Trevor Corson offers both group workshops and private consultations for aspiring writers. Trevor’s expertise is what writers call “narrative nonfiction.” Whether you’re writing a memoir, profiling a person, place, or community, or describing a dramatic series of events, writing about reality is a lot harder than it sounds. Trevor works closely with students and clients on their projects to teach them what they need to know.
Trevor takes you directly into the nitty-gritty of producing long-form narrative nonfiction. The genre requires a complex and sophisticated arsenal of reporting and interviewing strategies, psychological and moral sensitivities, rigorous techniques for recording and tracking facts, and specialized approaches to the actual craft of composition. Trevor helps you navigate the ethics and logistics of your relationship with characters who are real human beings, helps you structure your composition by identifying its fundamental narrative and thematic components, and suggests practical tools and resources for managing the minutiae of your project.
Very few workshops or classes provide the particular combination of nuts-and-bolts methodology and big-picture guidance that Trevor offers. Yet in this day and age—as fiction becomes a harder sell, and as scandals over faked journalism and fabricated memoirs rock the publishing world regularly—these techniques and skills are more important than ever. Indeed, editors and publishers are demanding them. So even if you just want to write your memoir, it’s no longer enough to rely on your memory; these days you need to learn how to accurately report your own story. But writing about real life is a minefield. Trevor’s experience in the field and at the writing desk can help you navigate your way.
Trevor has worked as an award-winning journal editor, written on a wide variety of topics for top-tier newspapers including the New York Times and magazines including the Atlantic Monthly, and published two successful books of narrative nonfiction. He has taught writing workshops on nonfiction narrative at the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism at Harvard University and the prestigious Key West Literary Seminar. (Please note that Trevor does not provide introductions to literary agents or publishers as part of his teaching.)
Group workshops
Trevor runs a private workshop series in New York City for serious writers. The workshops meet weekly for four weeks. Each weekly session lasts three hours. All students are required to do advance reading and write a 2,000-word nonfiction narrative piece in preparation for the workshop. All students are also required to workshop each other’s writing in class.
Next workshops: Fall 2009
Applications due by: August 10
Cost per participant: $450
Note: A minimum number of students is required before a workshop can be held, and advertising is entirely by word of mouth, so the likelihood of a workshop occurring increases if you find other people to sign up with you.
Private consultations
Trevor is available to work one-on-one with you on your writing project. He will read your work and discuss it with you in one or more individual workshop sessions.
All text, photos, videos, and other content on this website that was originally created by Trevor Corson is copyrighted material, © Trevor Corson.
“The Lobster Sex Guy” and “Sushi Concierge” are TradeMarks of Trevor Corson.
Teaching
Praise for Trevor’s Teaching
Key West Literary Seminar, Miles Frieden:
“Trevor Corson is an outstanding workshop leader. He led a weeklong class on narrative nonfiction, a class that included students from a wide array of backgrounds, abilities and approaches. He provided everyone with detailed attention and engaged class members in improving their own and others’ writing. He was unfailingly accessible and kind to students throughout. He also provided essential information about nonfiction writing, its mores and ethics, and how it differs from memoir, fiction and other forms of writing. We strongly recommend Trevor as a teacher and workshop leader.”
“I will always be immensely grateful for Trevor Corson’s class. I learned a lot about nonfiction writing techniques and skill and also enjoyed the class immensely. Trevor’s workshop approach fostered a true spirit of community amongst his students as he encouraged each of us to contribute to the critiquing process in a way that maximized the results for everyone. Trevor’s own critiques were insightful and, between the diagrams he would occasionally create on the board and his analysis of each student’s story, I left feeling that I had gained more from his workshop than I imagined possible. I carried with me the basic important fact that in order to write successful nonfiction, I have to tell a good story while unobtrusively weaving in verifiable information. I also very much appreciated the fact that Trevor treated every one of us as talented writers who one day could be fellow professionals, so that I left his class feeling both challenged and encouraged that we had all been given the tools to steer safely through writing our own real stories.”
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