What leads writers of fiction and narrative nonfiction, long or short, to get bogged down in the revision process? Sometimes the problem is polishing too soon or, exasperated and wanting to be done, making desperate "fixes." Often what's needed are ways to back off and re-see what's there in order to develop and structure the material. This workshop will offer strategies for finding opportunities in a messy draft, identifying habits that can limit you, tackling what you're afraid of, and using your writing time well. We'll discuss methods to get some distance in order to evaluate drafts, including examples of ways to look at scenic structure, time and pace, presentation of characters, and measurable change, to help you find your way on the path to a complete and satisfying story.
Lynne Barrett's third story collection Magpies received the Florida Book Awards fiction gold medal. Her handbook What Editors Want guides writers through the submissions process, and she’s editor of the nonfiction anthology Making Good Time: True Stories of How We Do (and Don’t... Read More →
