An immersive experience of craft lessons, personal feedback & live-editing.
Refine and deepen your work in progress. Shape your prose from "pretty good"
to energetic, reader-centered & powerful.
with Dinty W. Moore & Allison K Williams
JAN 13 - 16, 2024
LEARN YOUR CRAFT.
LOVE YOUR WORDS.
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. Get personal editorial feedback on your pages, and advice for your writing career.
Got Questions?THE REBIRTH DIFFERENCE
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, Time, 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 REBIRTH EXPERIENCE
All Times US Eastern
Dedicated time helps you focus. Direct, specific feedback helps you write better.
Write with freedom, with speed, and without pressure.
Unlike the traditional “workshop,” you’ll be using the 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.
Post-writing 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 daily craft lessons in sentence shape and rhythm, heart story, powerful paragraphs, “quick fixes” and more, you’ll explore how language choices and sequence of action can snap ‘good enough’ prose into gripping and dynamic moments.
In live-editing, instructors and participants work together to apply techniques of line-editing, sentence craft and scene construction to see where your prose is focused, energetic, and reader-centered and where it can be improved through purposeful revision.
Writers will submit 10 pages in advance. Each participant will receive individual editing attention, and we will all benefit from examining the varied work of other participants.
Throughout live-editing time, you’ll apply specific techniques to your own work-in-progress.
Writing craft lessons and suggested editing techniques ignite your daily practice.
Rebirth Your Writing combines dedicated time with education, networking, and writing career growth. You’ll leave with new work, new ideas, and renewed commitment to your craft.
As much as we love travel retreats, “re-entry” is always tough. The virtual intensive happens in your regular writing place, helping you create a sustainable practice within your daily life.
THE DAILY SCHEDULE
ALL TIMES US EASTERN
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions |
| 1000 – 1030 | WELCOME SESSION | Greetings, introductions & details of our time together | |
| 1030 – 1200 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| 1200 – 1300 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 1245 | |
| AFTERNOON | 1300 – 1345 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing |
| 1345 – 1415 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Powerful Sentences | |
| 1415 – 1450 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| Day ends 3PM | CLOSING WORDS | Review, inspiration & next steps | |
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions |
| 1000 – 1030 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Words and How to Love Them | |
| 1030 – 1200 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| 1200 – 1300 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 1245 | |
| AFTERNOON | 1300 – 1345 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing |
| 1345 – 1415 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Heart Story & Invisible Magnetic River | |
| 1415 – 1450 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| Day ends 3PM | CLOSING WORDS | Review, inspiration & next steps | |
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions |
| 1000 – 1030 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Potent Paragraphs | |
| 1030 – 1200 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| 1200 – 1300 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 1245 | |
| AFTERNOON | 1300 – 1345 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing |
| 1345 – 1415 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Compelling Scenes | |
| 1415 – 1450 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| Day ends 3PM | CLOSING WORDS | Review, inspiration & next steps | |
| TAKE A MOMENT & BREATHE | |||
| MORNING | 0930 – 1000 | CAFÉ TIME | Zoom Room open for casual chat & questions |
| 1000 – 1030 | CRAFT LESSON & APPLICATION | Quick & Dirty Fixes | |
| 1030 – 1200 | LIVE EDITING | …and intermittent self-editing | |
| 1200 – 1300 | LUNCH | Zoom Room re-opens at 1245 | |
| AFTERNOON | 1300 – 1345 | PUBLISHING Q&A | Your writing in the world |
| Day ends 2PM | CLOSING WORDS | Recommitting to our goals | |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Joining The Retreat
Nope! What matters is that you’re committed to writing better.
- You can be working on a novel, memoir or essays.
- 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.
You’ll submit 10 pages of already-done writing in advance, for live-editing time.
Yes! You’ll get a tip sheet to help you strategize around children, partners and pets. If resources allow, consider a local hotel, Airbnb or a friend’s guest room.
You’ll need your own computer and internet connection.
Our first day includes a brief Zoom orientation. We’ll cover how to participate verbally and in chat, how to spend time with your fellow writers in breakout rooms, and options for asking questions and communicating with Dinty and Allison
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 2-4 weeks in advance.
Intensive Days
In live-editing, one writer’s pages are shared on the screen. Allison & Dinty read the pages aloud, editing as they go and explaining why they’d suggest those edits. For this intensive, we’ll also take discoveries from live-editing; for example, a “find-and-replace” in your own pages for a particular writing habit, or a new way to approach a scene, and ask you to take a few minutes and apply the lesson to your own work. You’ll learn from hearing the edits, and you’ll be able to use the tools right away.
Live-editing feels intense, but having the group give your words their complete attention is a powerful experience. You’ll receive your edited pages, with comments and Track Changes, immediately after the session.
Live-editing sessions are recorded for you to refresh or review the feedback for 30 days after the retreat.
Not for this intensive, sorry!
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, US checks, PayPal and credit cards via PayPal.
If you’d like to use a payment plan, you may pay in three installments, due on registration, January 10th and February 10th.
Rebirth Your Book/Rebirth Your Writing participates in AWP’s Kurt Brown Prize, which awards $500 each year to emerging writers in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction who wish to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency. Winners and six finalists also receive a one-year individual membership in AWP.
For more information, visit the AWP website.
Congratulations to Amy Goldmacher, winner of the Kurt Brown Prize to attend Rebirth Your Book in Tuscany 2022!
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. We encourage you to send in your pages for live-editing and enjoy the session recordings when you can.
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.