How do you know if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew? How do you know if you haven’t bitten off enough? Is it a bad idea for your novel to include 15 points of view, a reverse chronology, talking ghosts, AND a 50-page history of Siberia? Or is confining yourself to one simple plot and one simple timeline somehow unambitious or limiting? We’ll talk about choosing your elements and complications, finding room for simplicity, recognizing when addition becomes procrastination, and remembering that you can always change your mind.
Rebecca Makkai is the author of this year's New York Times bestselling I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, THE GREAT BELIEVERS, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Rebecca teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and UNR Tahoe, and serves as Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. ATTENTION MEMBERS: Paid registrations valued at $350 for StoryStudio's Writers Festival 2024 will be awarded to two contest winners at Rebecca Makkai's session.
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