Unbound: Teen Creative Writing

Unbound: Teen Creative Writing

Unbound: Teen Creative Writing happens in either a span of 4 weeks (NYC, Zoom), or 6 weeks (NYC, Zoom, Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to students age 13-17. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.

Unleash your creativity as a writer, while learning the tricks of the trade. You have the freedom to write what you want (prose fiction or nonfiction), but you also gain the discipline of writing craft.

There are no grades, no exams, no wrong answers—just creative writing. Each class is taught by a teacher adept at helping young writers discover and develop their unique voices. The idea is to explore—see with a writer’s eyes, spark ideas to life, gain confidence, and experiment with both fiction and nonfiction.

Better writers produce stronger college applications, and an extracurricular writing class is an impressive addition to any profile. When you know how to express yourself well with words, you’ve got a special power.

About Unbound: Teen Creative Writing
Unbound: Teen Creative Writing

Not only were the assignments fun, but I also learned a TON from them! The best part about it was when my teacher gave me comments and hints on how my writing could be better. Those comments really helped me when I wrote anything else.

Laura McKeeman

student

Notes

For NYC and Zoom, this course is offered as a 6-week class (with 3-hour sessions), and also as a 4-week class in the summer (with two 2-hour sessions per week).

Upcoming Classes NYC COVID Info

Masks are not required, but we’ll provide masks for those who want them. We are no longer requesting proof of vaccination.

More Covid details
  • Starts Tuesday, April 16
    Online, anytime
    6-Week Class
  • Starts Tuesday, June 11
    Online, anytime
    6-Week Class
  • Starts Monday, July 8
    Zoom, 2pm – 4pm ET
    4-Week Class

Price

Registration fee $25, paid once per term

6-Week
4-Week

Syllabus

 This course lets you explore fiction and types of creative nonfiction, and the techniques that go with them. Course components:
     Lectures
     Writing exercises

New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.

Online classes 
Week 1
OIL: The importance of having fun with writing. Exploration of the cornerstones of creative writing—observation, imagination, language.

Week 2
Show and Tell: Understanding the difference between showing and telling. Techniques for showing—sensory, specificity, scenes.

Week 3
Individuality: The power of a journal. Writing what you know. Writing what you want to know. Finding your individual voice.

Week 4
Fiction: The types and forms of fiction. Where to find fiction ideas. The basics of creating a story—characters, plot, point of view.

Week 5
Nonfiction: Exploration of three types of creative nonfiction writing—memoir, personal essays, narrative nonfiction. Where to find nonfiction ideas.

Week 6
Getting Better: Good habits. Battling the blank page. Revision. Reading as a writer. Reasons to write.

Note: Content may vary among individual classes.

Teachers

Erica Magrin
Erica Magrin

Erica Magrin has published short stories and essays in Aphros, Our Town, and Teen Ink, among others. Her play Make Believe was produced and staged at the Bridge Theater and the American Theatre of Actors, and her play Conversion was produced Off-Broadway at Theatre 54. She is an editor at Lamplight Publishing, and has worked for Persea Books, Macmillan Publishers, Disney Publishing, and Simon & Schuster. She holds a BA and an MS in Publishing from Pace University.

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