Our Memoir and Novel Incubators are yearlong programs to guide and support writers from their initial story ideas to the completion of their manuscripts. The incubators are ideal for writers who have not been able to finish full-length projects on their own.
Our incubators provide participants community and mentorship to help create a consistent writing practice and achieve goals. They are run by peer-artist leaders who fully participate in the process. The objective is a completed 50,000-word book by the end of the year.
We’re actively seeking applications for our next incubators to launch in January 2022.
Participants must be passionate, eager to learn, open to a collaborative experience, able to lend support and encouragement to peers, and committed to the long-term process of writing a book.
HOW IT WORKS
Throughout the year, we meet twice a month for two hours every other Thursday (7 to 9 p.m.) for a total of 24 meetings. We also interact daily on Slack as we share our writing journey through the following phases:
- Conception (6 weeks) – We journal and draw on beats and other outlining techniques to build the foundation of our story, completing our outline and opening chapter.
- Drafting (18 weeks) – Based on our outlines, sketches, and first chapters, we write our first drafts, with the goal of generating 2,500 words a week for our 50,000-word manuscripts.
- First Reading Round & Revision (12 weeks) – We share our drafts with a first round of readers, building energy as we dig into our revisions with an eye toward completion.
- Second Reading Round & Revision (12 weeks) We share our revisions with a second round of readers, strengthening our manuscripts with an eye toward publication.
Available Seats: 10 in Memoir; 10 in Novel.
Fee: $1,500 (payable in 4 quarterly installments).*
*Proceeds help support PWN’s community outreach programs. Partial and full scholarship seats are available. Email wi@projectwritenow.org for more information.
ARE YOU A GOOD FIT?
To participate in either the Memoir or Novel Incubator you should:
- Have an initial story idea that you want to turn into a book! Having existing sketches and a few draft chapters are OK, but the purpose of the incubators is to start a project fresh. This is not the place to rewrite or revise an existing manuscript;
- Have experience in writing workshops at Project Write Now or elsewhere;
- Be open and interested in learning about the process of writing a book-length work and honing a consistent writing practice;
- Be eager and delighted to support your fellow writers to tackle a long-term book project through the exchange of encouragement and positive feedback;
- Be able to commit to 10 to 14 hours a week over the course of the year. (It will be like training for a marathon—you’ll need to talk to your family and friends to get their support!)
APPLICATION PROCESS
Send an email to bookinc@projectwritenow.org telling us which incubator you’re interested in (Memoir or Novel) and we’ll send you an application.
For more information about our incubators, please contact bookinc@projectwritenow.org.