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.

Finding Inspiration for Your Writing

 ~ By Laura Oliver

Laura Oliver, M.F.A., is the author of The Story Within: NewInsights and Inspiration for Writers. Her essays and short stories appear in numerous regional and national periodicals such as The Washington Post, Country Living, and Glimmer Train. She has taught Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and currently teaches writing at St. John’s College. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her work has won numerous distinctions, including a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction. Her M.F.A. is from Bennington College.

As a long-time teacher of creative writing, and the author of The Story Within, New Insights and Inspiration for Writers (Penguin/Random House), I am often asked how writers can maintain their momentum when a workshop ends, or when the going gets slow on a long-term project like a memoir or novel. Writing is like exercise in that it’s difficult to make yourself begin, but you are never sorry that you invested the time in the end; you just feel better. And as with exercise, I have found that there are tools that can be used to make getting started or maintaining a writing practice easier. Think about it this way: if you’re going for a run, you crank up your playlist. Well, if you’re sitting down to write, you swap the idea of “discipline” for “inspiration.” 

How do you find what inspires you? A good starting point is finding a unique and safe place to write in which you surround yourself with tokens of past successes. Your inspiration doesn’t have to come from a framed acceptance letter or book jacket poster—the red ribbon you won in third grade for the standing broad jump will work just as well.  Reminders of previous success, like feelings of gratitude, put the writer in receiving mode. Additionally, rereading your best work activates your creative-right-brain by connecting you to your most authentic voice. Likewise, reading works from authors who you love can also be inspiring, as can using a book of prompts, or even going for a walk. I also suggest giving yourself a time limit for writing. Thinking, “I’m going to write with abandon for just 10 minutes”—mutes the internal critic and makes the task feel manageable. You’ll say to yourself: “Ten minutes? I can do anything for ten minutes.” Then, ten minutes often magically extends to 20, and then 40.  Additionally, joining an informal writing group can be motivating because it ensures that your work is read. 

Some of the most lasting sources of inspiration for writers are writing conferences, which are usually one-day events that offer a variety of lectures, workshops, and opportunities to learn from other well-published and critically-acclaimed writers. Attending a writer’s conference is like reading an anthology because you are simultaneously exposed to many experts and topics in just one day. You also have the advantage of meeting and socializing with other writers who can provide you with a wealth of information—the techniques they use to write, the places they’ve published where you might like to submit as well, their recommendations on great books on craft, and their knowledge of ongoing writing groups. You’ll see firsthand that writers are not depressed recluses but mothers and fathers, professionals from all walks of life, and totally ordinary people who observe life with a keen eye, are acutely self-aware, and who long to connect with others. Writers write not because they want to escape the world, but because they love it. 

To provide Capitol area writers with more tips to add to their toolkits, my colleague at St. John's College, Lynn Schwartz, and I are hosting our third annual Writing Intensive Workshop on June 3 from 9:15 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the historic St. John’s College Campus in Annapolis, Maryland. The program will feature Pulitzer-Prize winning instructors, as well as a variety of workshops. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon coffee, and a networking wine reception are included. Click the following link to register and to learn more. Instruction and inspiration await!  

https://www.sjc.edu/annapolis/programs/spring-writing-intensive