Can I keep writing about the same thing? So, I have this idea, but I feel like it’s multiple stories, is that OK? How do I become known as a writer who specializes in a particular topic?
These are all questions from writers who have a passion for writing about a specific topic or want to spread the word about one particular issue in a multitude of publications. What they essentially want to know is whether or not there is room for them to keep writing about the “same” thing or if it’s just overkill. The answer? Indeed, there is room and, in fact, it’s called creating a beat.
A beat is a specific subject that writers specialize in or focus their work on. This might be as broad as “beauty” or “sports” and as zeroed-in as a vertical dedicated to the dissection of Grey’s Anatomy. In her 15 plus years as a writer, what Caroline Shannon Karasik has learned is that what might initially sound limiting is in fact a method for generating more work. Caroline’s success as a writer who has created beats in both mental health and motherhood verticals has shown her what it means to not only enjoy the topics she writes about but establish herself as a go-to person for the subjects.
In this ten-week workshop with Caroline (The Cut, InStyle, Narratively, Tonic, Romper, Well+Good), writers of all levels can expect to walk through the steps of crafting a beat from that one topic they can’t stop thinking—and writing—about. This might be as micro as generating several stories from one personal issue or as macro as a topic like mental health. Either way, you’ll learn how one subject or life event can help you generate multiple bylines, while also helping you gain recognition as a writer who specializes in a specific writing vertical. This class can be useful for nonfiction writers at any level who are looking to establish a beat, whether or not they’ve been published before.
Participants will spend their first class breaking down the basics of a beat and decide on the idea or topic they will be working on and workshopping throughout the ten-week course. From there, the remaining nine classes will involve a craft talk paired with two to three workshopping sessions per class. Through classroom discussion and examples, students can work to refine their ideas and will have the opportunity to receive written and verbal feedback from their peers and the instructor.
Students will leave the class with an understanding of how to generate multiple published works from one topic or life experience, as well as feedback on two essays that will be submitted during their designated workshops.
Class meetings will be held over video chat, using Zoom accessed from your private class page. While you can use Zoom from your browser, we recommend downloading the desktop client so you have access to all platform features.
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- Students will learn the basics of creating a beat, including how to generate multiple stories from one topic or life event to create multiple bylines.
- Students will formulate and submit two essays for workshop, as well as workshop their peers' work. Each student will walk away with drafted story ideas and ideas for how to continue mining their beat for new stories.
- Students will engage in conversations about building a beat, including how to generate or expand upon story ideas, as well as methods for discovering editors and publications best suited for their work.
- 10% discount on all future Catapult classes
COURSE EXPECTATIONS:
Students will be expected to read and engage with craft assignments each week, as well as read and/or submit for the workshopping element of class. Workshop submissions will be 1,500 words or less.
COURSE SKELETON:
Week 1: What Is a Beat (And Do I Even Want One)?
Week 2: One Idea, Endless Bylines (Or How to Write About the Same Thing, Differently)
Week 3: Methods for Generating Ideas Over Time
Week 4: Books, Podcasts, Columns: How to Grow Your Beat Into Other Platforms (Part One)
Week 5: How to Grow Your Beat Into Other Platforms (Part Two)
Week 6: Can I Change My Beat or Have More Than One?
Week 7: Community: How to Engage With Other Writers to Grow Your Beat
Week 8: How to Pitch Your Work to Publications (Part One)
Week 9: How to Pitch Your Work to Publications (Part Two)
Week 10: Get Connected: Discovering Editors and Publications for Your Work
Caroline Shannon Karasik’s work has appeared in The Cut, Tonic, Narratively, and other publications. She is currently an instructor at Catapult and an MFA candidate in Antioch University’s creative writing program. Caroline lives in Pittsburgh. You can find her on Instagram @carolineshannonkarasik and Twitter @CSKarasik. Her website is www.cskarasik.com.
"Caroline is your go-to gal for all things pitching. She's got her finger on the pulse, a keen-eye, and is articulate and well-read as you can get. Caroline's essays and angles challenge me to think more deeply, and her enthusiasm and dedication to her peers and colleagues is admirable. Jump at this opportunity to work with her—your pitches and writing will thank you!"
"Caroline has been an overall pleasure to work with. Her pitches are insightful and original, she submits clean and engaging copy and quickly turns around thorough edits. Her professionalism and ability to detect an outlet's tone and write/report accordingly makes her a highly sought after freelancer in the field. At VICE, she crafted both her pitches and her stories with intention, and it showed."
"Caroline will not only teach you, she will unlock what you have already known all along. And then one day you'll be getting coffee or scraping mold off some bread and the perfect pitch you've had inside you will fall out of the secret room in your brain you aren't allowed in. Only Caroline can help gently pull things out of that secret room, she is the pitch witch."
“Caroline's class was detailed, action-oriented and all the while we had a really fun time. Most importantly, I've been landing pitches regularly ever since taking her class. Caroline is also the most thoughtful teacher I've ever worked with. She regularly emails me with pitch opportunities or thoughts about my writing well after our class ended.”
"Caroline's energy, feedback, and fund of knowledge was remarkable — really inspiring."
"Caroline is the person you dream of having in your workshop: interested, attentive, honest, and smart. She reads everyone's work like she's reading a much-anticipated debut book: with enthusiasm and great care. And her feedback is always gold because get this — she's also an incredible writer."
"Caroline is everything you would hope for in an editor: kind, hopeful, incisive, and thoroughly committed to emotional honesty. In her own writing, she is telling radical truths about women's bodies, about motherhood — about, really, everything that matters. Anyone who has the chance to work with her should grab it."
