An idea for an essay keeps popping up. Song lyrics that remind you of the first time you fell in love. A billboard downtown that couldn’t more accurately depict the changes your town has undergone in the last decade. A call from your cousin who, once again, offhandedly references an event that changed your life, though no one else knows it. You know there’s something there, but what’s the story––what’s the pitch? To turn an idea into an actualized essay (or feature or exposé), particularly if your aim is to have it published, you’ve got to spend enough time with your idea to understand how it will live in a publication. This also means understanding how to sell your idea to a publication.
In this four-week course, we’ll examine the art of the pitch. We’ll start with a discussion of contemporary outlets that publish essays, and what it means to write one with the express aim of getting it published. Then, we’ll look at pitches from writers that became essays; we’ll read the essays and talk about how they do or don’t look like the pitch. Next, we’ll use a handful of hypothetical ideas to write hypothetical pitches directed at specific outlets. Finally, we’ll write pitches based on ideas.
For this course, writers can expect light reading in advance of each session, the opportunity to share, and the opportunity to have a pitch critiqued.
