Fail Better: What We Can Learn from Our Unpublished Work (2-part)

Many of us spend years working on manuscripts that, for one reason or another, never get published. They sit in our various hard-drives and file cabinets, like little lumps of regret we can’t quite throw away. In these two fast-paced sessions, we’ll dust off those manuscripts in an effort to understand what we can learn from them. Students should come to class with an unpublished manuscript (fiction or non-fiction, long-form or short) and be prepared to examine how it might not have lived up to your vision. What were the culprits? Inconsequential scenes? A weak or passive narrator? Flat characters? Overblown language? Sluggish pacing? Low stakes? Students will be offered the chance to hone their critical faculty, and an exercise or two to allow them to re-envision the project.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.