Summer Writing Retreat 2024: “Layering: A Strategic Approach to Revision” with Chaitali Sen
July 10, 2024 - July 31, 2024
$269.00 – $409.00
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This Event is for Members only.
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Level 1 (Class Only): $269 for Members, $329 for Non-Members
Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation): $349 for Members, $409 for Non-Members*
*To access the member price, please be sure to log in to your account.
This July, join us for our virtual 2024 Summer Writing Retreat featuring three classes on memoir, fiction, and revision plus lots of special events throughout the month, including registration for a Saturday Craft Seminar with author Steve Almond (July 13; includes a copy of the book), weekly presentations and meet-ups, and dedicated writing time.
Each class will meet weekly for four weeks, starting the week of July 8, ending the week of July 29. Our revision class with Chaitali Sen will meet every Wednesday (July 10, 17, 24, 31) from 6:30 PM CDT to 9:30 PM CDT via Zoom. A recording of each class session will be shared with all class registrants the day after – so you won’t miss anything even if you need to skip a session. Class details are below.
Registration for this class will close at 5:00 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 10.
In this 4-week class, we’ll develop and practice a strategic approach to revising a creative fiction or nonfiction work. This approach peels away “layers” of questions and issues to be addressed and weaves the solutions back into the manuscript one issue at a time. Students will learn how to look more objectively at a rough draft, articulate their vision and intent, and identify problems in executing elements such as plot, characterization, setting, and pacing. This class is designed to help you brainstorm solutions to problems and create a plan of action to get you to a much better next draft… and to get you energized for the hard but exciting work of revising your manuscript.
About each session:
Week 1 (July 10): Looking Again and Finding Your Destination: The origins of the word revise suggest a process of looking and seeing. From the French réviser ‘look at,’ or Latin revisere ‘look at again,’ revision starts with evaluating what we have already written. In this session, we will learn how to create some distance from our manuscript and look objectively at what has been created, and use that to articulate what we are trying to say.
Week 2 (July 17): Thematic and Foundational Layers: What’s This All About?: In this session, we will begin to create a strategic plan for revision that starts with theme – the deepest idea at the heart of your story. Then we will consider how the basic building blocks of story — mainly character, setting, and plot, should work in your story to support the theme.
Week 3 (July 24): Fixing Problems: When, Where, How?: Revision is a process of making deliberate and thoughtful choices. In this session, we will develop ways to consider and make changes to our manuscript without overcommitting too soon, endlessly rewriting, recklessly rearranging, or creating a big mess we can’t untangle.
Week 4 (July 31): Texture, Finesse, Polish: In this session, we work on the layers that can help us get to a “final” draft, once your scenes are in the right order and your big pieces are in place. These “textural” layers can be the best part of revision, bringing the world of your story to life and creating a lush, immersive experience for the reader.
Take this class if…:
…you hate revision or love it; if you have complete rough drafts you want to revise; if you are still working on a first draft but want to be prepared for what comes next; if you are a writer of fiction, memoir, or personal essays.
Preparation for the first day of class:
The instructor will share a Google form ahead of the first class for students to share a bit about themselves and their work, but there is no required reading or prep work prior to the first session. This class is especially well-suited for writers who have something to revise, but is open to all who are curious about the topic.
Registration details:
Choose your registration level:
Level 1 (Class Only): $269 for Members, $329 for Non-Members
OR
Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation): $349 for Members, $409 for Non-Members
The difference: Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation) registrations include one 20-minute meeting with Chaitali Sen sometime during the month (via Zoom). If you’d like, you can share up to and no more than 10 pages of your work ahead of the meeting for feedback, but that is optional and not required for the meeting.
You may register online, or download the mail-in registration form here.
Instructor
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Chaitali Sen is the author of the novel The Pathless Sky and the short story collection A New Race of Men from Heaven, winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. Her second novel, Girlhood, is forthcoming from Grove, Atlantic. Stories and essays have been published by Catapult, Colorado Review, Copper Nickel, Ecotone, LitHub, New England Review, Texas Observer, and other print and online journals. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing and Literature at University of Houston, and a recipient of the Inprint J. A. and Isabel M. Elkins Foundation Fellowship.
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