Special Note:

Holiday Hours—Our offices will be closed Tuesday 12/24 through Thursday 12/26 and Tuesday 12/31 through Wednesday 1/1. The Travelmug Café will be closed Monday 12/23 through Wednesday 1/1.

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  • Workshop
  • Online: Zoom
  • Adult (18+)
  • 10 Weeks

Jumpstart Your YA/MG Novel

No Longer Enrolling

  • $570.00 Non-Member
  • $545.00 Member

Class Description

You’ve started out on a first young adult or middle grade novel—maybe you just have an idea, maybe you’ve written a few chapters, maybe you've written a lot, but have no idea where to go next. Have you found the right voice/age/perspective for your story? What is point of view, anyway, and how do you know when you’re doing it right? What about conflict, plot, and pacing? No matter where you are in the drafting process, this class can help! Each week we will focus on one area of novel-specific craft –– such as character development, scene building, and plot –– and generate new material through a series of prompts and exercises. Because the best way to learn to write a novel for young readers is to read novels for young readers, we will also read a YA/MG novel together and discuss how it employs the skills that we're learning, and how to incorporate these same skills in our own writing. Lastly, we will offer each other feedback and support, not only on each other's writing, but on our writing process –– we'll check in each week about our struggles and victories, and discuss strategies to keep ourselves motivated, during class and after. You will come out of this course with a slew of new scenes, and the insight, inspiration, craft skills to complete your draft.

Please note: Class does not meet April 3rd.

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.

Scholarships Format/Location

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.