The Novel Year: Info Session July 29

By Henry Shuldiner

 

Novel Year Info Session

Sat, 29 Jul, 2017 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Join us for a free information session on our third annual Novel Year Program. Starting September 12, serious novelists who have completed a draft of their manuscript will have the opportunity to workshop their entire novel over the course of a year. This year's instructor is Susan Coll, who is the author of five novels. Learn all about the structure of the workshop, and get to know Susan! Please RSVP to laura.spencer@writer.org

One of the most exciting workshops we offer is The Novel Year Program, a year-long intensive that gives novelists the opportunity to finish, polish, and prepare to publish their novels. The small group of 10 meets bi-weekly and is similar in structure and rigor to an M.F.A. program but lacks the expense and time commitment that such programs require. Also, unlike M.F.A. programs, authors will workshop their entire manuscripts with feedback from other members of the group and the workshop leader, Susan Coll.

Susan Coll

Coll is a five-time published novelist who has taught courses at The Writer’s Center for more than 12 years. At the start of her career, she worked as a journalist and submitted short stories to publishers, but only accumulated rejection letters for the latter. Coll eventually sold a short story to the BBC, which encouraged her to tackle her first novel. “It was still a long road from there to getting published,” Coll said. “But I was always a glass half-full kind of person, and the small successes along the way kept me going.”

The Novel Year Program is best suited for writers who have either finished a manuscript or have at least 75 pages of a novel in progress. During the course, students will have the chance to workshop over 300 pages of their book. Participants also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers, including published authors and an agent. The course is broken down into two segments, fall and spring. The fall segment includes occasional exercises in craft, and the spring is more focused on the “nuts and bolts of publishing” according to Coll.

Spreading the class out over a year gives writers the “chance to revise and take the long view of what they are working on,” Coll said. Due to the length of the class, it’s important for her to maintain a supportive environment in the classroom, which can be difficult at times. “It’s hard to be on the other end of a critique, and I’ve emphasized to my students that they are there to help one another construct the best possible versions of whatever they are working on,” she said.

The critiquing aspect, while difficult at times, is essential to the editing process. It helps writers build trust in the individuals editing the stories and bolster their relationships as critics. One of the most rewarding parts of the class was “the way the group bonded” said Coll. “We had a lot of fun [last year], and people seemed genuinely disappointed when we took a break for the holidays; I think some good friendships and possibly some ongoing writing groups have formed.”

The only change Coll plans to make to this year’s course is to extend  meetings through June and meet every other week rather than every week. “This will give students more breathing room to read manuscripts and to work on their own books,” Coll said. Individual consultations will be offered in July after the classroom portion of the class ends. The schedule of the class will be as follows:

Fall: Every other Tuesday, from September 12 - December 12

Winter/Spring: Every other Tuesday from January 16 – June 26

Summer: Individual check-ins with instructor in July

Interested students are required to submit a cover letter and 25 sample pages of their work. Admission to the course will be on a rolling basis, and the number of participants will be limited to 10, so participants are encouraged to submit early. If you are interested in this class, please send your submission to laura.spencer@writer.org.

National Novel Writing Month

A Literary Marathon Running Thirty Days and Nights

By Sonja Patterson

“Deadlines are the most inspiring thing of all; forget lost love and people dying,” says Fran Healy, front-man of the band Travis, who plans, according to the NY Post, to end each live show on their month-long tour with a song written the previous night. Although he was referring to songwriting, his words are just as relevant to all forms of writing.

November is National Novel Writing Month and “all about the magical power of deadlines,” says founder Chris Baty. He is responsible for setting the ultimate writing deadline: Writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. “NaNoWriMo,” as participants call it, started in 1999 in San Francisco and the project has since grown to a large online following. In 2008, they had over 119,000 people participate around the world (despite its name, it’s now international), and more than 21,683 of them made it to the 50k finish line.

“As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel,” says their web site.

Forcing you “to lower your expectations, take risks and write on the fly,” the quantity-over- quality-kamikaze approach seems to be working. There are plenty of success stories; a growing number of novels started there found publishers, including one New York Times #1 Bestseller! For a complete list, click here.

Writing a novel is a lot like running a marathon. A literary marathon, involving the mind and fingers, instead of the lungs and calf muscles. Wordcount functions as milemarkers. Pacing is everything, exercising your mind, testing your endurance, and proving your status as “novelist.” Writer’s block is equivalent to a fallen tree, steep hill, or fatigue. Typing “THE END” equivalent to tearing through the finish line ribbon.

If you are one of the many who say, “Someday I’m going to write a novel.” Don’t wait for a New Year’s resolution, a birthday wish, or an optimistic Sunday morning. Your day—or month—has come. All writers started somewhere, so take your first step. Go write! And fine tune your manuscript at The Writer’s Center – all new workshops are listed on www.writer.org!

Sonja Patterson is on staff at The Writer’s Center.