based on her years as the “Dating Diva” in the 1990s and early 2000s magazine world.

Find her at estelleserasmus.com, on Substack at estelleserasmus.substack.com, and on social media at @EstelleSErasmus (Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, and Bluesky).

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