A Nonfiction & Personal Essay Workshop
Few readers think about the hidden hand of the editors but nearly every great writer’s work has benefited from a sensitive and skilled editor: the legendary Thomas Wolfe had Maxwell Perkins; acclaimed biographer Robert Caro has Robert Gottlieb; even the punctilious John McPhee has depended first on William Shawn at the New Yorker and now David Reznick.
Can writers learn to think more like editors as they evaluate their own work? Yes, and increasingly, they will have to. In the 21st century, some overburdened book editors must be fast-moving buying agents rather than slow line-editors, while newspaper and magazine editors are often too pressed for time to give a piece the thorough, multi-draft review they’d prefer to. This means across the board, editors are more likely to accept work that is already polished and publication-ready.
In this workshop, attendees will learn how to wield an editor’s skill-set to sharpen their self-evaluation skills, strengthen their writing, and increase productivity. Attendees will learn how a professional editor approaches a submission by reading actual first-drafts of published short works. Through examining successive passes, attendees will glean how the editors communicated with their writers to refine the work. Attendees will also learn an editor’s tricks for quickly identifying problems and marking up copy. At the same time, the workshop will help refine the inner editor’s voice by exploring concepts critical to successful nonfiction storytelling—reporting, voice, structure, analysis, and pacing.
After a lecture, attendees will pair up to apply their new editorial skills to each other’s work, learning how to build trust and generate unbiased and structured commentary. Through a number of short exercises designed to remove ego and authorship from the analysis, attendees will then try to interrogate their own work from a comfortable remove.
Creating constructive and expedient criticism requires great skill; with a new vocabulary and fresh strategies, writers will learn how to be kind yet firm with themselves.
+ PLEASE BRING A 500- to 800-word unpublished essay or nonfiction story for analysis, a writing tablet, and a few pens.
With a degree in political science from Barnard College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, Rachel Slade began her journalism career as the design editor at Boston magazine and moved up the masthead to executive editor, where she wrote and edited a broad range of award-winning long-form pieces. After a decade on staff, she stepped down to write Into the Raging Sea, a NYT notable book of 2018, and one of NPR’s best reads of the year. This winter, she joined the Boston Globe as the editor of the Ideas section, where she assigns and edits essays on a variety of challenging topics. Her nonfiction magazine work, as both a writer and editor, has earned considerable national recognition, including more than a dozen City and Regional Magazine awards.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via PayPal. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel.
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QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Hannah Perry at hannah@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print the registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer two full scholarships to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due on April 13 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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