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You've got a draft - congratulations! That’s a big milestone, but you’re also likely recognizing how much more work there is to get this draft to align with your final vision of the piece. In this workshop, we'll learn techniques for the most important part of writing: revision. We’ll follow Jane Smiley’s advice and “have faith that what you arrive at will be better than what you began with–that is, more complex, more interesting, and more valuable to you and to the reader.” This workshop is for writers of any genre who have a draft they’d like to improve. Using techniques from a TV writer’s room to help identify expected elements of a story like yours, we’ll create a revision map, and go through techniques step by step, providing you with ample opportunity for in-workshop writing time as well as optional sharing.

Tessa Fontaine is the author of THE ELECTRIC WOMAN: A MEMOIR IN DEATH-DEFYING ACTS (FSG, 2018), a New York Times Editors' Choice; Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, and best book of the year by Southern Living, Refinery29, Amazon Editors', and The New York Post. THE RED GROVE (FSG, 2024), her debut novel, was named a best book by People Magazine, Alta, and Amazon Editors’, and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Other writing can be found in Outside, The New York Times, Glamour, AGNI, The Believer, People, LitHub, Creative Nonfiction, and more. Raised outside San Francisco, Tessa teaches in Warren Wilson’s MFA program, and co-founded and teaches the Accountability Workshops with writer and pal Annie Hartnett. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her daughter, goofy dog and sassy cat.