This workshop section of the Manuscript Program is for fiction writers who are working on their first draft of a full length manuscript. Writers who are just beginning with an idea as well as writers who are mid-draft would both benefit, but the explicit goal is to have a finished first draft, ready for the first stage of revision, by the end of the year. This course meets over zoom once a month for three hours, in small accountability buddy groups of 2-3 people at least once between meetings (but often participants opt to meet more frequently), and participants are in regular contact via a virtual classroom space. Over the course of the year, we'll set active, clear goals that will help participants both get to the finish line of their first draft and better understand craft elements in novel writing, such as character development, structure, plot, scene construction, and more. Each month, writers will be offered a slew of prompts, writing exercises, craft lectures, discussion questions, and readings designed to maintain momentum, solidify a regular writing practice, and provide support around all of the highs and lows of the novel writing process. Each participant will have two opportunities to share fresh pages of their novel with the group (20-pages each time), who will then support the writer by providing encouraging feedback, reflect back to them what they see happening thematically on the page, brainstorm with the writer about possible plot choices, and offer general support in moving forward. Writers should be prepared to read and discuss up to five novels over the course of the year, as well as craft readings, as assigned by the instructor. For more details about what this course entails, including overall features of the program, see the above About the Program section. Limited to 10 writers.