After the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Publishing Your Work
Presented by Emily Nemens
$50
9 a.m. to Noon
State Library
In an interview James Salter confessed “I hate the first inexact, inadequate expression of things. The whole joy of writing comes from the opportunity to go over it and make it good, one way or another.” If that sentiment resonates—or maybe even if it doesn’t ring true—we all know there is a lot of work to be done on your writing after you’ve written it.
If you’ve written a story, crafted an essay, or have a set of poems, and are facing the big question of “Now what?” this WordShop is for you.
Using real-world examples and in-session exercises, we’ll break down the process, beginning after you’ve put your thoughts to paper: talking through—and practicing—strategies for generative revision; outlining the kinds of editing you can do on your own to make your writing stronger (and what you might expect from working with an editor); and how to evaluate your own goals for the project, to most successfully submit to periodicals and publishing houses.
Emily Nemens is a New York-based writer, illustrator, and editor. Her debut novel, The Cactus League, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in February 2020 and released in paperback by Picador in 2021. The Cactus League was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, was named one of the best books of 2020 by NPR and Lit Hub, and was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Emily has served as the editor of The Paris Review and coeditor of The Southern Review. During her tenure at the former, TPR saw record-high circulation, published two anthologies, produced the second season of its acclaimed podcast, and won the 2020 American Society of Magazine Editors’ Award for Fiction. Stories she published at these quarterlies were selected for the Pushcart Prize anthology, Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize anthology, and PEN America Best Debut Fiction. Nemens grew up in Seattle and received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where she studied art history and studio art. She completed an MFA degree in fiction at Louisiana State University.
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