Write with me this summer!

While I wait for the publication of my first novel, The Savage Path, I’ve started, in earnest, on my next one. Since January, I’ve been piling up pages at a clip of about 1000 words per day, five days a week. (Each week, I also take one day to brainstorm ideas with no wordcount pressure and another to let my brain rest.) In addition to the writing itself, I’m revisiting a huge range of craft topics, reading and rereading new and favorite books on writing as well as notes from my MFA program at the Bennington Writing Seminars and from summer workshops at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Tin House, and Napa Valley (among others). Since those years of formal training, I’ve launched To the Lighthouse, and every book I read with a book group or for an author event – a few hundred since I began that work in 2018 – I analyze through a craft lens. At this point, I can’t help it; it’s baked into how I read.

As a way to allow other writers to benefit from this deep dive into craft, I’m offering a three-month Summer Novel Intensive, designed both to facilitate your mastery of essential craft elements and to give you an opportunity to workshop your pages.

If you're interested in making a serious commitment to your book this summer, this course is for you. Read on!

The course offers three pillars of support for your writing: extensive explorations of a wide variety of craft issues, to hone your writing skills; peer workshopping, to give and receive detailed editorial feedback on each other’s work; and a forum for reporting on your progress through a clearly-articulated writing plan, to make sure you stay on track. 

The Craft Discussions

In the first six weeks, we’ll tackle the basics of craft. Topics include openings, point of view, stakes, setting, character development, dialogue, pacing, tension, and structure. For each lesson, I’ll draw from a variety of sources, to present the topic from different and sometimes conflicting angles. By bringing you a wide range of advice, I hope to both deepen and broaden your perspective on the week’s craft issues. Each topic will be examined on all scales, from its execution at the sentence level to its establishment over the course of the whole work. And since one of the best ways to consider an element of craft is to witness it done well, we’ll examine outstanding examples (distributed in advance) from a range of novels.

For instance, in a discussion on point of view, we might hear from Francine Prose and Charles Johnson on getting each word right, Matthew Spektor on modulating distance, Christopher Castellani on the art of perspective, and James Wood on moving from one character to another. As examples of mastery, we might look at readings from the roving thirds in The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh and The Promise by Damon Galgut and the conflicting ones in Home Fire by Kamila Shamsi; the second-person chapter in The Other Americans by Laila Lalami; and the first-person confessional mode of Absolution by Alice McDermott.

The Workshop

Starting in mid-July, we’ll pivot to a workshop format. Each student will have an opportunity to submit up to 30 pages of their manuscript for review. Each submission will receive a one-hour discussion, as well as detailed line edits and a cover letter from every student and from me.

Accountability

The third pillar of the course is accountability. The best way to improve our writing is to write, and (often) the best remedy for writer's block is to keep showing up despite its discomforts. To that end, a regular writing practice is integral to the course. At our first meeting, we’ll discuss the different formats your writing practice might take, and you’ll articulate your own goals and commit to a specific and concrete plan. You’ll be expected to stick to the writing practice you design or modify it as needed to meet your goals. Each class will begin with your report on the week’s writing. Group accountability serves everyone. Your commitment and successes will inspire your fellow writers, and their diligence and breakthroughs can be a much-needed tailwind for your own work.

The Intensive is designed for writers who are either beginning a new project or substantially revising and adding to an existing manuscript. If this is the summer you’d like to make major progress on your book, the course will support you in every way in finishing a first draft of your novel.

To support a revision, I’m also offering a Fall Novel Intensive, where we’ll explore more advanced craft topics, including the art of revision, subtext, layering, scene vs. summary, thematic and symbolic elements, and experimental structures. The workshop will allow for a 50-page submission from every student.

After both intensives, you should end the year with an established writing practice, a complete manuscript – including eighty workshopped pages – and the tools you need to revise the rest.

To be sure the Intensive is a good fit, you must apply. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.