Writers in Paradise

Faculty: Major Jackson

In addition to manuscript discussion and critique, in this generative workshop, composed of in-class writing exercises and close readings of poems that model risk-taking, we will write exploratory drafts that push us towards next-level thinking and emotional breakthroughs. Students will enter a community of writers whose collective aim is to forward our growth as writers by crafting both our feelings and our language.

Please submit up to 10 pages of poetry.

Required format for writing samples:

1. All poems must be submitted as one document.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial, single-spaced.
3. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
4. Titles of each poem should appear in all caps and each new poem should start on a new page.

Faculty:  Michael Koryta

The workshop is open to both fiction and nonfiction writers who are interested in improving their storytelling and broadening their range of techniques. Focus will be on how the handling of core issues such as character, plot, tension, and emotion are imperative regardless of the form, and demonstrating that fiction writers can benefit from seeing how journalistic techniques can add depth and realism to their own work, while nonfiction writers can benefit from learning how to build scenes, create suspense, and use dialogue. (A properly formatted screenplay opening of up to 25 pp will also be considered.)

In a single file, submit up to 25 pages of a book-length work in fiction, nonfiction or memoir, plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

Required format for writing samples:

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial. 
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 pages of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit manuscript + 1-p synopsis as a single file (with synopsis as final page).
9. If submitting the opening of a screenplay, please be sure to use proper standard screenplay format.
    

Faculty: Ann Hood



In this workshop, we will read and discuss published essays every day to examine what makes a good piece of memoir writing. We will then critique pages from your own memoirs and essays with an eye toward revision.



In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a memoir-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p 26). Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the memoir and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

Required format for writing samples:

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author's name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25pp will be read and considered.
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit manuscript and synopsis as a single file.

Faculty:  Madeleine Blais

Whether you are working on a personal story, an historical account, a biography, or some combination, your work is going to need a narrative arc, which can be challenging in nonfiction. Our group will work on ways to create an engine for your prose—-on how to turn a situation into a story (especially tricky in memoir). We will spend time devising strategies to create lively prose. A special emphasis will be placed on publication options and on generating future subject matter so that you will leave the conference armed with new ideas and enthusiasm.

Your 25 sample pages can be the opening chapter of a longer work or a self-contained article-sized piece of 25 pages or less (plus a 1-p synopsis).


In a single file, submit one or more essays plus a 1-page synopsis (as the final page).  The entire submission should not exceed 26 pages (25 + 1p synopsis).  Synopsis should include if your submission is/are stand-alone piece(s) or part of a collection, where we are in the narrative if part of a longer work; and a brief paragraph summarizing the status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.).   


Required format for writing samples:  

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis. 
5. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If submitting from a longer work, please do not submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-pg synopsis).   
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit a single file (ms + synopsis).

Faculty:  Laura Lippman

Are there really “rules” for crime-writing? Only one: Keep the reader turning pages. Students interested in crime fiction will learn about the specialized challenges of pacing their stories, playing fair with readers and why less is often more when it comes to mysteries.


In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

Required format for writing samples:  

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the one-page synopsis. 
5. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
6. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
7. If you submit more than 25 pp (25 of manuscript + 1-pg synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
8. Do not include title pages or dedications.
9. Please submit a single file (ms + synopsis).
   
   

Faculty:  Andre Dubus III

If I teach nothing in my writing classes, I teach this: do not outline your novel or novella or short story or essay. Do not think out the plot, the narrative arc, the protagonist’s journey, whatever you want to call it. Instead, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation in which they find themselves. Do that, and I promise the story will begin to write itself, with little need for the controlling hand of the godly, intelligent, well-read, and ambitious author. But how, precisely, does one go about this “excavation”?  And how, technically speaking, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”?  Come to this workshop, and I will seek to demystify those writerly tools and skills that time and time again, if they are sharp enough, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve, can penetrate the mystery of story itself.


In a single file, submit one or more short stories of no more than 25 pages total.  No synopsis necessary.

Required format for writing samples:

1. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman and Arial.
2. Margins must be 1 inch.
3. Manuscript must be double-spaced and contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
4. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
5. If you submit more than 25 pages, only the first 25 pp will be read and considered. 
6. Do not include title pages or dedications.
7. Please submit in a single file.

Faculty:  Anjanette Delgado

A World of Our Own: Moving Into Your Novel So You Can Finish It

It's possible the number one reason some of us can’t finish our long-form stories is that we keep trying to write the world of our novels while continuing to live and think only from the perspective of this world. 

But what if, rather than plotting or outlining, you first created so much of your novel’s world that you could (almost) move right in, live with your characters, and figure out the logical and the magical in what is driving you to write? In this workshop, we will use targeted tasks to uncover and develop your novel's plot, places, characters, themes, tone, and ambiance, as well as the momentum to propel you toward a solid, well-plotted first draft, a work that can then be revised, rewritten. A whole thing. A dish and not its ingredients.

In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).

Required format for writing samples:

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty: Stewart O'Nan

The class will be primarily a workshop.  Students will read one another’s novel excerpts, interrogating character, action, language, ideas and setting with an eye toward revision.  Participants admitted to this workshop are asked to read The Art of Revision by Peter Ho Davies as part of preparation for workshop.

In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).   


Required format for writing samples:  

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered. 
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty: Sterling Watson

We will cover as many matters of craft and art (character, theme, point-of-view, language, structure, and setting) as we can fit into the time allotted with special attention to problems and possibilities that arise from our reading of the students’ manuscripts.  Using the manuscripts as prompts, I will suspend discussion occasionally for mini-lectures and demonstrations of key ideas.  This class will help participants fashion a better synopsis and sample chapter to send out to agents.

In a single file, submit the opening 25 pages of a novel-in-progress plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the novel and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).   

Required format for writing samples:

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial.
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including the 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered. 
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Please submit manuscript + synopsis in a single file (with synopsis as final page).

Faculty: Les Standiford

This workshop will focus on the overall conception and structure of book-length projects–novel, memoir, or general interest non-fiction, either completed or in progress. Discussion will center on the clarity and substance of a summary of the project and the efficacy of the opening 25 pp, given the stated intention.

In a single file, submit up to 25 pages of a book-length work in fiction, nonfiction or memoir, plus a 1-page synopsis (as p. 26).  Synopsis should include the following: one brief paragraph summarizing the book and status of the project (i.e., unfinished first draft, completed first draft, completed draft which has undergone multiple revisions, etc.). If you are submitting a portion which appears later in the work (for example, pages 25-50), provide a detailed synopsis of the pages prior to your submission (e.g. pages 1-24).       

Required format for writing samples:  

1. Page numbers must be consecutive throughout the manuscript.
2. Font must be 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial. 
3. Margins must be 1 inch.
4. All manuscripts must be double-spaced including 1-page synopsis. All manuscripts must contain a header or footer with page numbers and author’s name.
5. No extra spacing between paragraphs except that which indicates transitions.
6. If you submit more than 26 pages (25 pages of manuscript + 1-page synopsis), only the first 25 pp will be read and considered.
7. Do not include title pages or dedications.
8. Submit manuscript + synopsis as a single file (with synopsis as final page).