Announcement! Free YA workshop coming to a computer near you!

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I’m back, my friends!  Did you miss me? I missed you! (Though please be patient if you emailed me… It’ll take some time to get through them all.)

So, I believe I promised some exciting news today. ::clears throat::

Oh! Wait…

First, I’ve got a post on Let the Words Flow explaining some revelations I had during my internet break…

And, while I’ve got you here, I just have to share this video of Russian hilarity…

Ooh, and let me tell you about–HA! Just kidding, I’ll stop dragging out the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT SUSPENSE.

Drum roll, please.

On July 5th, my soul-twin of WIN/amazing author of Queen of Glass/fellow Apocalypsie, Sarah J. Maas, and I will be hosting a workshop!

The workshop will be FREE and 2 weeks long. There are a handful of requirements, and you must be both willing and able to commit some time.  But not only is this gratis, but you’ll also get the first 10 pages of your manuscript AND your query letter critiqued by us.

But, here’s the important thing to note: we are only accepting 6 students. If the workshop is a success (which we hope it is), we will teach it again.  In other words, if you don’t get in on this round, you can always try again later.

Also, if you have any questions, you can email me: susan (at) susandennard (dot) com OR send an email to our workshop email account: Nautilus (dot) Writing (at) googlemail (dot) com

🙂

Okay, here’s everything laid out in a nice, easy to understand manner.


Writing for Young Adults Workshop

taught by Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard

with a special focus on Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Paranormal YA

Cost

Nada. It’s 100% FREE.  Yeah, you read that right.

Dates

  • Monday, June 27th — Submissions for applications will open 5 PM eastern time (2 PM Pacific time).  It is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE.
  • Tuesday, June 28th — Accepted students will receive notification via email
  • July 5th – July 15th — Workshop runs
  • July 18th — Final Assignment Due

General Information

  • The workshop will be conducted via Google Groups (in a forum style), so all Q&A will take place there as well as homework submissions.
  • There will be “homework” assigned (it is, of course, optional), and additionally, you will be applying each lesson to your first 10 pages as the workshop progresses.
  • The first 10 pages of your novel will be due on the Monday following the workshop (July 18th).
  • We will post lectures at midnight eastern time, and a day of discussion will be allowed until midnight Pacific time the following night.  In other words, each lesson (excluding the Introduction) will be allotted 2 full days of focus.
  • If you are an accepted student, you’ll receive a detailed syllabus upon acceptance.

Requirements

  • You MUST have at least 50 pages written in a manuscript, and your manuscript MUST BE YA.  Though your novel may fall into any genre, keep in mind we will be emphasizing fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal genres because these are what we write.
  • We ask that you be familiar and comfortable with Google Groups.  Because the workshop is brief, we won’t have time to deal with “technical difficulties”.
  • As stated, this is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE.  We are really sorry, but if you are not within the first 6 submissions, you will have to wait until the next workshop.

Lecture Topics

Lesson 1: Introduction to Young Adult Fiction (Tuesday, July 5th)

Lesson 2: World-building in YA (Wednesday, July 6th)

Lesson 3: Characters in YA and the Importance of Voice (Friday, July 8th)

Lesson 4: Pacing in Modern YA (Monday, July 11th)

Lesson 5: The Publishing Industry and Career Writing (Wednesday, July 13th)

Applying to the Workshop

On June 27th at 5 PM eastern time, a special post will open on our blogs.  There will be a link that will take you to a submission form.  You will fill out the form and hit send.  We will wait until we have 6 suitable applicants, and then we will close submissions.

By suitable, we mean the author has a YA manuscript and has properly filled out the submission form.

Finally, the application form will be nothing more than your contact info, a brief description of your YA novel, and a brief explanation of why you want to participate.  Feel free to prepare answers ahead of time, but don’t worry–they’ll be easy!  We just want to know more about you.

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And so there you have it.  Sarah and I have been cooking this up for a while now, and we’re SUPER excited to share it with you!!  Go forth, spread the word, and if you have any questions, ask them in the comments!

♥

Note: Because this is going to take up so much time, I will NOT do Query Day in July.   BUT, don’t worry, friends–Query Day will return in August.