This class is for students who have taken the Novel Generator and want to focus on revising their manuscript OR students who have a full manuscript of their novel that they are ready to revise. Like the original Novel Generator class, each student will workshop full drafts of their novel twice and there will be craft lessons on the non-workshop weeks. In this twelve-week course we will break down the revision process—from narrative arc to line edits and everything in between—into manageable pieces and discuss how to apply them to your own novels and revisions. Due to the intensive nature of our work together, this class is limited to six writers.
After an introductory class, we will begin with the single writer workshops, where each writer will workshop their complete manuscript. From there, each student (with the help of the instructor) will create an individualized plan for revision fit to their project’s needs. This will be an intense beginning to the class as we’ll be reading a full novel each week and giving each other written critiques. Plan to be able to devote 6-8 hours of work in these weeks. This will take place from April 22-June 3.
After the first round of workshop is done and everyone has their revision plan ready, the class will take a week break and then meet to present their plans to each other. We will talk through strategies and tools that are helpful, and I’ll share all of my tricks and tips that help me work through long and tough revisions. This is the time to go over any questions or concerns that you have about your revision.
The next few weeks will be for students to focus on revising and we will be meeting once during that time to check in and (again) talk through problems that have come up.
We will reconvene for workshop beginning July 15. In this second round of workshop, we will be focusing on two writers each week. The writers will submit their revised manuscript or whatever portions they would like feedback on. We will be meeting every other week to allow for time to read and write responses.
To apply, please submit up to 25 pages or 1-2 chapters of your novel draft. Writers should have a complete draft of their novel before the course begins. If you’re still working on generating new pages, we recommend starting with part one of the novel generator.
*Class meets 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27, 6/3, 6/17, 7/1, 7/15, 7/29, 8/12
Class meetings will be held over video chat, using Zoom accessed from your private class page. While you can use Zoom from your browser, we recommend downloading the Zoom desktop client so you have access to all platform features.
COURSE TAKEAWAYS:
- Three instructor phone calls
- Individual email check in during month revision time
COURSE SKELETON:
Week 1: Intro/craft lesson
Week 2: Single writer workshop
Week 3: Single writer workshop
Week 4: Single writer workshop
Week 5: Single writer workshop
Week 6: Single writer workshop
Week 7: Single writer workshop
Skip a week
Week 8: Check in/Craft lesson
Skip a week
Week 9: Check in/Craft lesson-one hour class
Skip a week
Week 10: Workshop
Skip a week
Week 11: Workshop
Skip a week
Week 12: Workshop
Jennifer Close is the best-selling author of Girls in White Dresses, The Smart One, and The Hopefuls. Born and raised on the North Shore of Chicago, she is a graduate of Boston College and received her MFA in Fiction Writing from the New School in 2005. She worked in New York in magazines for many years and has taught creative writing at George Washington University for the past 8 years.
“New York newlyweds head to D.C. to—what else?—chase their dreams. Actually, just Matt’s dreams. His wife, Beth, isn’t all that impressed by the surrounding political haughtiness until she meets another couple, Jimmy and Ash. The Hopefuls will make you rethink inviting your best married friends over for dinner.”
“Captivating. . . . Close, whose husband worked on Obama’s campaign, uses her knowledge of this world—and her experience as an outsider—expertly. Beth’s conversational narration feels like peering into the diary of someone who shares your deepest insecurities.”
“I couldn’t put down this juicy novel, which is all about what striving to make it in politics does to relationships.”
“Inspired by Close’s own experiences moving to Washington for her husband’s work on the Obama campaign, The Hopefuls is blisteringly honest about the circus of American politics and Washington’s exhausting culture of competition—one that that renders people outside of political circles virtually invisible.”
“Hilarious. . . . A pleasure to read. . . . [Close] has a light, precise touch about the way a young marriage works when the partners are caught between old ideals and new realities.”
