Revision Play Day

Sunday, March 7th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.     San Francisco
$95 members/$110 non-members  

“Writing a rough first draft often feels more like play than work,” says Jane Underwood. “The words flow or even burst out, and you can be swept up in the thrill of simply getting something, anything down onto paper.

“Revision, on the other hand, tends to come in fits and starts, and to many beginners (or even pros!) feels more like work than play. But if you want to be a serious writer, you’ve got to rise to the revision challenge. You must go back and add more. Or, conversely, go back and subtract. You also have to think about things like order and structure and, god forbid, what you’re really trying to say. The list goes on. Your revision options are so numerous they can be downright daunting. But guess what: it doesn’t have to be that way. Revision can be pleasurable, exciting, and even fun. Yep, fun.

One thing that helps is to take it just one step at a time.  Don’t try to tackle revision from every angle all at once, willy nilly. This workshop will help you do just that because we’ll be focusing on one element of revision only: how to write more. So bring a piece of work that you’d like to flesh out, expand or deepen, and be prepared to surprise yourself with all that you didn’t know you still had left to say.

Feel free to bring a laptop (with a fully charged battery). Otherwise, come armed with plenty of  paper and a favorite pen.

Jane Underwood, founder of The Writing Salon, has been a writer, editor and teacher for 35 years. Her poetry, essays, erotica and creative nonfiction pieces have appeared in numerous periodicals, anthologies and on stage.  In addition to running the Writing Salon for the last eleven years, she has taught many workshops in personal essay writing and for the last five years has led “Daily Write Round Robin” classes.