I had to become a writer twice.
The first time was by instinct — fourteen years at Television Without Pity, a million readers a week at peak, writing about television as if it were literature because it is. The second time was deliberate, from scratch, from the structural level up. That second time is the one I can teach.
The writers who get better fastest are the ones who are willing to be honest about what isn’t working. Writers who are stuck and don’t know why. Writers who have been told they’re good but can’t figure out what to do next. Writers who want someone to tell them what’s actually wrong with a piece — not what might be better, but what’s specifically broken and how to fix it.
Fiction, essays, criticism, screenplays, literary nonfiction. If language is your material and you care about what you make with it, this is for you.
This isn’t about feeling like a writer. It’s about writing better.
That’s what I’ve been doing for over a decade now, under the name A Rough Trade Writing School — eight standalone eight-week courses, called Chains, plus craft essays, feedback sessions, and direct access for those who want it. The school has the current curriculum if you want to see what that looks like in practice.