Community & Government, Writing
Meet Your Instructor
Lesson time 07:31 min
Roxane Gay is a professor, New York Times columnist, and the bestselling author of Bad Feminist. She opens with some of her history and what she’ll be teaching you in her class.
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Topics include: Roxane Gay Teaches Writing for Social Change
Teaches Writing for Social Change
Bestselling author and cultural critic Roxane Gay teaches writing for social change and arms you with the skills needed to make an impact.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] [CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] - Roxane Gay is not afraid to speak her mind. She is known for her feminism, race, gender, and social criticism. - This book is something different. - This is my story, instead of whatever it is that you're going to project onto me. - She made history as the first black woman to lead a Marvel comic. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, McSweeney's, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon. - Please welcome, Roxane Gay. - Roxane Gay. - Roxanne Gay. - Roxane Gay. Join me in welcoming the brilliant Roxane Gay. [CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] - Literature has brought us some of the greatest stories and the greatest characters that you could ever imagine. And it's thrilling to open a book and to lose yourself in the imaginary world that someone has created. I've always been shy and quiet, but in my writing I've always been reasonably bold because there's that distance and, on the page, I have freedom. Writing for a lot of people ends up being salvation. And for me, that certainly was the case. And when writing finds you, when writing saves you, it opens up a whole new world of possibility because you start to see the world in a completely different way. And so what writing does is open the world up. And I hope that certainly is the case for you. Hi, I'm Roxane Gay. I am a writer, editor, professor, and cultural critic, and I'm excited to talk to you today about writing. In this MasterClass I'm going to teach you how to think about your writing when it comes to writing for social change and making a difference in this world. We're going to talk about research process and what that might look like, how to structure your writing for the most impact, how to think about language and the sound of your work, how to think through revision and improving your work and making it the best possible piece that it can be. And certainly last but not least, we're going to talk about the business of publishing and how to really get a start, not only with writing articles, essays, and short stories, maybe poetry, but also writing book length work. You are going to be able to develop some skills to write about your life experiences, to write about your trauma, if you have experienced it, in ways that will be most effective not only for you, but for anyone who reads your work. You definitely don't need to be a writer to enjoy this class. For one, I'm incredibly charming. But beyond that, you're going to learn a lot about how writing works, and it might even improve the experience of reading for you. You might be hearing certain things for the first time. And so sometimes the most effective thing you can do to process challenging or new information is really sit with it, and then start to think about, why is this challenging me? Why am I having a hard time with it? And recognize that it's OK to be uncomfortable. It's OK to have something to process. On...
About the Instructor
Bestselling author, professor, and New York Times columnist Roxane Gay has connected to readers around the world with her unyielding truth-telling and highly personal feminism. In her MasterClass, she teaches you how to own your identity, hone your voice, write about trauma with care and courage, and navigate the publishing industry. Learn how to document and narrate the world as you see it—and then demand change.
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Roxane Gay
Bestselling author and cultural critic Roxane Gay teaches writing for social change and arms you with the skills needed to make an impact.
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