A Life-Changing Announcement

It's monthly virtual writing sessions

As award-deserving author, editor, teacher, and ex-girlfriend, I want to tell you every secret I have.

So I’m offering paid subscribers the *exclusive* opportunity to take a 90-minute virtual writing session every month with me, a genius.

Why should you do this? I will tell you.

The details: 

• Writing is hard. But it can be less hard with the right teacher, who is me. 

• Writing can also be less hard when writers write/learn/vent together. 

• Each session will be a mix of lecture/sermon, writing via prompts and exercises, and discussion/gossip. 

• Sometimes I’ll have guest hosts and “in conversation”s with famous writers.

• Some other times I’ll host virtual AMAs where you can ask me anything about writing, publishing, comedy, tragedy, agents, or my personal life. I will call this something like Office Hours. BYOB. Black-tie optional.

Look forward to 90 minutes on topics like:

• short humor and satire writing

• funny personal essays

• memoir

• tragicomedy

• being funny when nothing is funny

• writing vulnerably 

• writing about other people

• the art of rejection

• productivity hacks

• performance hacks

• publishing hacks

• dismantling patriarchy

Look forward to session titles like:

• How to Be Funny If You’re Not Funny

• Write a Book Proposal Without Going Insane

• Stalk Your Obsessions

• Write Like an Editor

• Edit Like a Virgo

• Write Like an Idiot: Overcoming Perfectionism

• Your Body, Your Voice: Beat Silence to Write Like Yourself

• BE HYSTERICAL: On Voice, Style, and Emotion 

• BE SPECIFIC: Using Specifics to Start Writing and to Write Better 

• Write the Impossible: Sex, Violence, Illness, Poop, and More

• Good on a Sentence Level: Marry/Fuck/Kill Your Darlings

• Everything IS Copy

• Shit-Talking Adverbs

• Watching TV Is Writing If You Do It Right

My qualifications:

• I’ve worked in media and publishing since 2007, as a managing editor, an associate editor, an assistant editor, a TV and film writer’s assistant, a producer, a performer, a speaker, a writing instructor, and a barista. My writing has appeared in over 30 publications and anthologies, and I’ve taught and lectured at over 20 writing programs, including Harvard.

• I teach hundreds, if not millions, of students every year, and many, if not most, become more successful than me. 

• I am probably my therapist’s favorite.

The deal:

• The first session will be Sunday, June 1, from 4-5:30pm ET. It will be “Tragedy Plus Time: Writing Traumedy.”

  • I will record every session and link to it in a post after the session. The recording will be available for a limited-ish time.

• Current paid subscribers will have access for believing in me already.

• Pay $10/month or $100/year. 

  • Note: Writing classes, like therapy, can be prohibitively expensive. I hate that. But also I need to pay rent. I hope this model will benefit everyone. 

• I reserve the right to turn some sessions into full-blown seminars and workshops that will cost more for way more access (to handouts, feedback, and a secret third thing) once I figure out how to do that.

The first session:

• Writing Traumedy: Tragedy plus time equals comedy, and in 90 minutes we'll do that math. We’ll cover how to make readers laugh while PUNCHING THEM IN THE HEART. We’ll brainstorm our baggage and talk about how to turn a sad diary entry into publishable writing. We’ll cry as a group. Happy endings will be burned.

What do you want to learn?

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ICYMI: I’m Elissa Bassist, and I teach short humor and satire writing, funny personal essays, memoir, emotional emails, and more, a lot more. I edit the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus, and I wrote HYSTERICAL, a semi-finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor. My next book is Inside Jokes: A Comedy and Creativity Guide for All Writers, co-written with Caitlin Kunkel and forthcoming in 2026.

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