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Please, no screeds or sermons.
• You started it and got stuck.
• You got a middle but not an end.
• You got a beginning but not those other two things.
• You finished it, but it’s not wonderful.
• You revised it, but it’s not ready.
• Can you or should you try to publish it?
• How would you go about that?
• What about e-publishing?
• Your work got rejected.
• Your work got accepted.
• You've been asked to read it. Out loud. —now what?
The Practical Writer
Saturday, February 23, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
How do we find the form, and how do we wrestle pieces into coherence? This one-day workshop will help you answer all those perplexing questions about writing, from composing and revising to publishing and persisting. We’ll talk about making and improving work, and about where yours goes from here. We’ll talk about submitting—the how-to and where-to of publishing—and about surviving and thriving on rejection. We’ll talk about reading—how to read your own work to an audience, and what you read as a writer.
Bring paper and pencils, work, anxieties, misgivings, and questions. We will use them all.
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Tuesday nights, 7–10 p.m. May 7–28
How tight can you tell it?
Can you really get a whole story into a paragraph or a page?
There's an art to the very short story.
And also a craft.
Learn more about both.
Pow!
Bam!
Sign up!
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Helpful, hand-picked colleagues; knowledgeable, sophisticated instruction; congenial surroundings.
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• Developmental editing—
Before it's a book, it's an idea, a set of notes, an outline, a bunch of pages. Developmental editing takes it from these beginnings to a completed manuscript, with special attention to the project's
-structure
-content
-plot
-beginning and ending
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• Copyediting—
The editor helps the writer make sure the work is
-correct
-clear
-grammatical
-not wordy
-factually accurate
-readable
-meaningful
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• Manuscript evaluation—
-Is it good?
-Is it ready?
-What now?
• General Editing—
-grammar
-spelling
-syntax
-usage
• Substantive Editing—
-organization
-coherence
• Submission guidance—
-What to send
-Where to send
• Consultation—
Proven, experienced guidance finding the right
– MFA program
– fellowship
– residency
– grant
• Informed, sophisticated help—
-Crafting better applications
-Improving chances of success
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