I may be addicted to Gotham classes. I've taken several one-day intensives and 10-week courses, including Songwriting, Memoir, Screenplay Writing, Children's Book Writing, and a few others. Every teacher I've had has been fantastic, and I've made some great friends in classes. The write-ins on Friday nights are a lot of fun, too. read more

Never received my final paper from the instructor Beth Livermore. The class she taught was Non-Fiction Creative Writing.

This as one of the most exceptional things I have done for myself in years. The syllabus, exercises, critiques and especially the teacher, Domenica Ruta, were amazing. After 10 weeks I have truly rediscovered my creative voice in my writing, something I was not able to do on my own. Thank you, Gotham! read more

I've attended a bunch of their free writing classes and a one-day paid grammar course and I've loved them all. The instructors are fun and have a great teaching style. I've learned so much and plan to take many more in the future. read more

I have taken two one-day intensives and one online course with Gotham. Their instructors are top-notch and I have always learned something new from them. These classes are great and I recommend them to anyone who is serious about writing. Also, the rates are reasonable. read more

I took the Intro to Screenplay Writing class with Michael Eldridge and would absolutely recommend this workshop! The instructor is passionate and experienced in filmmaking (over 400 titles to date), but more importantly, he is a great instructor! The feedback was invaluable and by the end of the day, I felt confident about what is expected of a good screenplay. The discussions were dynamic and I learned a great deal about the screenwriting craft, but also about the film industry. Thank you! read more

I took Creative Writing 101 at the Gotham Writers Workshop and it was everything I hoped it would be. My instructor, B.C. (Carter) Edwards, was terrific. He did a fantastic job presenting the elements of creative writing. He is patient, knowledgeable and charming. His passion for the craft is obvious and contagious, making the 3 hour class sail by each week. He managed to answer even the most specific questions with answers that were universal and helpful to everyone in the class. He was not afraid to digress into different elements of writing but always managed to bring us back on topic so that we covered everything I hoped to in the 6 weeks. I cannot say enough good things about the class and Carter. I plan to take more classes at GWW and I will definitely look for Carter again. I highly recommend this course to anyone who has considered writing. It is a low pressure environment that will make you comfortable even if you have absolutely no prior writing experience. read more

This was an excellent fiction writing class. The teacher was a font of information on any and every aspect of writing. He was clear, directed, and fun, and he inspired us to do our best work. I liked that every class focused on an aspect of craft, and offered examples of each of them. I thought the teacher was super focused. He was very up front in his critiques, which is exactly what you'd hope for. The students were bright and talented; those who weren't really interested dropped out after a few weeks. TAKE IT! read more

I was fortunate enough to take the screenwriting class and finished a full-length movie script! We were provided a lot of concrete examples. The instructor was very knowledgeable and thorough and broke the process down in understandable terms. I'm definitely going to take another Gotham Writer's class. Thanks for helping me with the writing process. read more

Excellent for anyone who wants to write, or get well-rounded feedback on your work in progress. Just finished online the Beginning fiction writing class and want to take another one. The lectures and exercises (and feedback) gave me a world of insight into how to construct a solid story. Being critiqued and being asked to critique other's work is super helpful. I wrote one story I"m pretty happy with, and found the ending to another project I'm working on with the help of the class. The teacher's feedback was especially good. She had a great eye for what was working, what needed to be expanded, and what was over-stated. read more

If I could give a 0 rating, I would. Took a poetry class and the instructor gave us pages and pages of poems to read and a couple of definitions! I could have spent $20 on a book and a dictionary. Instead they jipped me of $425! Stay away. read more

I just finished the intro to creative writing yesterday and can't say enough about the experience. Classes were well structured, offering different concrete writing tools each session, with in and out of of class exercises that brought the concepts to life. The instructor (GD Peters) was excellent - smart, good sense of humor, and quick to offer both support but honest feedback about work. If you are a recreational writer or someone who is serious about pursuing it as a career, I highly recommend this course. read more

Great classes here and even their free one hour sessions provide a ton of useful information. I took a one day intensive food writing class and I was extremely satisfied with the class and everything I learned. I would definitely recommend classes here and for those on a budget, they provide lots of free sessions throughout the year so keep checking their website for those. read more

Just took a humor writing class online at Gotham Writer's Workshop (www.writingclasses.com) The instructor, John Kachuba, a published author and funny guy, was amazing. Great lectures, great format. Loved the fact that you could also get your classmates input on your work. I can't say enough about the experience --it really helped my writing. I will definitely take another class at Gotham online! read more

I took travel writing and really enjoyed my class. I learned a lot in the short amount of time and I thought it was really cool to hear other people's work and do the writing exercises. I think the classes are a little on the expensive side (I got a discount via DailyCandy) but taking one or two a year I think would be very helpful for any writer. read more

I just had a HORRIBLE phone experience with one of Gotham's staff members. She essentially called me a liar when I informed her I'd taken writing classes before and didn't need to take Gotham's beginner-level course. She then quizzed me on writing concepts with the innane open-ended question: Describe the basic concepts of writing? Now, writers throughout the centuries have filled voluminous tomes about writing, and she's expecting me to summarize this, unprepared, during a phone conversation?!? Crazy! It appears Gotham is more interested in making you sign up to take redundant courses (and shaking more money out of you) than providing genuine instruction that's well suited to your level of writing and your enjoyment of it. This is too bad, too, because I was really looking forward to taking a course from Gotham. read more

Gotham is a decent school. I've taken a few courses so far, some in-person and others online and the teachers have generally been good, the range of course offerings wide and the course material informative. The problem is the quality of students. The rate of attrition has been unbelievably high; up to three-quarters of students drop out. Many offer up their own essays to be critiqued, but do not review others' work. And given that there are no screening requirements for these classes, the quality of work submitted is, to put it kindly, highly variable - there are too many beginner writers (and even some ESL students) and far too few serious or committed writers. Overall, I'd say the courses have been okay for getting my feet wet. But I'm getting the impression more and more that this school isn't for serious writers. Somewhere along the way Gotham appears to have made a quality-quantity tradeoff; it will admit anyone, which presumably means more people sign up, which in turn enables Gotham to keep fees relatively low and to offer a wide variety of courses. This affected my class experience for the worse...people steadily dropped out, the criticisms offered up were pretty basic and I didn't feel like I learned much from my classmates. read more

Was a real pleasure. Took the one day poetry intensive, and it was worth every penny. Instructor was knowledgable, recommended a bunch of useful materials, and Critiqued our work in class. Considering the Friday sessions next. read more

I enrolled in a travel writing class and was disappointed. The instructor was fairly good, but half way through the class he announced that he got a better gig and someone was replacing him. When I paid for the class I paid for it due to his writing credentials and teaching methods, and instead, I felt cheated with the substitute. I called Gotham requesting a partial refund for the classes with the substitute. I was told "no refunds," so I dropped out. My class was small. There were 8 students, including me, which was a nice perk. But I felt the workshops were a waste of time. Five of the students had horrific writing skills (about a 7th grade level). They were candidates for a refresher class on grammar before engaging in any writing class. Two of the other students were good, but one girl took her insulting and arrogant remarks to a new level. I'm all for constructive criticism, but to allow a student to be downright nasty is out of line. The instructor allowed the student to conduct herself in this manner. Due to my job I travel extensively, so the other students who had limited travel experience(s) began to resent my travel writing. They all had 9 to 5 jobs, possibly restricting them from fulfilling their dreams of traveling, and there I was with a career which involved traveling and getting paid for it. By the third class a tinge of resentment was surfacing. I made the mistake of stating that one of my articles got published in a newspaper. Wow, if looks could kill. Let's just say this was not an enthusiastic group. For me the change in instructors was a major setback and then dealing with students who were not up to par with English 101 skills was ridiculous. I dropped out. I could be wrong, but I feel Gotham should have refunded me at least half of the class or offered me another class gratis. C'est la Vie. read more

I'm taking Memoir writing, and it is my second online workshop with Gotham. The online workshops are structured so that each week we received an extensive written lecture, a writing assignment to practice the skills in the lecture (up to 500 words), the instructor's critique of the assignment, and two optional opportunities: to respond to a question posted by the instructor, and to participate in a student online chat. I find the written lectures chocked filled of useful information and additional resources, and they seem much more detailed than anything I've found on the Internet. The instructor's feedback is also very thoughtful and useful. The second part of the workshop consists of two longer assignments (up to 3700 words) based on a topic of the student's choice. These assignments are posted to a virtual booth area so the other students and the instructor may read and critique them. One disappointment is that only half of the registered students provide critiques; but those who do critique offer a good mix of perspectives. Overall I've enjoyed both online writing workshops every much but I do have one complaint. It is not within the course design to offer the opportunity for two-way communication between student and instructor. For example, I recently asked the instructor for advice on how to solve a problem with dialogue I was having on my longer piece. The only advice she could give was to post the question when I posted my assignment and she would respond as part of her critique. Now that I know I can't ask the instructor questions or have a dialogue, I doubt I will take another online class with Gotham. This course could be improved if Gotham offered an online chat opportunity with the instructor at least once during the 10 week session. For that reason, I've given it a low rating. read more

Expensive and mediocre classes. You can get much better at Author's Learning Center. Google them.

Now taking fiction with Susan Breen, another good teacher. Class has only 9, which is great.

Creative Writing 101 is a great basis. It is a beginning that will provide a student with the knowledge to create the type of style necessary to move into more specific subjects. You are pressured to use you imagination and create. After you create you are then given the opportunity to build your work into something that will effectively reflect your thoughts and ideas to others. I took this course on-line. I enjoyed the whole concept. For me, it worked. I will not move on to other courses and continue to improve. This course is the way for you to start. read more

I took the one day "Dialogue Writing" work shop, which I highly recommend if you want to write a script. I especially recommend studying with Richard Caliban, if you are a playwright. Gotham Writers is a great place to get your feet wet writing great dialogue. I have been writing for years, but I needed a refresher course in breaking down exactly what "good dialogue" means. Richard Caliban is terrific, he's gentle, kind, funny, wise and genuinely cares about both the art and craft of writing. Take this course if you are beginning to think about being a playwright, or if you just want to bump up your continuing work writing plays. read more

I enrolled in the one day Grammar 1: The Basics. I am an author, columnist, and blogger. Even with all my writing, I never feel totally competent in my grammar, and this class took me back to high school and the basics. Valuable. The instructor was a grammar fanatic, and I left with renewed knowledge and confidence. It was worth my time, and it was a monetary value. read more

I just finished a full-day dialogue writing class given by Richard Caliban. It was intensive and well-worth the time and money. I learned so much! I liked everything about the class but the most interesting was going over a number of different methods used by successful writers to employ dialogue in prose, theatre and film. I had never seen it broken down this way and didn't even think of dialogue in these terms before. It was incredibly helpful to understand how each approach has its own magic, depending on what one wants to accomplish. We also learned about techniques to convey emotion, keep tension, maintain intrigue, and the importance of using imagery to paint a picture of what the character wants or means, rather than having our characters expressly say what they want or mean. This will really help me improve my writing. I also appreciated that we got to practice using a few different techniques. Richard then gave us feedback on our work in front of the class and I found it very worthwhile to learn not only from my piece, but also from everyone else's attempt to write dialogue. No one felt uncomfortable sharing because we got so much out of it. At the end of the day, it all hinged on Richard. His knowledge about dialogue writing is impressive. He was able to take every comment and question, and give us specific insight and first hand examples to help us understand how to use dialogue. I'd take another class from him at the drop of a hat. read more

Thanks to Gotham, I have had the opportunity to study with many people, including world-class instructors. Studying online is a must for me, since I travel a lot. Because of Gotham, I was able to write and publish my first novel, Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace. If screenwriting is your interest, I highly recommend the instructor Tal McThenia. In my opinion, he is the best instructor one could ever hope to encounter. If every instructor at Gotham were like Tal, I would give 500 stars and more! Gotham does not seem to publicize who will be the instructors; but, if you call the office, they can tell you who is teaching which class. Some fellow students continue to keep in touch even long after the class ended. These friendships and collaborations are special. (You know who you are!) read more

I have returned to Gotham Writer's Workshop over five times now. Money well spent! Their workshop formula/peer evaluation is an excellent way to keep a writer engaged and on track.Gotham gives YOU at least two deadlines and by reading the work of others you stay engaged with the concepts of writing craft. I have found the instructors and staff to be exceptional. read more

I took business writing class with them. I do not recommend anybody ever to take it with them. here is why: 1. Every week one lecture, mostly very theoretical, not practical, very common things that you can free find in internet! 2. Discussions under the lecture are not too related to the lecture, are not very specific 3. you cannot receive a help to your weak parts, you have to follow the guidelines, which may not have anything to do with your weak writing 4. you have to complete short easy exercise once a week, which instructor comments after a week, mostly the instructors comments are not helpful 5. you cannot comment under your own exercise to ask questions about your mistakes. So do not spend money it is not worth it!! read more

I just finished Songwriting 1 with Tony Conniff and the course could not have been better. For an introductory course to songwriting the knowledge, insights, and hands on practical tools for improvement that are taught in this class are amazing. Tony is a gifted teacher with a true desire to help you improve. I would highly recommend Gotham Writers Workshops and can't wait to take another. read more

Loved one day intensive workshop on memoir writing with Jon Reiner. He was wise, inclusive and articulate. Great ideas and all participated. Challenging and inspiring in a safe atmosphere. read more

Upon moving to NYC ten years ago, I signed up for a Gotham Writers' Workshop class and haven't stopped taking them. I have taken fiction, nonfiction, business writing, and memoir. I have yet to come across a teacher that was not effective and knowledgeable in and adept at teaching their genre. I have recommended Gotham to anyone and everyone interested in getting feedback on their work or in just becoming a better writer. The Gotham staff is super and devoted to helping others become better writers. I love Gotham! read more

Just finished the Fiction I class online. I've been writing for about a year and have been completely self-taught up until now. I was looking for a forum where I could work on my fundamentals and get feedback on some of my work. This class mostly missed for me. First, here is the class format: The class is 10 weeks long. Each week you read a lecture and complete a short writing assignment based on the lecture topic. After you post your assignment, the instructor will post feedback on what you wrote. No other student will see your assignment or the instructor's comments. In addition, you write two longer pieces (guideline is up to 3,500 words, but there is considerable flexibility here), one to be posted in the early weeks, one to be posted in the later weeks. All students read all of these works and critique them. Once student critiques are done, the instructor posts his/her comments for everyone to see. The good: - Online format is user friendly for the most part - Class takes a minimum of time. I have a 60+ hour/week job that involves frequent travel and I had no trouble at all keeping up with the work load. - Good grounding in the basics of the craft. - Credentialed author/instructor who seemed genuinely interested in helping you learn The not so good: - Class started with 18 students, but by week two only about 8 students participated full time. Probably good since the people who weren't serious self-selected out, but it really cut down on the feedback I was expecting. - Weekly writing assignments were short (often just a few sentences). Made it easy to complete, but provided very little practice actually writing. - Instructor comments were overly positive. Helped me see the goodness in what I was writing, but provided very little constructive help. Since the assignments were so short, the instructor comments were also very short (usually a couple of sentences). The comments on the longer pieces were longer themselves, but often felt very boiler plate and still 99% positive. The bad: - The weekly "lectures" - a 10 or so page document posted online, were very basic and sometimes had typos, grammatical errors, and formatting problems. Not a good sign for a writing class. Plus, don't they have these lectures already preformatted and proofed for easy posting? This really surprised me. - Cost. I've never taken a writing class anywhere else, so perhaps the fee wasn't that high, but at $420, I really expected much more. Also note that Gotham's policy is no refunds or credit unless you notify them at least one business day prior to the second class meeting. While I understand this from a business perspective, it's tough to gain a good feel of how a class will go after just one meeting. - Prerequisites. Anybody can take Fiction I, but nearly all other courses require this one before you can take a more advanced course. This puts writers with some experience in the position of having to spend over $400 bucks and trudging through 10 weeks of basics before they can spend another $400 for something meaningful. Feel like Gotham is profiteering a little here. Overall, if you have little to no writing experience and understand nothing of the craft then this class could be good for you. However, Gotham also publishes a book on the basics of fiction which contains more information and has about the same exercises. You don't get any feedback, but you won't get much from this class either. Before taking Fiction I, I was looking forward to taking Gotham's novel writing class, but I'm having serious second thoughts based on my experience. read more

Have taken 3 one-day intensives here. Really liked the dialogue writing class by Michael Eldridge, was less happy with the Character Development class by Paul Zimmerman and did not find the Fiction writing class by Hasntika Sirisena to add to much of what I knew. I am sure their 10 week classes are really useful, but wish I had the time and dedication for that. read more

I am currently taking a creative writing course through Gotham, and have some comments for those who may be considering taking one. Full disclosure: I have not taken a creative writing class before, so those who have done this before, may not find it as frustrating as I am finding it. First, the lectures are very scant, and the homework is too limited. A page or two of "lecture" material is all we receive. I would rather be assigned chapters to read and have the instructor highlight things that s/he feels are especially important. I feel that there is a lot more to cover on topic like "plot" than one gets in 5 minutes worth of reading. I would also think it's appropriate to be assigned short stories or even passages of written works, and be asked to analyze them from the perspective of the topic under discussion. The second issue is that the assignments are very short (~ 500 words), so often the feedback one gets is "well, this is a good start..." Of course it can't be a complete story, or in some cases, even a fleshed-out scene because you only have ~500 words! Third, there is no dialogue with the instructor. The instructor provides the student with feedback, but there is no place to follow that up with a comment or question. I understand that the faculty have day jobs, and that to do so would potentially double the workload, but it's not useful to get feedback that you don't understand and can't get clarified. Lastly, as the course goes on, there is less and less participation from the students. While it's possible that life has just gotten in the way and people aren't able to keep up, it's equally possible that they aren't engaged for some of the reasons I've alluded to. For all of these reasons, I probably won't take another Gotham course. read more

I will not take another GWW course. The instructor (Marta Randall) was marginally involved and totally absent the last four weeks of the ten week class (Beginning SF). I paid for an instructor to review my work which she did for the first half of the course but then, when I was practicing what I learned, she dropped out and did not provide any review or response to questions including personal email. The only positive things are the lectures. read more

This review is for an ONLINE workshop. If you are stalled in your writing, haven't written in a long time and need a refresher, or aren't sure if you want to write, then you might enjoy the online workshops. I hadn't written in a long time, but I would say I'm advanced in non-fiction, maybe not as advanced in fiction (but not new to it either), and I find the class extremely slow. Of course it's an online class, you can work whenever you want after all of the assignments are posted. But there's really not that much to do that helps you focus on your own work. You mainly critique others, and depending on participation, they critique your work twice. By the middle of the course, out of 16 people, there were only 4 or 5 that even bothered participating in the discussions (which can be posted on the "Blackboard" at any time), or bothered doing critiques. Now, if you've critiqued their work, and they decide they've had enough, they don't bother to help the others. Apparently, this is how it goes in online workshops. I don't know why people waste the money to join a workshop when they don't plan on actually participating, but it's their money. I think I would like it better if they just gave homework assignments, and structured the critiques closer together so that everyone gets their shot. Even if it meant a lot of initial work for people to do the crits, at least everyone would get theirs done (at least once). My biggest complaint is the other people not participating. I don't know if that's different in a "physical" workshop. The teachers giving feedback on the homework assignments is the most helpful, however, you have to keep in mind they don't want to scare you off or hurt your feelings either. They want you to come back and take another class. Online, people from other countries take the classes. Some of them are Americans living elsewhere, others, English is not their first language. I find it difficult to critique their work when they've used incorrect words/spelling/grammar during the entire story. I try to ignore it and just focus on the writing, but again, be aware you'll encounter this situation. Frustrating, to say the least. If you aren't sure if you want to plop down the money, wait until you have enough money so it won't be "missed" if your particular class doesn't go as planned, would be my ultimate advice. Otherwise, you'll be a bit mad you spent the money. Also, there are some FREE online writing classes if you search them out, and some of them offer the same, exact format as Gotham. read more

Great Class at Gotham Writers Workshop. I just finished my second class in fiction writing. Professor Scott Hess was brilliant and extremely gifted teacher, especially for folks like me, who have full time careers, very busy, but wanted to write the novel that I have been thinking about for several years. This is the go to class with other serious business folks and creatives working on a passionate goal...their first or second novel. I rarely give 5 stars but Hess's class is an important bridge between you and your dream to advance your work of fiction. Top notch. read more

One class in, but could not be happier. I attended a one-day workshop in memoir writing taught by Jon Reiner and plan to sign up for the 10-week fall class. read more

You need to be very, very careful when you take an online course with Gotham. The first instructor I had was great and I learned a lot from him so I signed up for two other courses and was very disappointed by the quality of those instructors (one never returned emails and the other taught Fiction 101 as though we were creating a cartoon strip). Since you don't know who you're getting until the day the course opens, it's a real crap shoot so you might get an attentive, constructive instructor or you might get a real loser. Someone here said the courses were hit or miss and I would second that appraisal in a minute. Buyer (or student) beware. read more