Humor Writing: Become the Next David Sedaris

What You’ll Do

Project: Write a 500-word humorous essay or short story.

What You’ll Learn

Click here to sign up for the new session of this class, which begins on Dec. 4th.

As Mel Brooks said, "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”

There's a thin line between comedy and tragedy. In this writing workshop, we'll explore what makes a fictional or real life story funny and how we can apply those tricks of the trade to our own work. Based on incidents from your life—apartment hunting, family drama, the daily grind—you’ll turn your own anecdotes into publishable essays or short fiction.

This project will be done collaboratively. I'll lead livestream lectures, provide discussion prompts, and give writing and editing tips. You'll write and edit your draft, create workshop groups, and give each other constructive feedback in the online classroom and in your local workshops.

You'll walk away from this class with a 500-word story or essay that you can submit for publication and the skills to write funny pieces again and again.

Jump-start your creative writing. Sign up now!

Beginner Level

Whether you want to improve your writing, try out the humor genre, or simply find a creative outlet, this class is for you. No previous writing experience required!

About Your Teacher See Full Bio

Grace Bello · Reporter @ The Atlantic, NBCNews.com, and more

Grace Bello is a writer and writing teacher based in New York. Previously a full-time copywriter, she escaped the cubicle and now writes for whomever she wants to. Her humor writing has been published in McSweeney's and Splitsider and is slated to be published by The Onion.

Her articles have appeared in The Atlantic, The Hairpin, Bust, Time Out New York, Publisher's Weekly, Bookslut, Tablet, and more. The Verge praised her interview for The Awl with comedian Chris Hardwick as "the best tech writing of the week." Her humorous fiction has been published in McSweeney's and Splitsider.

She previously taught fiction writing at 3rd Ward, and formerly tutored kids for 826NYC. So she kind of knows what she's doing. Kind of.