Sign up for the Writers’ Inlet Revision Retreat.

WRITERS’ INLET VIRTUAL RETREAT: THE DEEP REVISION MINES

GEAR UP FOR AN EXCAVATION INTO REVISION SAT JULY 24 – SAT JULY 31 2021

Fees: $365 $335.00.

If all good writing is rewriting, why does revision get such a bad rap? It’s time to set the record straight. We’ll shatter “first thought best thought” myths, and discuss how all good writing is rewriting. Through live Zoom craft talks, video tutorials, interviews with published writers, and interactive discussion threads on revision’s pros and cons, we’ll tunnel through the bedrock of theme, shine the light on multiple character facets, and tap into rich veins of story world. The deeper you dig, the better you’ll become at determining which gems to mine and which to leave behind.

Soon you’ll arrive at the core of what you know to be true: good writing is clear thinking. Revision is a clarifying act–it’s not an occasion for claustrophobia. Get accustomed to the depths, and emerge with your draft’s treasures.

The retreat core consists of four session topics.

Craft Intensive Deep Revision Sessions (LIVE Zoom Talk + Blackboard Post).

Includes three live videoconference talks, Mon/Wed/Fri at 10:30 a.m. Turn craft techniques like theme, character arc, plot points, causality, titling, dilemma and story world into tools for revision. Those revision tools can be delicate as a pickaxe or blunt as a blast. We’ll discuss how to use the right tools for the job so the path doesn’t collapse in top of you–but if it does, it’s time to close that tunnel and build anew, relying on structure tips along the way to reconstruction. Read the topic’s blackboard post before each Craft Intensive Talk and share your thoughts on the discussion threads.

Concept Crystallizing Sessions.

Includes three video series and two live Zoom meetings designed to crystalize the concept of revision in your mind so you can apply it to your writing practice and on the page.

- - The Mythblasting Video Series. Blast through myths like “I’ll ruin it if I rewrite it,” “the more conflict the better,” and “revision means polishing my sentences, over and over again,” to get closer to the truth of revision. Face it–deep revision isn’t tinkering. You’re not just polishing a scene’s edges, reworking sentences or tweaking plot points. You won’t really improve your story until you dig deep enough to take it to the breaking point, then put it back together again. Come banish your claustrophobia, acclimate to the work at hand, and discover the true treasures that come with the rewarding & invigorating work required of all good writers. Embrace excavation and the spirit of “seeing again” even when you feel like you’re in the dark.
  - The Revision Drill Tutorial Series. [COMPLETED TUTORIAL MATERIAL WILL BE SHARED AFTER THE LIVE RETREAT] This revision tutorial includes downloadable worksheets with exercises you can apply directly to your WIP. You’ll work through exercises for building scene outlines, character webs, set up-payoff checklists, plot point referents, and nodes of connection between character, theme, setting & action. The titling tutorial will help you test out titles that that clarify your vision and may even tap into your novel’s deepest themes.
  - Hidden Gems Video Series. Angela admires gems of revision from established writers and holds them up to the light to examine their facets. The quotes focus on the revision process, and perseverance.
  - LIVE on Zoom–Retreat in Review :Touchstone Talk (midpoint of the retreat) & The Gems of Deep Revision Talk (final facets at the end of the retreat). Crystalize key revision concepts in your mind, writing practice, and on the page.

LIVE Writing Sessions.

Write in shared solitude and keep yourself accountable. Log in at designated times, commit to 45 minutes of timed writing live on Zoom with peers, log your progress and log out.

Masterminer LIVE Interview Sessions.

Students Angela coached on their way to publication share deep revision tips.

Click here for the retreat schedule.

EXTRAS

BONUSES (updated 7/24/21): All writers build up their Masterminers Stockpile, session to session, and at the end of the retreat take away a few extras too:

- - - Craft Intensive Power Point PDFs
    - Revision Drill Worksheet PDFs
    - Masterminer Interview Recordings
    - Revision Mythblasting Bonus Links
    - Deep Revision Mines Reading Lists (links to books & articles included in the Resource Trove lists on the DRM pages)
    - Touchstones of Deep Revision & Gems of Deep Revision Tip Sheets (will be added post-retreat)
    - Replays of all Live Zoom Sessions

Fees: $365 $335.00.

Contact Angela via email to register: angela.rydell@gmail.com.

Sign up for Writers’ Inlet Newsletter to get craft tips, links to the writing world at large, and retreat & workshop notifications.

**All retreat participants agree to Zoom session recordings and the distribution of Zoom Replays for current and future Writers’ Inlet courses.**