Planning, [Writing], and Revising Your Middle Grade or Young Adult Novel, June 14, Westport, CT

You're working on, or getting ready to work on, a novel for young readers or teens. How can you best plan your writing, and then revise it once written? How can you know what you've written--is it a middle-grade or YA novel? Or maybe even something else? Do you want feedback on your work in progress from a professional editor? This is the workshop for you.

This all-day workshop with optional critique will be held at Write Yourself Free in Westport, CT, on June 14: $175 early-bird registration fee through May 19. Scroll down for more details, including the schedule, and for registration and payment information and links. Limited to 16 participants and no more than 12 critiques. We will start a waiting list when the workshop fills up.

On the day: Bring three copies of 10 pages or a chapter from manuscript to work on/with during hands-on exercises. You will receive, free of charge, a copy of the class "textbook": Make a Scene, by Jordan Rosenfeld. Recommended, as additional background reading: A Family of Readers, ed. by Roger Sutton and Martha Parravano.

Optional advance reading for market discussion:

Schedule:

9:00 - Welcome, introductions, and review of schedule.

9:15 - Introduction: The Reader's Response: your manuscript, your readers, and the key differences between chapter books, MG, YA, and adult (and what about New Adult, anyway?).

10:00 - Planning the Plot and Revision Mapping: theory and useful exercises, including story grids, outlines, and more.

10:45 - Planning and Revising Character and Setting: theory and useful exercises, including character checklists, setting up setting, and tracking a character's development.

11:30 - Critique Groups and Beta Readers: your first responders and how best to use them.

Manuscripts for those who signed up for critiques returned with comments immediately before lunch. Sign-up sheet available at lunchtime in case people want to do impromptu critique groups or work with partners, etc., during 3:30 to 5 individual meetings with HU and ER.

12:00 - Lunch. Lunch on your own. There are plenty of options in the area.

1:30 - Big Picture Revising: Some techniques and what they do for you.

2:15 - Sweating the Small Stuff: Yes, the details matter! Again, techniques and what they do for you. We will try out some of the techniques [examples: being read to, color-coding, word graphic, reading backward]

3:00 - Writing time guided by insights from our notes, OR spontaneous critiquing. During this time those students who signed up for a critique will meet briefly one-on-one with Eileen or Harold to discuss the direction of their manuscript--next steps, goals, how to apply what you learned today. This session may be flipped with the following one to allow for early departures, if the group wants.

4:30-5:30 - Lessons Learned--what you've learned about yourself, what do you do next? The importance of reading. The "Market." Discussion. Final questions.

Registration and payment Sign up by emailing Kids Book Revisions with your name, address, the title of your manuscript, and a brief description of it. Payment can be made via the Write Yourself Free (SM) website (the link will take you to a page where you can pay by credit card), or you can mail a check made out to The Editing Company, LLC, to this address: 252 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880 (please let us know in your email which you intend to do). If we receive your sign-up email and payment by May 19, the workshop costs $175: after that date, the price will be $225.

For an additional fee, if you want a critique from us, submit your manuscript by email. Send it as an attachment (Word (.doc or .rtf) format, following these guidelines for manuscript format). It can be up to 75 pages, and you may also include a synopsis/outline and mocked-up query letter. Please also pay via Paypal; the link takes you to Paypal to pay using your Paypal account or by credit card. If you prefer to send a check by mail, let us know in your email and we will provide a mailing address. One of us will review the manuscript in advance of the workshop, write up our comments, and meet with you to discuss them for 15 minutes at the workshop.

As a final bonus, workshop students are also eligible for a discounted full critique at a flat fee of $2 per standard manuscript page. You choose the editor with whom you would like to work. This offer must be taken up within 6 months of the workshop.

Refunds: Full refunds are available for the workshop if you need to cancel at any time up to two weeks before the workshop. After that date, refunds are at our discretion. Critique fees are not refundable, but if you cannot attend we will provide our written comments and discuss them by phone. In the event the workshop is canceled or postponed, full refunds will be given.

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