Class Description
This class is for novelists who have taken several workshops before, are well versed in matters of craft, and who have already made some progress on a first draft of a novel. The focus of this workshop will be heavily on revision, as well as identifying and correcting any shortcomings in craft areas such as characterization, point of view, structure, plot, and scenes. Each class will begin with a brief, novel-specific writing exercise or craft lecture; the rest of the class will be devoted to workshopping submitted pages. At the end of class you will have a choice of submitting 20 pages of new or revised scenes for evaluation, or having a half-hour meeting with the instructor, where you will discuss overall strategies for finishing or revising the novel. Class size limited to 10 students.
This course offers a new model for workshopping your novel, using a unique, student-centered method of offering feedback. Unlike in traditional workshops, you will receive comprehensive and authentic written comments on your manuscript before it is discussed in class, thus eliminating any “surprise verdict” on your work. Instead of remaining silent, you and the instructor will co-lead the conversation about your work with a focus on concrete revision options. Classmates will be encouraged to incorporate content-based criticism (e.g. “how does this character challenge or reinforce stereotypes? what are the socio-cultural implications in this piece?”) with craft-based criticism (e.g. “how does the author show this character’s change over time?). Writers are encouraged to bring questions rather than defenses to the critique. "
To apply, please click the red "SEE DIRECTIONS TO APPLY" button in the top right corner of this page. This application will ask you to detail your workshop experience. It will also ask you to upload a 5-10 page writing sample. Please make sure this writing sample is in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, and in 12-point font. For tracking purposes, your name should appear in the file name (e.g. Smith. Story Title.Submission). Decisions will be emailed to applicants approx. 1 week after the deadline. You can also track the status of your application in your Grubstreet profile. Please make sure your application is complete before you finally click "APPLY." If you have any technical difficulties filling out this application, please email [email protected]. You will receive a confirmation email once our system has received your submission.
Important dates:
We are no longer accepting applications for this class. Any space availability indicated above is available to admitted students only. Our next round of applications for master classes will open in November!
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.
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 detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.