Bring us your complete novel or memoir, and we’ll help you get it across the finish line.

REVISE YOUR BOOK 2027 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.

In our first 4 sessions, you’ll gather smart, actionable plan for revising your piece, and in the last 4 session, we’ll swap instructors for a fresh review.

Designed for writers of short-form pieces who want to publish or apply to the MFA. Offered from Mar-Oct live on Zoom or in person.

revise your book

june-december 2027

w/ author and book editor Michelle Wildgen

Meets live in person in Madison, Wisconsin

Saturdays TBD

Class fee: $1295

Limited to 6 writers

revise your book

revision can feel overwhelming, but we’ll guide you through it.

If you’ve completed a draft of your novel or memoir, congratulations! That milestone is a big one—but by now you probably have realized that it is also just the first big step in a longer process.

thorough, guided, experienced feedback to support your book

To improve your work as much as you can in preparation for querying agents, or simply to meet your own writing goals, you need to evaluate your manuscript as a whole, from its broadest central purpose to its prose on the sentence level.

You need readers. And you need thorough, guided feedback from an experienced writer, editor, and teacher who has been through this process before. Best of all, by reading other students’ completed drafts and learning how to give useful feedback to them, you will gain skills you can apply to your own work in the future.

so how does the workshop work?

Designed to give students intensive feedback on their book-length projects and the skills to evaluate their own work, each three-hour class will focus on discussion of one student’s entire manuscript, which we all will read beforehand. We will also set aside time to discuss craft issues and writing questions as they arise. You will be part of a writing community facing the same questions and struggles you are.

You will be responsible for reading and discussing the original work of each participant. (Don’t worry, I’ll guide you.)

Our workshops focus first on what the writer is doing well, then on concrete suggestions for improvement. We’ll discuss why some strategies work and some don’t and how to hone our strengths and identify our weaknesses. We will also discuss writing process and how to handle a long-form project, which is so different from stories and essays

who should take this workshop?

This workshop is appropriate for writers with workshop experience and a completed book-length draft ready for revision. Please expect to read roughly 350 pages of material every month, to prepare 1-2 pages of written feedback for each class session, and to submit a book-length manuscript. (If your novel or memoir is significantly longer than 350 pages, contact me to discuss..

revise your book Meets locally in Madison every three weeks from june to december 2027.

Dates TBD.

 

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.

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.

  • “Susanna and the other members of our little troupe picked me up when I stumbled, encouraged me when I doubted, slogged through the messy middle with me, and we came out the other end together. Twelve months later, we’ve handed each other completed first drafts. We’ve done the unimaginable, often driven by nothing more than Susanna’s unwavering belief that we could.”

    — Eric B.

  • “Susanna was able to show me the most important things I had to offer as a writer: authority and authenticity. That knowledge vastly increased my confidence to trust in my own creative process.”

    — Clelia M

your draft deserves smart, experienced revision guidance

*

your draft deserves smart, experienced revision guidance *

is revise your book right for you?

We are happy to jump on a call to discuss your book and situation.

Book an appointment or email us to make time.

revise your book

Enroll in an MWS workshop

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!