"It's just as hard to write a bad verse."

“Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with.” —Joan Didion www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5...

Joan Didion, The Art of Nonfiction No. 1

“Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing.”

theparisreview.org

Fed up? “Start writing,” says C.S. Lewis.

The Gotham office is having LOTS of fun discussing this list of the century's best thrillers.

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2w ago

What are the best thrillers published since 2000? We sent ballots to hundreds of writers of every kind of crime fiction, as well as librarians, editors, critics and more to decide. Explore the full list. nyti.ms/3TBby1f

From the archives: a how-to (or...how NOT to) start your own website. Great advice for author websites and Substacks alike. www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/arti...

Faculty Article: How Not to Start Your Own Website

Launching your own blog or online magazine provides one of the best venues for you to hone and showcase your own vision, voice, and views....

writingclasses.com

This excerpt from Kody Keplinger's latest novel had me holding my breath by the fourth graf. Can't wait to get my hands on the book. #books #amreading www.writingclasses.com/faculty/exce...

August already?! If you promised yourself you’d do some writing done between chasing down the ice cream truck and tearing through your favorite beach read, it’s not too late to join us for summer term. ☀️🍦 Explore our upcoming classes and events at writingclasses.com.

"A Pawnshop of the Mind," an excellent craft essay (that title!) by Gotham teacher Emily Rapp Black in LitHub lithub.com/a-pawnshop-o...

A Pawnshop of the Mind: In Praise of Object-Based Writing

“What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” –TS Eliot, from “A Little Gidding” from The Four Quartets * Franca owned a p…

lithub.com

Catch up on this month's issue of The Razor, two incisive stories about love and loss. therazormag.com

The Razor

The Razor is a literary magazine produced by Gotham Writers Workshop. We publish two pieces each month—one fiction, one nonfiction. Each published piece will be presented with audio and original artwo...

therazormag.com

Elizabeth Bishop

Thrilled to see Gotham's own David Berner in this month's issue of P&W. Find his essay here: www.pw.org/content/more...

More Is Less, More or Less: The Novella as a Legit Literary Form

A fiction writer considers how long, or short, any given narrative needs to be, and in the process finds a new appreciation for an often-neglected form: the novella.

pw.org

Poets & Writers@pw.org · 2mo ago

#ICYMI: Our new P&W issue includes essays on the novella as a legit literary form, the role of time and place in the literary imagination, and how to build a micro-community at a writers conference. PLUS: a special section on how to begin your agent search. Dive in @ at.pw.org/JulyAugust2026

Tomorrow night, we're back at KGB Bar with @nycwriterscircle.bsky.social. Hope to see you there!

In a writing slump? Here's a fun little contest online -- write a 10 word short story. Winner gets a free creative writing class at @gothamwriters.bsky.social Closes June 1st. v2.writingclasses.com/contests/a-v... Here's my entry: "he's her first sip of liquor. She's his hangover."

So, I'd like to share my Writing Advice newsletter for this month with y'all, because I had such fun putting it together. It's about music and stories and passion. Also, I'd like to use it to say some things re: Ross Barkan. blogs.gothamwriters.com/2026/05/19/o... #WritingCommunity 1/

One Note at a Time / Letter from Gotham Writers' Dean of Faculty

When author Daniel José Older was still an aspiring novelist, writing stories in between shifts as an NYC paramedic, he hit a snag. He couldn’t...

blogs.gothamwriters.com

Writing advice works the best when it’s a little weird. A new book of daily prompts helps writers think expansively. www.newyorker.com/books/under-...

Why the Best Writing Advice Is Often the Weirdest

Writers are fed a bevy of mantras—“show don’t tell,” “kill your darlings”—which provide the security that there are rules, but little else. A new book by Lucy Ives offers a more expansive view of writing advice.

newyorker.com

Free online write-in at @gothamwriters.bsky.social - two prompts, opportunity to share if you'd like, and really nice people: #WritingCommunity #WritersSupportingWriters wp.writingclasses.com/community/fr...

"I don't see the terror in the world as helping my stories. I see my stories as helping, even if it's just me, to deal with the terror." —Susan Steinberg "People ask me if I drew pictures to escape reality. I didn't. I drew pictures so I could stay." –Lynda Barry

So fun to see “I came here to be a poet” by Gotham faculty @michaelmontlack.bsky.social included in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day series. Read the entire (beautiful!) poem here: poets.org/poem/i-came-...

BIG congratulations to @gothamwriters.bsky.social's own @scottalexanderhess.bsky.social, whose novel Drought won the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction last night! Well deserved, Scott! 🎉 📚 🥂 📚 🎊 📚 🏆 Y'all go read his book now! www.goodreads.com/book/show/22... #WritingCommunity

Another standout poem from Mary Oliver's Swan (2010)

#ClipOfTheDay: In this Books Are Magic event, Kim Fu reads from her latest novel, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts (Tin House), and talks about how word choices and details shape the loneliness of her worlds in a conversation with Larissa Pham. at.pw.org/VengefulGhosts

For writers of color: our college admissions essay coaching scholarship is open. 3 recipients will be awarded a five-hour coaching package. Working with a member of our faculty, they’ll receive guidance on their personal statement/essay. Learn more + apply: v2.writingclasses.com/scholarships...

What Exactly Were You Trying to Say? "When you said you had insomnia too And I said Yeah, I don't get people..." Read the full poem by @gothamwriters.bsky.social's own Michael Montlack, in Impossible Archetype mag: impossiblearchetype.wordpress.com/wp-content/u... #NationalPoetryMonth #poetry

A poem by @gothamwriters.bsky.social teacher Casandra López, in which she teaches her phone Tongva: www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi... #NationalPoetryMonth

Submit for the 2026 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize with guest judge, Simon Rich! Winning work will be performed by an actor in spring 2026 and published on @electricliterature.com. Winning writer will receive $1000 and a free 10-week course w/ @gothamwriters.bsky.social. bit.ly/3GE3N0b

Exciting news! We are now on Substack. Every month, our very own Stuart Pennebaker will answer your writing-related questions. Check out our first post and give us a follow if you like: substack.com/home/post/p-...

#NationalShutdown #IceOutBlackout Tomorrow, my employer @gothamwriters.bsky.social, will not accept new enrollments in solidarity with the ICE Out Blackout. I'll be participating individually, as well.

2026 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize with guest judge, Simon Rich! Winning work will be performed by an actor in spring '26 & published on @electricliterature.com. Winning writer will receive $1000 & a free 10-week course with @gothamwriters.bsky.social. Sub by March 6! bit.ly/3GE3N0b

Congrats to the winners of our 2025 Creative Writing Scholarship for Writers of Color! Jonathan Jackson Shania Siu Fatima Cervantes We cannot wait to see what these writers have in store. Scriptwriters of Color, get ready... (more details below!) 👀 v2.writingclasses.com/scholarships...