Pushing Through: Carrying Your Manuscript Over the Finish Line

This six-week course is designed to help students finish a draft of a fiction or non-fiction manuscript. We’ll read craft essays about drafting a book, set aside time each week to discuss problems we’re having with manuscripts, and design a schedule for each student to ensure everyone addresses the issues specific to their draft.

This class will be craft focused with practical applications for finishing a draft, but we will also focus on many of the psychological issues that come up when nearing the end of a draft of a large project. The setup of our sessions will be mostly discussion based, but there will be lectures every week about different problems we face when nearing the end of a draft. We will build a supportive environment so that students may come to class with issues their facing with their writing and find encouragement and solutions.

General course schedule:

Week 1: We’ll spend the class going over how to assess the manuscript in its current state so students can determine and what needs to be written and revised to finish the draft by the end of the course.

Week 2: We’ll discuss how to write a book map or outline so you can see how to fill in the gaps in the work. We’ll also troubleshoot how to make sure enough time and space is set aside so the manuscript draft can be completed.

Week 3: We’ll negotiate how to reassess our individual schedules so we can be realistic with the time afforded us. We’ll also discuss how to focus on the right task to make sure we don’t get mired down in the details before a draft is complete.

Week 4: This week will be spent determining what fears and anxieties are keeping the students from finishing their draft and what may come up once the draft is completed.

Week 5: We will discuss “modes of editing.” As writers, we can’t focus on tension, language, character development, and line edits all at the same time. We’ll cover how to read through the manuscript for one issue at a time, allowing the writer to fully fix a problem before moving on.

Week 6: This final week will be spent covering the “next steps” of completing a manuscript draft. We’ll talk how to incorporate notes from beta readers, how to research and query lit agents, and how to find a publisher (from big 5 to self-publishing.

Access Program
We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.

Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.

Apply here for the liaison position.