Description:
So you've completed the first draft of a middle grade or YA novel. Now what? You know the next step is revision… but how? Should you start at the beginning and just go page by page? Tackle one element in full (first character, then voice, then plot)? And how do you do it - should you rewrite what’s there, or open a new document and start fresh? In this workshop, senior editor Kat Brzozowski will help you embark on your revision journey. From making a revision roadmap to setting your revision compass, this workshop will help you craft a clear, actionable plan for taking your book where it needs to go. We’ll look at how authors polished up their pages to make them publication-ready, set our own plans about how we’ll bring our revision dreams to life, and apply the tools we’ve learned to works in progress in real time.
Skill Level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
Beginner/Intermediate
This workshop is best for participants…
- Who have a completed draft of a middle grade or YA novel (or non-fiction text) they wish to revise.
- Who know they need to revise, but don’t know how - or even where to start.
Prerequisites and Advanced Preparation:
Please come prepared to write, read, share, and participate! You’ll need either a hard copy of a chapter of your work in progress and something to write with or a laptop. Come with a completed first draft, but don’t worry if you don’t think it’s good enough (yet!) to read aloud; sharing your work is totally optional. Please come with an open mind, a good attitude, and questions you need answered!
Schedule:
- Introduction to the group - 5 minutes
- Introduction of revision roadmap - 15 minutes
- Reading pages of “before and after” revised work - 5 minutes
- Discussing “before and after work” in small groups - 15 minutes
- Debriefing of small group discussion - 15 minutes
- Coffee/food/bathroom break - 10 minutes
- Setting your revision compass - how do we embark on our revision journey? - 15 minutes
- Small group meetings to discuss our revision compasses - 15 minutes
- Debrief of small group discussion - 15 minutes
- Coffee/food/bathroom break - 10 minutes
- Revising your work - 20 minutes
- Sharing and discussing revised work - 25 minutes
- Q&A - 15 minutes
Objectives:
Participants will:
- Craft a “revision roadmap” that pinpoints where the book is, where it needs to go, and what stops exist along the way
- Set their revision compasses, identifying four major points of revision needed in their own work
- Read and analyze pre-revision and post-revision pages from published MG and YA works, discussing what authors change (and what they keep the same!) as they revise their work
- Meet in small groups to take deep dives into the craft of revision and debrief the larger group on what they’ve discovered and discussed
- Revise their work in real time using our revision roadmaps and revision compasses
- Share their pre-revision and post-revision work aloud and get feedback from the instructor and fellow classmates
- Have the opportunity to ask questions on everything from revision, the publishing business, the acquisition process, and more!
- Learn from their instructor, their fellow classmates, and published authors!
