What is Revision Season?
Revision Season is a seven-week, virtual master class in novel revision led by award-winning author Elana K. Arnold. Each week, Elana sends you a video lecture and transcript, followed by a series of assignments designed to help you put the week’s lessons into practice. A weekly live call (recorded if you need to listen later) gives writers the opportunity to ask specific questions. And a private, moderated forum provides a space for Revision Season writers to connect with and learn from each other. By the end of Revision Season, writers will have the tools they need to deepen, enrich, and grow their current manuscript into its next incarnation.
Who is it for?
Revision Season is best suited for people who have completed or have nearly completed the first draft of a novel in any genre or age category, from middle grade through adult. Memoirists and verse novelists are also welcome.
What’s the curriculum?
Week Zero
Even before we meet, you’ll engage with your draft in a series of passes. This can take a week or longer, if you have extra time between registering for the class and our start date. We’ll call this “pre” work time Week Zero. This week will not include a video call but will include a written response to your packet work.
Week One
An important part of being a writer is making a practice of celebrating each milestone and then recommitting to the next leg of the journey. This week, writers will engage in a series of challenges to Celebrate and Take Stock of both the work and themselves.
Weeks Two & Three
“Triage” comes from the French word meaning “to sort.” In the medical world, it has to do with assigning an order of wound care in the E.R. Together, we will explore how and why you can critically examine your draft’s needs and order their repair in a way that makes sense to you. We will examine all the major “systems” of your book’s body.
Week Four
This week, we’ll take a step back to look at the shape of it all: Scenes, Structure, and Story Arcs. Writers will gain insight about how revising a scene can be a microcosm of novel-length revision.
Week Five
Here, we’ll think about plot and its intersection with other elements of storytelling craft. We will consider how we can lean into and build on our manuscript’s existing plot strengths, and we will explore a series of techniques that can be used to increase tension, raise stakes, and intensify any story. Then, we’ll take a close look at how to find the right ending–and the right beginning–for your book. A series of exercises will help writers determine where and when they can employ each of these tools.
Week Six
What does it all mean? This week, we will take a unique, complex exploration through the idea of Theme to better understand how coming to terms with your story’s thematic heart will allow you to deepen its emotional resonance.
Week Seven
Art, Craft, and Business come together this week as we explore the connections between drafting, revising, and finding a home for your work, including a discussion of agents, editors, community, and pitching.
And, we’ll explore the creative germinations that have begun to sprout throughout the time we’ve spent together—what other story ideas have found their way to you, and how can you recommit to finishing your revision while nurturing new ideas, as well?
Will my work get read and critiqued?
Aside from an initial letter, writers do not submit work. Revision Season provides a large amount of material, both in video lectures and written Packet Work, that is designed to guide writers though the revision process and help each writer deepen and grow their work.
Revision Season writers may find other writers in the Forum with whom they’d like to exchange work, though there will be no obligation to do so.
Who is Elana K Arnold?
Elana writes books for and about children and teens. Among other honors, her novel Damsel was a Printz Honor Winner and a finalist for the California Book Award; What Girls are Made Of was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award and the California Book Award and the winner of the Golden Kite Award; and her middle grade novel A Boy Called BAT was a 2018 Global Read Aloud selection and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Elana holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing/Fiction from the University of California, Davis and teaches in Hamline University’s MFAC program.
Elana deeply believes that humans are storytelling animals, and that everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest grown-up, has stories worth telling.
“Elana K. Arnold is one of the finest writers I’ve had the pleasure of working with—and it’s no coincidence that she’s also one of the finest revisers. The skill, perspective, and fearlessness that she brings to the task of digging into her own work and emerging with something stronger, more exciting, and more unexpected would be an asset to any writer, seasoned or developing.”
—Jordan Brown, Executive Editor
Walden Pond Press & Balzer + Bray
HarperCollins Children’s Books
When is the next Revision Season?
The Spring 2024 Session is now open.
The Spring 2024 Session officially begins April 7 and runs until the last live call on May 30. However, writers will receive the Week Zero work upon enrollment!
How much does it cost?
The cost for the course is $950, payable in 4 monthly installments of $237.50, or in full. Each season, a number of full scholarships are offered. Subscribe for updates to learn more.
What are people saying?
