commit to your creative life.

VISIONS +REVISIONS is a monthly, round-table craft + support group designed to help you draft and polish four short stories and/or essays over the course of the year.

visions + revisions

march-OCTOBER 2027

w/ authors and book editors Susanna Daniel and Michelle Wildgen

Meets live in person in Madison, Wisconsin

3rd Thursdays, 5:30-8p CT
Class fee: $1295

Limited to 8 writers

join us in 2027
A person sitting at a desk with documents, a pen, a watch on their left wrist, and a visible tattoo on their right forearm. There is a purple water bottle and more papers in the background.

smart revision takes guidance, accountability, and time.

In this 8-month workshop, each writer workshops a short story or essay each month. We’ll leave our first four workshops with a revision plan, then return in our last four workshops for a fresh look and final polish feedback from a new instructor

craft feedback + actionable plan + time

= your polished story or essay

Visions + Revisions meets monthly starting in March and continuing through October of 2027. V+RV is a challenging and rewarding eight-month experience. Many of the partnerships made at the table continue for years.

who should join us?

This workshop is meant for anyone who struggles to make time to write, wants clear and actionable revision guidance, and would like to publish or submit stories or essays for an MFA.

Our priority in this class is on offering useful, actionable feedback at the level of structure, character, and language. Short-form projects in all genres are equally welcome.

The class will be most useful for writers with some experience receiving and offering feedback in a workshop setting, but workshop experience is not necessary.

what will you learn?

We’ll look at each month’s submission with a focus on structure, character, and language.

During each session, we’ll discuss aspects of story and essay writing, including structure and pacing, characterization, point of view, problem solving, voice, and balancing scene and exposition.

We’ll look closely at how to develop and shape stories and essays with an eye to getting them into fighting trim, for MFA applications or publication.

 

V+RV Meets locally in Madison on the 3rd thursday of the month

Susanna Daniel’s meetings take place on the west side, Michelle Wildgen’s meetings take place on the east side.

 

Meet the Instructors

  • Michelle Wildgen, author and editor

    Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels Wine People, Bread and Butter, But Not For Long, and You’re Not You (both available in paperback from Picador), and is the editor of an anthology, Food & Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast (Tin House Books). You’re Not You has been adapted for film, starring Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum.

    Michelle received her MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught fiction and nonfiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and the Tin House Writers’ Workshop. She was a long-time executive editor at Tin House Magazine and former books editor with Tin House Books. Michelle’s nonfiction has included a weekly column on food television as well as individual essays on a wide range of topics: from American Girl doll Rebecca Rubin, Burt Reynolds’ 1970s fan mail, and obscure Wisconsin card games to the craft of writing, fresh mozzarella, deer-hunting for the neophyte, and the number of times one must endure anaphylactic shock before giving up shellfish for good.

    Her fiction, personal essays, and food writing have appeared in publications including The New York Times Book Review and “Modern Love” column, O, the Oprah Magazine, RealSimple.com, LitHub, and anthologies such as Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer, Dirty Words, Best New American Voices 2004, Best Food Writing 2004 and 2009, Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals, and journals including StoryQuarterly, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. Awards and honors include a scholarship to Bread Loaf, residency at the Hall Farm Center in Vermont, and the Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing from Prairie Schooner.

    You can learn more about Michelle’s work at her website, and you can contact her via email.

  • Susanna Daniel, author and editor

    Susanna Daniel is the author of three novels. Girlfriending is a spinoff of her award-winning short story, "The Goddess of Illicit Choices," Stiltsville, was awarded the PEN/Bingham prize, and Sea Creatures, was a Target Book Club pick.

    Susanna is the co-founder of the Madison Writers’ Studio with author Michelle Wildgen, and she’s been leading the Book in a Year workshop since 2013. She’s coached and edited more 100+ novelists and memoirists, either from the blank page or from the full draft.

    Susanna is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and was a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a Carl Djerassi Fiction Fellow at the UW Institute for Creative Writing. She’s been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony and UCross, and has been published in the Sewanee Review, Newsweek, Slate, One Story, Wisconsin People & Ideas, Significant Objects, Epoch, and elsewhere. Before co-founding MWS, she taught college-level creative writing for ten years.

    You can learn more about Susanna at her website, and you’re welcome to contact her about Book in a Year via email.

The workshop fee is $1,295

Returning students receive 10% discount.

Schedule
5:30 – 8pm CDT


Introduction March 11, 2027

with Michelle
March 18, 2027
April 15, 2027
May 20, 2027
June 17, 2027

with Susanna
July 15, 2027
August 19, 2027
September 16, 2027
October 21, 2027

  • Every writer submits one short story or essay per month.

  • Every writer reads for everyone else, so each writer receives a letter of feedback from every classmate, pus the instructor. Initial feedback will focus on shape and structure, point of view, voice, and characterization. Second review will focus on polishing for publication.

  • Some VRV writers have a lot of writing experience, some have little. The craft lessons imparted at the table are useful for writers of all levels of exeperience.

  • Many writers come to our introductory meeting with no pages written; others come with a complete first draft.

  • Most writers miss one month, but our group depends on mutual support and trust, so it’s recommended not to miss more than that. If needed, we’re always open to talking about alternative dates.

  • Collaborative, honest, and straightforward. We're here to guide the process, bring ideas to the table, and keep things moving.

join us in 2027

  • “You are both excellent readers/commenters, and your styles and takes are, you will not be surprised to hear, very different. So yes, there’s a real value in getting comments from both of you.”

    — Adam H.

  • “I’m so incredibly grateful to have been in your BIAY workshop this year. I learned so much from you and the other writers. I’ll be recommending the Madison Writers Workshop to anyone who wants to write a book. ”

    — Vivian B.

  • “What I learned from you in the time that I attended your sessions has become a foundation for so many things that I now do. Being able to examine those experiences in a safe environment was healing on many levels. Sharing them with others was informative and required courage that I didn’t know I had.”

    — Mary T.

  • “A+++ Excellent encouraging feedback, useful, specific, and perceptive. Your written critiques of my workshop pieces gave me wonderful clear guidelines for revision. I am deeply appreciative.”

    — Janice

  • “I can’t thank you enough for such a wonderful class! It was a crazy year for me, but I’ve learned so much and your feedback was so important to me. You’re a wonderful writing “coach” and gave me that nudge when I needed it. We had a terrific group and I think the feedback helped all of us become better writers. You have created something so special with the MWS!”

    — Andrea L.

commit to your writing life

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commit to your writing life *

Is V/RV right for you?

We’re happy to jump on a call to discuss whether Visions and Revisions is right for you and your creative life.

Book an appointment or email us to make time.

join us in 2027

Enroll in visions + revisions

We’ll get in touch with details and an invoice within 48 hours of receiving your registration.

Please note that all returning students receive a 10% discount on workshops.

We look forward to getting to know you and your work!