Wondering how your writing stacks up? Had a few rejections and want to ferret out why? Or you are just not sure where your manuscript is heading? We have two different critique services available during the Writers’ Institute weekend. They are: Written Critiques & Advanced Manuscript Critiques.
The way to tell the difference between these two types of critiques is as follows;
Written Critiques are just that, written only – you do not interact with the instructor who is completing the critique.
Advanced Manuscript Critiques are conducted during the conference and you meet an instructor one-on-one to discuss the instructors’ comments regarding your material.
We are also offering Master Classes this year with Christine DeSmet, Christopher Chambers, Larry Brooks and Blair Braverman. Please see our schedule for details.
Don’t have enough time for a full critique? Meet with Kevin Mullen, our Writing Doctor. Sign up for a 30 minute session with him and he will assist you with any specific question(s) you may have about your writing. Grammar, structure, character development, dialogue – he will address all of these topics and more and often he provides writers with additional resources for future writing. Fee is $10.00 per session.
UW Continuing Studies Faculty offers a confidential written critique on your pages or poems. This critique does not include any interaction with the faculty before, during, or after the conference. The feedback is provided in written form. Your material will be returned to you at the conference if we receive it by February 14th, 2017. For anything received past that date we will try our best to return it at the conference, but may need to mail it afterward. Please include a self-addressed-stamped envelope with enough postage affixed to return your material if you are submitting it past the February 14th date.
Here’s what you may send and the fee:
Send your critique material to Writers’ Institute Critiques, 21 N. Park St. Room 7341, Madison, WI 53715, or email it as a Word document for PC or a Rich Text File (RTF) to laura.kahl@wisc.edu You may pick up your completed critique at the Writers’ Institute Registration/Help desk located in the Concourse Hotel (if you submitted your work by the February 14th, 2017 date).
Our instructors Christine DeSmet (Fiction), Christopher Chambers (Fiction, Short Stories, Poetry), Silvia Acevedo (Children’s/Fiction), Matt Forbeck (Fiction/Comic Books/Game Development), Patricia Skalka (Fiction), Kathy Steffen (Fiction), Tim Storm (Fiction), Peggy Williams (Fiction), Sarah White (Nonfiction/Memoir), Julie Tallard Johnson (Nonfiction/Fiction/Memoir), Nina Amir (Book Proposals, Straight Nonfiction, Blog Posts – no Memoirs) are available to provide you with feedback for your first 10 pages of your fiction or nonfiction manuscript (double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman or Courier). You will then meet with your instructor at the conference for 30 minutes for a personal meeting. If you are interested in this service please submit your pages by February 14th, 2017, the fee is $85.00. $95.00 after February 14th, 2017.
Here’s what you may send:
Send your critique material to Writers’ Institute Critiques, 21 N. Park St. Room 7341, Madison, WI 53715, or email it as a Word document for PC or a Rich Text File (RTF) to laura.kahl@wisc.edu You will have your meeting scheduled when you register. If you miss your meeting, we will do everything possible to reschedule during the regularly scheduled conference hours, otherwise your material will be held at the Writers’ Institute Registration/Help desk located in the Concourse Hotel or mailed to you after the conference. (Please contact Laura Kahl to make those mailing arrangements.)
Questions? Contact director Laurie Scheer, 608-265-3972, laurie.scheer@wisc.edu or Laura Kahl, 608-262-3982, laura.kahl@wisc.edu