All Student Success Letters
Dave Bartell
Dear Gotham,
Great writing careers rarely begin with a lightning bolt. They start with craft, structure, and someone showing you how the work is actually done. Gotham Writers Workshop does precisely that.
In June 2012, Fiction Writing I opened the door. Novel Writing followed, providing not just instruction, but a durable framework—one that held up through life’s interruptions and long stretches away from the page. Years later, that grounding made it possible to return to writing with clarity and confidence rather than hesitation.
Two early Gotham exercises have proven especially enduring: learning to see a room truly, and reconstructing a scene from an overheard café conversation. Those lessons extend far beyond the classroom. They train writers to observe, listen, and recognize that everything—spaces, exchanges, human behaviors—is usable material. Craft becomes a way of moving through the world.
That foundation led, over time, to publication. Roman Ice appeared in 2018. As of December 2025, the ninth novel in the series, Signal Code, has just been released, and the books have grown into a six-figure franchise. That trajectory traces directly back to learning the fundamentals early and learning them well.
When aspiring writers ask how to begin, the advice is always the same: learn the craft from people who take it seriously. Gotham is the answer.
Thank you for building a place where writers don’t just dream—but develop.
With gratitude,
Dave Bartell
