Virtual Fiction Writing Retreat with Bryan Delaney

VIRTUAL FICTION RETREAT
WITH PROFESSOR BRYAN DELANEY

Biography >

Professor Bryan Delaney teaches the fiction writing proseminar Elements of the Writer's Craft at the graduate Creative Writing and Literature program at Harvard. His prose fiction La lumière de Salomon is published by Editions Fissile in France. Professor Delaney has taught undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham University, as well as seminars at the University of Iowa. He gave a master class on storytelling to media industry leaders at the Future of Storytelling Summit in New York and was an Aspen Scholar at the Aspen Ideas Festival. He was the recipient of the Samuel Beckett Centenary International Writers Residency at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris. Professor Delaney is also a multi-award winning playwright and screenwriter. For many years he ran the New Playwrights Programme, an intensive writer development programme for playwrights at the world-renowned Abbey Theatre, Ireland's National Theatre.

TEACHING METHODOLOGY

This is an intensive 7 day course in the craft of fiction writing (novels/novellas/short stories) with a strong emphasis on workshopping participants’ own writing. The goal of this course is to build a deep understanding of key techniques of the fiction writer’s craft through the close reading/analysis of participants’ own works-in-progress and the work of their peers in a warm and supportive, yet discerning environment. The course will explore the use of specific craft elements and techniques to elevate your writing to the next level. Participants will write creatively throughout the week, enjoy lectures and seminar style classes on craft and technique and each student will receive in-depth feedback on their work as well as advice as to how they can deploy the craft elements explored in the course to their own works in progress. Each student will submit a piece of writing in advance of the course - a short story or an excerpt from a longer work - eg. a novel or novella (15 to 20 pages per student) which will be workshopped during the course. To ensure the quality of individual feedback the course is capped at 15 participants.

IF YOU TAKE THIS COURSE

You’ll receive a series of live lectures/seminar-type classes on key areas of craft and technique that you’ll apply to your own work-in-progress to bring your writing closer to the ultimate goal of submitting to agents and publishers.
You’ll write for several hours each day, working on your text in a virtual writing room with the support of faculty and your peers.
You’ll receive a variety of carefully designed writing prompts that will encourage you to explore and develop your text with greater depth and insight.
You’ll receive an in-depth workshop of your own work-in-progress with detailed feedback on your writing from faculty and your peers/fellow participants. The feedback process will be carefully managed and quality controlled by faculty so that all feedback comes from a place of absolute respect for each writer and their work. Analysis and insight are the name of the game here - not judgement or criticism - so that you receive maximum benefit from the experience and feel energised to work on the next draft.
In addition to the in-depth feedback you’ll receive in your workshop you will also receive an individual one-on-one session with faculty to discuss your text in more detail, set goals for the next draft or discuss anything else you’d like to explore in relation to your writing.
You’ll enjoy (virtual!) dinner, breakfast and Q and A sessions with faculty at various points in the course. These will be a lovely opportunity for us to break bread together and connect over food and a glass of wine - albeit virtually, until the world rights itself - and we can all come together in person at future retreats.
You’ll make connections with fellow writers in a warm and supportive environment - one that we hope will create an ongoing community and support network for you in your ongoing journey as writers.

WHO IS THIS COURSE IDEAL FOR?

Fiction writers of all levels - early career, mid career or more advanced - who are serious about improving their craft and taking their work to the next level of achievement.
Writers of literary fiction and genre writers. Good writing is good writing regardless of the genre you’ve chosen or your target audience. We believe in cross-fertilization across genres, voices and styles and so we love working with a variety of writers. The more varied the voices the merrier for everyone.
Non-fiction writers. Although the course is primarily aimed at fiction writers, so many of the craft elements and techniques covered in the course will be equally applicable to writers of non-fiction, memoir etc. and could be extremely helpful in refining your work. If you’re interested in taking the course but would like to work on a piece of non-fiction instead just apply as above and submit the materials for your non-fiction piece and we’ll be happy to discuss that with you in advance and consider you for the course.
Writers who value community. Anyone who would be excited to spend an intensive week working on their texts in a warm and supportive community of like-minded artists and peers. We believe community is incredibly important - perhaps never more so than today - and is a huge part of the retreat experience. As writers we spend so much time in solitude that simply being able to come together and connect as a group is wonderfully valuable in itself - so we can share our challenges and our triumphs and our learnings and our war stories. This way we can hopefully emerge from the week as enriched by the other voices in the room as we will be by the progress we’ve made on our own work. So for those of you who dig this kind of thing we’d love to have you with us.
If this list doesn’t include you/your specific situation or you’re not sure whether this course is a fit for you, no problem. Just reach out to us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have and together we’ll figure it out.

Please note that there is an application process for this retreat.

To apply, you will need to submit the following:

Please submit a 10-15 page piece of writing (a short story or an excerpt from a longer work - eg. a novel or novella) that you’d like to have workshopped during the course.
Send a brief (1 page max.) synopsis of the work to give us a sense of the full piece.
Send a brief description (1 page max.) of why specifically you’re interested in taking the course and what you hope to achieve from it. Please be specific about your writing goals and what areas of your work you hope to improve.

Please submit application materials to info@meleteretreats.com. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting 19 June 2020. You will be notified of your acceptance status as your application is reviewed by the faculty.

VIRTUAL RETREAT PARTICIPANT CAP

15 students.

PRELIMINARY AGENDA

Here is a broad overview of what your week will look like. All times are Eastern Standard, but we’ve included various Virtual meals and Q&As to accommodate different time zones (those abroad, those on the west coast etc). Please note this is still under development and may adjust slightly.

Day One

Begins at 4 pm:

Faculty and student introductions

Informal LIVE Meet and Greet and Break Out Rooms

Opening faculty lecture

Overview of the week