VIRTUAL

Personal Essay Bootcamp

Are you drafting a personal essay but keep getting stuck? Do you have lots of essay ideas but don’t know where to go from here? Are you looking to build platform for your memoir? This bootcamp is for you! Taking place over the course of 5 days, this virtual intensive gives you the structure, inspiration, and craft tools to kickstart your personal essay writing. Through a combination of in-class writing prompts, craft lessons, and Q&A, you will leave with lots of new writing and a roadmap for publishing your personal essays.

THE DETAILS

5 live classes via Zoom, September 22 - September 26, 2025, 11am-2:30pm ET
All sessions will be recorded (so you can sign up even if you can’t join live!)

In this bootcamp, you will:

LEARN

techniques for writing a compelling, beautifully crafted personal essay.

GENERATE

essay ideas and dozens of new pages of writing.

EXPLORE

 the fundamentals of personal essay and the challenges of the genre.

a roadmap for generating and revising your essays, as well as submitting them for publication.

CREATE

BUILD

a virtual community of writers to help hold you accountable.

  • • Logistics, Introductions, & Setting of intentions (1 hour)
    • Craft lesson: Using prompts, lists, and images to generate essay ideas (1 hour)
    • Break & Writing prompt on generating essay ideas (30 mins)

    • Writing Prompt on heat mapping your essay ideas (30 mins)

    • Sharing writing & Final thoughts / Q&A (30 mins)

  • • Warm-up writing prompt (30 mins)
    • Craft lesson: Identify theme & conflict (1.5 hours)
    • Break & Writing prompt on identifying theme & conflict (30 mins)
    • Planning Exercise: Mapping out theme, conflict, and scope (30 mins)
    • Sharing writing & Final thoughts / Q&A (30 mins)

  • • Warm-up writing prompt (30 mins)
    • Craft lesson: Finding your form / structure (1.5 hours)
    • Break & Writing prompt on form / structure (30 mins)
    • Planning Exercise: Playing with form (30 mins)
    • Sharing writing & Final thoughts / Q&A (30 mins)

  • • Warm-up writing prompt (30 mins)
    • Craft lesson: Narration & voice in personal essay (1.5 hours)
    • Break & Writing prompt on narration & voice (30 mins)
    • Planning Exercise: Experimenting with narrative techniques (30 mins)
    • Sharing writing & Final thoughts / Q&A (30 mins)

  • • Craft lesson: Revision & submitting work for publication (2 hours)
    • Break & Writing prompt on revision & publication (30 mins)
    • Planning Exercise: Next steps for revising / publishing (30 mins)
    • Sharing writing & Final thoughts / Q&A (30 mins)

Meet the instructor:

Katie Bannon is a writer, editor, and educator whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Rumpus, ELLE, Newsweek, and more. A graduate of GrubStreet’s Memoir and Essay Incubators, she holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Emerson College. Her memoir manuscript was a finalist for the Permafrost Nonfiction Book Prize. She currently teaches writing at GrubStreet and lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband and two cats.

TESTIMONIALS

  • “Katie is the best writing instructor I have ever had. Her presentation was impeccable. She provided an abundance of ideas, details, examples, and information. In fact, the class was overflowing with information. I have nothing but praise for Katie and the class content.”

  • “Holy moly, this was a superb class. Instructor was well-prepared with lots of valuable and well-organized information and ideas. I have already begun applying some of the tools from class to revise—and what a difference it's making!”

  • “Katie was an amazing instructor- she explained core concepts with clarity and ease, provided excellent examples and writing samples, and created a very supportive learning environment. The class truly exceeded my expectations!”

Cost Details

Which includes:
• 17.5 hours of instruction in an intimate, small-group setting.
• Dozens of writing prompts specifically curated to help you hone your craft and generate personal essays. Please note that there will be no formal workshopping in the class.
• A 50-page workbook filled with craft takeaways, resources, and a curated list of places to submit your personal essays.
• Unlimited access to the instructor via email.
• Recordings of all sessions in case you can’t join live or want to rewatch.

$495 for the bootcamp

  Optional add-ons:

Which includes:
• 1-hour Zoom coaching session (+$150) with the instructor to discuss essay ideas, craft challenges, and develop a personalized plan for your writing moving forward.

This bootcamp is for…

  • Writers who are in the process of drafting one or more personal essays, but hitting roadblocks

  • Writers who are interested in writing and publishing personal essays, but don’t know where to start

  • Memoirists looking to build their platform by publishing personal essays related to their book project

  • Writers who need structure and craft tools to kickstart their essay writing

This bootcamp is not for…

  • Writers who are working on a fiction project

  • Writers who do not want to include personal stories in their essays

FAQs

  • Not to worry! All sessions will be recorded, so you can participate at a time that’s convenient for you. Those recordings will be available for you to watch for 90 days after the bootcamp ends.

  • No! Some writers will come in with essays drafted, while others may have only general ideas for personal essays. This bootcamp is focused on generating new material and developing craft tools, so it’s fine if you haven’t started the writing process yet.

  • Not to worry! One of the big concepts we’ll be discussing is how to hone in on the stories / themes underlying the situations of your life you're writing about. We’ll do writing prompts that push you to dig deeper into theme, as well as to focus the narrative and define its form. All this to say, if you don’t have a clear vision for your essays yet, this bootcamp is the perfect place to figure that out!

  • All you need to participate is a computer and internet. I’ll be sending a Zoom link ahead of our first class. We’ll be discussing the basics of Zoom and how to use it at the beginning of class.

  • Please feel free to let me know about any accessibility needs you have (you’ll be prompted to answer this question as part of the checkout process). I am committed to making this an excellent and accessible experience for all!

  • • 17.5 hours of instruction in an intimate, small-group setting.
    • Dozens of writing prompts specifically curated to help you hone your craft and generate personal essays.
    • A 50-page workbook filled with craft takeaways, resources, and a curated list of places to submit your personal essays.
    • Unlimited access to the instructor via email.
    • Recordings of all sessions in case you can’t join live or want to rewatch.

  • • Editing and/or meetings with the instructor outside of the bootcamp sessions.
    • If you’re interested in adding on a one-on-one coaching session, click here.

  • No portion of your class fee is refundable within 10 days of the class start date. Refunds will be sent within 30 days of receipt of notice of cancellation.

    If the class needs to be cancelled for any reason (for instance due to low-enrollment, with fewer than 8 participants), you are entitled to a full refund.

    Personal Essay Bootcamp reserves the right to cancel the intensive in the event of civil unrest, natural disaster or Act of God. In the event of cancellation of the intensive in its entirety, you will receive a full refund of any fees paid. You agree to release Personal Essay Bootcamp and its agents and/or representatives from any liability, including consequential expenses you may have incurred in planning to attend.

Space is limited, so be sure to snag a spot while you still can.

Ready to kickstart your essay writing?