Revisions Workshop
How to see your work in a new light
with author & editor Nadia Jacobson
Congratulations on finishing the first draft of a story, novel, or memoir. Now all you need to do is to revise it!
"Revise it? But I just did the hard part of writing it!"
The Romantic idea of divine inspiration allowing you to create perfect lines, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge professed to have done with his poem “Kubla Khan” dies hard. In his preface to the poem, Coleridge says that the lines came to him in a dream “without any sensation or consciousness of effort”; when he awoke, he “instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved.” Coleridge omitted to mention the revisions to the poem he did make to the text — go to the British Library and see just how many changes he made! Sorry to burst your bubble, never having to edit your writing is a myth.
Occasionally you’ll write a poem or story that works with little revision needed. Treat it as a gift. That’s happened to me occasionally, but there’s no need to go on about it or your writer friends will hate you for it! James Joyce was known to drive his editor mad with last-minute edits to the galleys.
Are you just overwhelmed at the thought of revision?
Finding it difficult to edit your work because you get lost in the words?
Can’t think how best to improve the text?
Bring your work and use what you learn to practise "re-seeing" your work in each and every session. Attend the series, and you'll leave with a host of techniques to review, restructure, and edit your work on the macro and micro level.
Bring characters to life
Keep readers turning the pages
Enrich your scenes with details
Tell a good story
Take 30% payment up front
Will need to submit a script of up to xxxx words
all sessions recorded and will be able to review for 2 months.
August 3 - Voice
August 10 - Characterization & Narration
August 17 - Desire & Conflict
August 24 - Pacing (Macro and Micro)
Time: 8 PM Israel time (11AM EST)
Duration: 4 sessions of 3 hours
Cost: 2000 NIS
Bonus: developmental edit of your submission
Maximum of 8 participants
Zoom video conference: You will receive a link to the meeting after payment
Bring: Paper & pen, computer. headphones/ear buds
Testimonial
'Nadia Jacobson’s workshop on revision was an eye-opener and very encouraging. I loved her approach and general energy.
Nadia’s listening and feedback were like oxygen to the part of me that wants to create and write. (E.J.)
Being in a space with other writers, people who give priority to writing in their
lives, is a rare gift. Listening and being listened to— it’s necessary. Otherwise we’re all alone in this.' (S.G.)
Does the idea of editing your work make your eyes glaze over, give rise to a tight feeling in your chest or have you running for the hills?
Is it not knowing where to start?
Is it a fear of ruining it by throwing out the best parts?
Is it being unsure how to fix the problems you know are there?
In this Revisions workshop, we'll examine your first draft in detail together, find it's emotional heart, polish your voice, hone your strengths, add strings to your bow, and develop ways to keep your reader turning the page.
Transitions & Time
Dialogue
Theme
Openings and endings
"Revise it? But I just did the hard part of writing it!"
The Romantic idea of divine inspiration allowing you to create perfect lines, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge professed to have done with his poem “Kubla Khan” dies hard. In his preface to the poem, Coleridge says that the lines came to him in a dream “without any sensation or consciousness of effort”; when he awoke, he “instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved.” Coleridge omitted to mention the revisions to the poem he did make to the text — go to the British Library and see just how many changes he made! Sorry to burst your bubble, never having to edit your writing is a myth.
Occasionally you’ll write a poem or story that works with little revision needed. Treat it as a gift. That’s happened to me occasionally, but there’s no need to go on about it or your writer friends will hate you for it! James Joyce was known to drive his editor mad with last-minute edits to the galleys.
Are you just overwhelmed at the thought of revision?
Finding it difficult to edit your work because you get lost in the words?
Can’t think how best to improve the text?
Bring your work and use what you learn to practise "re-seeing" your work in each and every session. Attend the series, and you'll leave with a host of techniques to review, restructure, and edit your work on the macro and micro level.
Bring characters to life
Keep readers turning the pages
Enrich your scenes with details
Tell a good story
Take 30% payment up front
Will need to submit a script of up to xxxx words
all sessions recorded and will be able to review for 2 months.
August 3 - Voice
August 10 - Characterization & Narration
August 17 - Desire & Conflict
August 24 - Pacing (Macro and Micro)
Time: 8 PM Israel time (11AM EST)
Duration: 4 sessions of 3 hours
Cost: 2000 NIS
Bonus: developmental edit of your submission
Maximum of 8 participants
Zoom video conference: You will receive a link to the meeting after payment
Bring: Paper & pen, computer. headphones/ear buds
Testimonial
'Nadia Jacobson’s workshop on revision was an eye-opener and very encouraging. I loved her approach and general energy.
Nadia’s listening and feedback were like oxygen to the part of me that wants to create and write. (E.J.)
Being in a space with other writers, people who give priority to writing in their
lives, is a rare gift. Listening and being listened to— it’s necessary. Otherwise we’re all alone in this.' (S.G.)
Does the idea of editing your work make your eyes glaze over, give rise to a tight feeling in your chest or have you running for the hills?
Is it not knowing where to start?
Is it a fear of ruining it by throwing out the best parts?
Is it being unsure how to fix the problems you know are there?
In this Revisions workshop, we'll examine your first draft in detail together, find it's emotional heart, polish your voice, hone your strengths, add strings to your bow, and develop ways to keep your reader turning the page.
Transitions & Time
Dialogue
Theme
Openings and endings
BioNadia Jacobson is a Jerusalem-based writer and editor. She is a fiction editor at the Ilanot Review, an Israeli journal of creative writing in English, and served as co-Municipal Liaison for the Jerusalem region of National Novel Writing Month, 2016 (nanowrimo.org). She holds an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Bar-Ilan University, and her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in The Binnacle, Annalemma, Every Day Fiction, and a number of anthologies. A long-time member of the Jerusalem Writing Circle, she has taught creative writing at Emunah Ve’Omanut and privately, and has experience coaching writers from first draft to publication.
DetailsMinimum/Maximum No. Participants: 5/10
Cost: 120 NIS per live workshop Dates: |
Teaching Endorsements'The Story Foundations course...did exactly what you think it would: it gave me a strong foundation about the actual craft of writing, something I so needed to improve my understanding of how to build a story...helped me start thinking like a writer and more importantly thinking of myself as a Writer. I'm so excited to think about where this writing journey will take me.' (B.B.)
'This course clearly explains the components of good writing, and then makes it entirely possible for you to implement them.' (L.S.) 'Thank you both for a lovely and insightful course.' (C.D.) ''The Story Foundations workshop was terrific...I want to take it again! I know I'll still learn more. Since taking the workshop, I've been writing every day.' (T.M.) I gained the courage to write, and the insight to understand what I was writing and how best to improve it.' (S.G.) |