FAQs

I have a vacation planned during the six-week session. Do I have to be online and available for the entire six weeks?
No. The course is designed to allow students to learn at their own pace. I send out course materials on Sundays and students have the entire week to complete the reading material and homework assignments. I send a new lesson plan (with new assignments) the following Sunday, however, premium students are welcome to submit homework assignments to me at any point during the six-week course. As part of the course fee, I also review and critique two essays (including one revision of each). I accept these essays up to six weeks after the course ends (to allow students who want to focus strictly on the course materials and holog inkintossignments sufficient time to submit essays).

Do I have to login to the course at a specific time?
No. You will receive course materials on Sunday evenings and you can review activity from the online forum at your leisure. There are also live Zoom sessions during each week of the course. Workshop participants will agree on the best times for these sessions, and they may vary from week to week to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate.

What’s the time commitment?
Tough question. It really depends on the student and what he/she hopes to get out of the course. Reading through the course materials doesn’t require any more than one or two hours each week. But, if you want to get everything you can out of the class, interact with other students, and get feedback on your work, I’d reserve between four and eight hours each week.

What if I sign up and find that I don’t like the course? Can I get a refund?
Yes. I offer full refunds to dissatisfied students during the first two weeks of the six-week course.

I’ve already published several essays. Is this course too basic for me?
No. The course is designed to help every writer—published or not—grow as an essayist and develop his/her own voice. While sessions do cover the basics of essay writing, the primary goal is to go much deeper into the nuances of developing salable essays. Each six-week session typically includes far more published essayists than new writers. In fact, roughly 80 to 90 percent of my students are published essayists.

Any surprises?
During week 6, students receive a detailed database of publications that accept essays, including editors’ contact information, insight about the type of material they’re seeking, and pay rates.