Good research is paramount for any writing project, inciting a story’s movement into fresh and compelling directions. Want to amplify and broaden the stakes of a personal story? Research. Enliven a historical passage or an entire narrative set in the past? Research. Connect a book review to what influenced its author? Research. 

Still, the work of research can intimidate even the most seasoned writers, whether it’s where to begin, how to choose among sources, or integrating a vast bounty of research into a propulsive narrative. This course will help writers navigate all of the above with more confidence, efficiency, and concrete tips from leading authors of contemporary literature.

Led by essayist and author Julia Cooke, with support from guest authors Alvaro Enrigue, Jerry Saltz, May Jeong, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras, this course will focus on a variety of ways to research for history, memoir, fiction, and criticism, linked to the expertise of guest authors. Among the topics we’ll cover are how to use research to generate new writing and shift an idea from concept to reality, and how research can jump-start a stalling narrative. We’ll cover practical considerations like archives open to those without academic affiliation, strategies for getting the most out of interviews, and how to gracefully move between researched and personal writing.

This course is relevant and open to writers of any genre, whether they have a work-in-progress requiring research, or simply want to strengthen research skills in this era of seemingly infinite sources. How do you know when a research rabbithole is worthwhile? When do you cut off the browsing and switch to writing? What’s the biggest research obstacle you’ve faced, and how did you surmount it? When do you go to an actual library or archive? What’s the best way to wield AI powers in the research realm? This course is your chance to ask the pros and rethink not just how and where you dig for information, but how you synthesize it. By the end of the course, students will have braided the results of new research into an existing passage of writing, built up an armory of new skills, and developed fresh ideas and concrete research plans to deepen and enliven their existing or brand new works. 

This course will take place on Zoom on Tuesdays May 7-28 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. EST. Participants will receive a Zoom link prior to the course as well as a recording of the course afterwards. We cannot offer refunds once the course has begun. Please email courses@offassignment.com with any questions.

A limited number of scholarships may be available for this course; please send a brief statement outlining how and why a scholarship would impact your ability to attend to courses@offassignment.com by April 18 and we’ll get back to you by April 25.

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Off Assignment’s Masters’ Series courses are unique four-session courses on in-depth writing topics that harness the perspectives and craft tactics of a lead instructor plus celebrated guest lecturers, such that participating writers gain a wealth of input while benefiting from the cohesive leadership of one renowned writer in a particular niche of nonfiction.