Roxane Gay Masterclass Review 2025

Are you in need of some solid writing advice to help kickstart your career?

Whether you’ve already been through college or university, or you lack any formal education, you can enroll in a Masterclass course and learn from the best. 

Masterclass has a wealth of professional and celebrity tutors on its platform.

Roxane Gay, contributing opinion writer at the New York Times and esteemed social commentator is just one of many offering a comprehensive course on the fundamentals of writing. 

If you want Roxane Gay Masterclass review before enrolling, we’re here to review Gay’s course in detail and give you our honest opinion. Ready? Let’s dive in. 

Who is Roxane Gay? 

Roxane Gay, born on the 15th of October 1974, is a writer, social commentator, editor, and professor.

Gay is most famously known for her essay collection ‘Bad Feminist,’ which made it as the New York Times best-selling essay collection.

Her memoir ‘Hunger’, and her other novels and short stories also helped her earn her name as one of the most influential and widely revered cultural critics.

Gay writers largely on women’s issues and gender studies, and her work as a women’s rights activist have helped her earn a stellar reputation in the writing community. 

Roxane Gay Teaches Writing For Social Change 

In keeping with her writing, Roxane’s Masterclass course is all about writing for social change.

While other writers tend to focus on the more general aspects of writing in their courses, Gay focuses specifically on the progressive ideas of this genre and offers her students an informative and compelling selection of lessons.

So, what exactly can Roxane teach you? Here’s a closer look at the course content on offer. 

If you choose this Masterclass, you’ll have access to 20 lessons, and the course will take a grand total of just over three hours to complete.

You’ll also have a 28-page workbook to read through as you study, giving you a more formal and immersive learning experience. 

Lessons 1-2: Meet Roxane And Writing As A Black Feminist 

In these introductory lessons, you’ll learn more about Roxane, her writing journey, and her achievements.

In this Masterclass, Roxane Gay uses her own story to teach you fundamentals like using your background to influence your writing, how to write across different genres, and how to balance contrasting topics.

Lesson 3: Challenging Ideas And Changing Minds 

When it comes to own ideas, writing for social change is complex.

Here, Roxane covers the fundamentals like how to make your writing engaging, how to inspire change with your language, and how to approach writing opinion pieces.

You’ll also learn how to revisit and revise your work to become a success. 

Lesson 4: Getting Started As A Writer 

Wondering what to write? Here, Roxane shares her tips on the best ways to select and start writing about certain topics.

Roxane offers prompts to inspire you, questions to ask yourself, and how to make the most of your very first draft. 

Lesson 5: Roxane’s Writing Process 

Here, Roxane stresses an important point – that writing is a muscle that needs to be exercised.

Roxane will talk you through important topics like overcoming writer’s block, writing for challenging audiences, determining the correct writing routine, and more. 

Lesson 6: Roxane’s Writing Toolbox 

If you need help making a splash with your first few opening lines, Roxane is here to help. In this lesson, Roxane teaches you how to use humor to disarm guarded audiences, the power of repetition, and how to create titles with her own unique philosophies.

She also introduces her theory called ‘I Still Love You’, and how to use it in your own work. 

Lesson 7: Research 

To write for social change, you need to be a sound researcher.

Roxane teaches you how to master credible research and offers tools for your work, advice on how to organize your research process, and how to fact-check appropriately. 

Lesson 8: Self-Editing: Re-Visioning Your Work 

Here, you’ll learn how to take work from your first draft to your last and how to edit your work successfully.

Roxane also offers some of her most effective editing tips and how to make the most of the feedback process. 

Lesson 9: Consuming And Criticizing Culture 

In this lesson, Roxane discusses the importance of engaging with cultural criticism and how it can inform your writing.

Gay teaches you how to relate culture to your own writing, how to engage with a cultural critic, and how to put criticism in context as a writer.

Criticism has often led to social change in the media, and this very notion is the cornerstone of lesson 9. 

Lesson 10: Writing About Trauma 

If you’re writing about trauma, you’ll need support. Roxane talks about the importance of a support network, how to be honest with your audience, and how to write honestly and ethically. 

Lessons 11 -13: Writer’s Workshop: Feedback, Common Ground And Finding Your Voice 

In these interactive lessons, you’ll watch a workshop with three different writers.

Their work is varied, and it’ll help you understand how to handle critics, prepare your final drafts, engage your readers, and develop your own literary community voice.

You’ll also hear from Gay’s own critiques, giving you a much broader appreciation for writing in general. 

Lessons 14-15: Engaging With Your Readers And Having A Day Job 

These lessons focus primarily on social media, and how to use it to engage your readers.

You’ll learn which platforms to use, how to use them, and the pros and cons of using social media. She also discusses the importance of having a day job as a writer. 

Lessons 16-17: The Business Of Writing And Finding An Agent 

If you want to push your work out into the world, Roxane offers practical advice on how to start.

You’ll learn how to write a professional cover letter, how to source an agent, understand how to submit your work, and improve your chances of being published. 

Lesson 18, 19-20: Getting Published And Becoming A Good Literary Citizen And Moving Forward 

In these final lessons, Roxane discusses how to get feedback on your writing, key terms in the publishing industry, and what to expect financially.

She also reflects on the main content of her course and how you can set your own career goals while being realistic. 

Writing for Social Change: Is It Worth It? 

Writing for Social Change is a comprehensive and informative course that walks budding social change writers through all aspects of writing.

Roxane offers advice on how to write and research while giving an honest insight into the publishing industry and how to approach being published. 

If you’re writing specifically for social change, you’ll find few other courses as detailed as this.

Roxane’s first-hand insight into the business proves invaluable, and the addition of the writer’s workshop was one of the biggest highlights of the course. 

Pros 

• Learn from a professional writer 
• Helpful graphics and a thorough workbook 
• Unbiased and honest approach to difficult women’s issues, such as writing for a critical audience 

Cons 

• The content is based on Roxane’s own experiences, so it may not be an accurate reflection of the industry 
• Some complex terminology isn’t always explained 

Other Masterclass Courses To Try

If you want to further improve your writing skills, you can consider these Masterclass courses as well:

Billy Collins Masterclass
Malcolm Gladwell Masterclass
Salman Rushdie Masterclass
James Patterson MasterClass
David Mamet MasterClass

Final Thoughts About Roxane Gay Masterclass Review

Whether you’re an experienced writer or a complete beginner, this course provides a thorough and accessible introduction to writing for social change.

Like all Masterclass courses, it has beautiful visuals, an easy structure, and a useful workbook to guide your learning.

Although some terminology can be difficult to understand, we think this course is worth the investment for any aspiring social change writer looking for honest insight, and professional advice.