WRITE BETTER, RIGHT NOW
ULTIMATE REVISION WEEKEND
A transformative two-day intensive designed to enhance your self-editing and revision skills.
Virtual Intensive | JUN 21-22, 2025
MORE THAN A WEBINAR.
Experience all the benefits of a physical event replicated online, with casual chat, Q&A time, breakout rooms and 100% interactive sessions. Build your writing career—and grow your literary community.
FOR BUSY WRITERS
YOUR GUIDES
Allison K Williams
Writer - Editor - Speaker - Coach
Allison K Williams brings deep understanding of dramatic structure, sensitivity to voice and theme, technical expertise, and contagious enthusiasm for your work.
She is the author of Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro From Blank Page to Book and the Social Media Editor of Brevity.
She has edited and coached writers to deals with Big Five, literary and independent presses and publication in the New Yorker, the Guardian, the New York Times, McSweeney’s and TED Talks.
Allison herself has written for NPR, CBC, the New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, McSweeney’s, Kenyon Review and Travelers’ Tales. Her plays, including London Fringe Best of Fringe Winner TRUE STORY have been produced worldwide.
Dinty W. Moore
Writer - Editor - Speaker - Coach
A direct and supportive teacher known for drawing out meaning in memoir, Dinty W. Moore is author of The Story Cure: A Book Doctor’s Pain-Free Guide to Finishing Your Novel or Memoir, the pop-culture/ enlightenment mash-up To Hell with It, and many other books.
Dinty has published in The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, Harpers, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Arts & Letters, The Normal School and elsewhere.
A former professor of nonfiction at Ohio University, he serves as Editor-in-Chief for Brevity and consults regularly with authors and publishers on book proposals and revisions, many going on to publish with Big Five houses and university presses.
THE ULTIMATE REVISION EXPERIENCE
Two days to a stronger, better book.
You want it done! Focused time and a commitment to “show up” helps you plow through revisions and refine your manuscript to publication-ready.
The Ultimate Revision Weekend combines education, networking, and writing career growth. You’ll leave with better pages, new ideas, and renewed commitment to your craft.
Dive deep into specific writing craft, with examples, exercises, and guided revision to apply your learning immediately to your manuscript.
Crafting Great Opening Sentences: Not just the first page, but how to start every chapter and every scene with powerful, reader-hooking moments.
Where Your Story Begins: Are you starting your book at the right place, too early or too late? How much backstory do you need and where do you put it? Learn the elements of a strong start.
Crafting Great Final Sentences: Make the reader turn the page–and make them glad they read the book.
Finding Your Invisible Magnetic River: After zooming in for intense revision, come back to the big picture. What’s holding your book together and why does it matter?
Revise faster with tools, tricks and techniques to build stronger sentences, remove excess words, and stay true to your own writing voice. Each Quick & Dirty session includes guided revision to apply the skills immediately to your manuscript.
- Strong Sentences
- Strong Paragraphs
- Words and How to Love Them
- The Power of the Synopsis–how writing the synopsis solves plot problems!
Unlike the traditional “workshop,” you’ll be using craft tools in your own writing as we go. Discoveries made in live-editing, and techniques taught in craft lessons, will be immediately applied to your work.
Check-ins may include sharing short sections, but writers won’t read each others’ work in advance or in full. Allison & Dinty provide individual guidance as needed. It’s like writing at your favorite cafe—with peer and editorial support.
In live-editing, instructors share volunteer pages on the screen, reading aloud and discussing suggested edits.
Transform your prose to focused, energetic, and reader-centered–and discover where it’s already powerful.
Throughout live-editing time, you’ll apply specific techniques to your own work-in-progress.
Need personal feedback? Add an edit of your synopsis or opening pages when you register (additional cost).
Need to get your manuscript out there? Combine Ultimate Revision Weekend with Query Bootcamp, June 27-28-29.
ULTIMATE REVISION SCHEDULE
ALL TIMES USA EASTERN
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions with Allison & Dinty |
| 1000 – 1030 | WELCOME SESSION | Greetings, introductions & networking time | |
| 1030 – 1100 | QUICK & DIRTY REVISION PART 1 | Speedy tools and techniques for effective revision–applied immediately to your work! | |
| 1100-1200 | CRAFT LESSON: Dive deep on a key topic | Crafting Great Opening Sentences: Not just the first page, but every chapter and every scene. | |
| AFTERNOON | 1200 – 1230 | GUIDED REVISION | Apply Craft Lesson learnings to your manuscript |
| 1230-1400 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 13:45 | |
| 1400 – 1430 | QUICK & DIRTY REVISION PART 2 | Speedy tools and techniques for effective revision–applied immediately to your work! | |
| 1430-1545 | CRAFT LESSON | Where Does Your Story Start? We’ll also Live-Edit some opening pages. | |
| 1545-1600 | CLOSING WORDS | Day ends 4PM Eastern | Review, inspiration & next steps | |
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions |
| 1000 – 1030 | WELCOME SESSION | Talking about your book & sharing connections | |
| 1030 – 1100 | QUICK & DIRTY REVISION PART 3 | Speedy tools and techniques for effective revision–applied immediately to your work! | |
| 1100-1200 | CRAFT LESSON | Crafting Great Final Sentences: Not just the last page, but every chapter and every scene. | |
| AFTERNOON | 1200 – 1230 | GUIDED REVISION | Apply Craft Lesson learnings to your manuscript |
| 1230-1400 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 1345 | |
| 1400 – 1430 | QUICK & DIRTY REVISION PART 4 | Speedy tools and techniques for effective revision–applied immediately to your work! | |
| 1430-1545 | CRAFT LESSON | Finding Your Invisible Magnetic River: You’ve broken the book apart…now bring it back together | |
| 1545-1600 | CLOSING WORDS | Day ends 4PM Eastern | Review, inspiration & next steps | |
GET GOING. GET PUBLISHED.
ULTIMATE REVISION WEEKEND
QUERY BOOTCAMP
COMBINED VALUE PACKAGE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Joining The Retreat
Nope! What matters is that you’re committed to writing better.
You’ll need at least 10 pages of writing to work on, but you’ll also be able to work on large chunks of a whole manuscript.
- You can be working on a novel, memoir, creative nonfiction, essays, or a playscript.
- You’re writing in English, because Allison & Dinty aren’t fluent enough to edit in any other language. (English need not be your mother tongue.)
- You DON’T need a degree in writing (or anything else!).
- You DON’T need previous publication credits.
Writers don’t critique each others’ pages, so the experience level of your fellow writers isn’t a big factor in the intensive.
Yes! You’ll get a tip sheet to help you strategize your ultimate revision weekend around children, partners and pets.
If resources allow, consider local lodging or a friend’s guest room to create a personal retreat experience.
Dinty and Allison love teaching, and we do quite a bit of it throughout the year. Very often, students ask to be added to the waitlist for the next retreat or intensive, sometimes regardless of location! When a new event is announced, we tell the waitlist first, and events often sell out before they’re publicly announced.
Sign up for The A-List to get first notice of waitlists and open registrations for upcoming retreats.
If the button at the top of the page says “Sold Out,” there’s a waitlist and we’re happy to add you to it. Email us through the contact form, and we’ll confirm your spot on the list. Most intensives have included waitlisters; we usually know 2-3 weeks in advance.
Intensive Days
Apply the learnings of the Craft Lessons, or the Quick & Dirty Tips, in the energy of a shared virtual writing space. Specific assignments help you stay focused, accountable–and working fast!
Allison will be offering synopsis and first pages feedback at an additional cost. You’ll be able to add extras when you register.
For feedback on more pages, check out Allison’s regular editorial offerings here.
You can also find out about upcoming webinars and events by visiting her linktree, or joining the A-List monthly events email.
If you have accessibility concerns, let us know. We’ll work with whatever technology you need to make the virtual intensive work for you.
Allison and Dinty have (between them) worked with writers who are d/Deaf, hearing-impaired, blind, visually-impaired, neuro-atypical and with physical disabilities.
We want to work with you—let’s discuss how to make it an excellent experience.
Bookings & Payments
Rebirth Your Writing accepts Venmo, Zelle, Canadian e-transfers, PayPal and credit cards via PayPal.
If you’d like to pay in two installments, due May 20 and June 10, email us through the contact form.
We have two tuition-free places reserved for writers from underrepresented communities, including but not limited to LGBTQ+, BIPOC, working-class, neurodivergent and emerging writers. To apply, please use the contact form; share a brief statement of how this intensive will help you as a writer, and any literary citizenship activities you already do.
If you are unable to attend and we can fill your place from the waitlist, we will refund your tuition minus a $75 administrative fee. Refunds will be sent within 30 days of receipt of notice of cancellation.
If we can’t fill your place from the waitlist, there is no refund, but you still receive the Self-Editing Checklist, the contact list and all slides and session recordings. We encourage you to enjoy the session recordings when you can. You may also want to contact other writers from the intensive to spend time working on the exercises together.
Rebirth Your Book reserves the right to cancel the intensive in the event of civil unrest, natural disaster or Act of God. In the event of cancellation of the intensive in its entirety, you will receive a full refund of any fees paid. You agree to release Rebirth Your Book and its agents and/or representatives from any liability, including consequential expenses you may have incurred in planning to attend.