Advanced Fiction Workshop with Emily Adrian
with Emily Adrian
Revise your novel or short story with a goal of publication in this eight-week online workshop led by author and editor Emily Adrian. Take part in a warm, collaborative, and productive workshop environment along side other advanced fiction writers. This course is ideal for fiction writers who regularly produce finished work, are open to receiving feedback and committed to revision, and who have experience participating in workshops.
Critically-acclaimed novelist Emily Adrian, author of The Second Season and Everything Here is Under Control, leads advanced students in rigorous, thoughtful discussions of one another’s work-in-progress. Over the course of eight weeks, you’ll submit up to 8,000 words of your own fiction to be read closely by your peers. Following the discussion of your work, you’ll choose an excerpt to revise and submit to Emily for additional written feedback and advice for publication. You’ll also receive reading recommendations tailored to your project.
Our discussions of one another’s work will take the form of close-readings. We’ll study your story’s plot, perspective, character development, structure, and themes, highlighting your draft’s strengths and weaknesses. We’ll identify your story’s tensions and determine how you might raise the stakes. We’ll discuss the qualities of fiction that hold a reader’s attention and make a submission stand out to an acquiring editor. Everyone will leave this class with a solid revision plan, publication goals, and increased confidence in receiving and giving criticism.
Learning and Writing Goals
Learning Goals:
In this class, you will learn to:
- Revise your work based on the specific, craft-based advice you receive from me and your peers with the goal of preparing it for publication.
- Identify your fiction’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Develop your close-reading skills and practice discussing work-in-progress in terms of craft.
Writing Goals
In this class, you will:
- Submit up to 8,000 words of fiction and receive verbal feedback from me and your peers.
- Establish a detailed plan for revising all 8,000 words.
- Revise and re-submit a 4,000 word sample to me for additional written feedback and advice for publication.
Zoom Schedule
Beginning Tuesday, February 20th, we will meet weekly on from 8-10 PM Eastern on Zoom.
Weekly Syllabus
Weeks 1-4
We will workshop first round submissions from two to three students each week. Following workshop, there will be a short in-class reading assignment inspired by this week’s workshop submissions. We will spend the remainder of class discussing craft. Topics will be focused on specific areas to help you revise your work to prepare for publication. I will also offer further reading recommendations.
Weeks 5-6
We will workshop second round submissions from two to three students. Following workshop, there will be a short in-class reading assignment inspired by this week’s workshop submissions. During these weeks, you will have an opportunity to read your work aloud during the call. We will spend the remainder of the call discussion your revision assignment.
Week 7
We will continue with the second round of workshop submissions from two to three students. Following workshop, there will be a short in-class reading assignment inspired by this week’s workshop submissions. You will have an opportunity to read your work aloud during the call. We will spend the remainder of the call in a Q&A session focused on preparing your work for submission and publication.
Week 8
We will finish up the second round of workshop submissions from two to three students. Following workshop, there will be a short in-class reading assignment inspired by this week’s workshop submissions. You will have an opportunity to read your work aloud during the call. We’ll end this call with a Q&A on the publishing industry. Topics may include finding an agent, where to submit your work and working with editor or publicist.
Your final revision assignment is due this week. I will provide you with written feedback by the following week.
Student Feedback for Emily Adrian:
“Emily’s class opened my eyes to so many new ways of thinking about fiction, as a reader and writer. I felt like I got to know the other writers in the class well, which is so rare for an online class, and is entirely thanks to her teaching. And Emily’s feedback on my writing was encouraging and insightful. I loved her class so much.” – Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life
“A brilliant and generous teacher, Emily Adrian has a naturally graceful way of encouraging her students’ individual gifts and strengths. The craft discussions she leads in class analyzing a fine selection of short stories are illuminating and fun. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed several of her writing courses and always come away with new insights.” – Laura Geringer Bass, author of The Girl With More Than One Heart
