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The Engines of Narrative is an online prose symposium and workshop led by Elizabeth Gaffney, meeting weekly for a 2.5-hour session, plus regular drop-in/office hour sessions. (There are occasional break weeks in the schedule.) The Engine of Narrative creates a supportive yet challenging community and an ongoing conversation for the purpose of helping each writer develop, finish or revise a manuscript.
The course is a hybrid of a traditional workshop and a symposium on writing, offering generative writing prompts and advice, regular feedback on work-in-progress, and lots of big picture guidance on manuscripts and publishing from novelist, A Public Space Editor-at-Large and 24-Hour Room Founder Elizabeth Gaffney. Each writer will have weekly opportunities to discuss their work and monthly opportunities to share written work.
The class is designed to work for most prose writers, whether they are working on short fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction or a novel. We do not read entire manuscripts in this workshop (see Elizabeth's Novel Workshop, offered through A Public Space, for that) but instead strive to help the writer get from ideas, pages and fragments to finished manuscript, or to take a draft or partial draft to the next level.
The class meets 3 or 4 weeks per month with break weeks scheduled in, from February to April, June to August, and September-December. The workshop is 2.5 hours plus there is an optional drop-in office hour (see below for exact dates).
If you’re seeking a supportive, nurturing yet artistically challenging community to help you achieve your literary goals, this class is for you.
For June-August, 2023, I will be offering two 9-week sections (see below for dates):
- Generative Section / writing prompts, read alouds and not too much reading
- Developmental Section / this allows for more pages submitted and requires more reading and critiques (up to 60 pp reading per week)
The 24-Hour RoomWriters in The Engine of Narrative are also encouraged to participate in The 24-Hour Room community, its virtual 24/7 writing studio and its events, including open mic nights and our Flow Reading Marathons, communal reading aloud of seminal texts every weekday morning in the Studio .
Manuscript Critique GroupWriters who have taken the class can subsequently apply to join the small Manuscript Critique Group (just two or three writers), which will read their entire manuscript. This group will generally meet in September, January and May, but may be scheduled according to the needs of the participants. Enrollment is limited to Engines of Narrative and APS Novel Workshop alumni. Please inquire about availability if you are interested! This will only run when there are 2 or more writers interested.
EON DATES & TIMES & DETAILS
Generative SectionMondays 6/5, 6/12, 6/19, 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/14, 8/286:30-9:00 pm ET on Zoom, plus Friday afternoon Office Hours.Generative, with prompts and lots of scaffolding to help you develop new projects. Each writer will present three times.
Developmental Section Wednesdays6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/16, 8/30 6:30-9:00 pm ET on Zoom, plus Friday afternoon Office Hours.Designed for writers with more pages ready to workshop (3 submissions of a maximum of 20 double spaced pages each)This session is full.
FAQ
How Much Work Can I Submit? Up to 45 pp / 12,00 words for the Generative Section.
Can You Read My Whole Book? Not in the Engines of Narrative, but alumni of the Engines of Narrative (or Elizabeth's APS Novel Workshop) can sign up for the smaller Manuscript Critique Group, which meets in the off months of the Engines of Narrative class. Inquire further with Elizabeth at librarian@the24hourroom.org. Elizabeth's Novel Workshop, where we read full manuscripts, is offered by A Public Space, twice a year, in the Fall and Winter-Spring.
Will the Other Writers Read My Work?Yes, all writers will read each others monthly submissions, and we will discuss them, a few a week.
RATES 9-week summer session: $1000
Manuscript Critique Group: $1500(limited to two or three writers who have previously taken EoN or the APS Novel Workshop per 3-week session; 100,000 word limit, or inquire for longer books)
To inquire further, email librarian@the24hourroom.org
You can fill out the linked form if you are interested, and I'll get back to you with more info. If you are ready to enroll, you can pay with your credit card using Square. Email librarian@the24hourroom.org if you prefer to pay by check or Zelle.
EG is the prizewinning author of Metropolis, When the World Was Young and many stories, the translator of four books from German and the editor at large of APS. She is also a former Managing Editor of the Paris Review and teaches fiction at NYU and Queens University of Charlotte. Students in her long-running APS Novel Workshop have recently sold their books, won publication prizes, published stories in magazines and received arts grants for their writing.
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