Begins Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Program meets for 24 weeks via Zoom, alternating between full-cohort group sessions and bi-weekly one-on-one meetings on Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET

*Acceptance decisions made on a rolling basis.

Please do not pay for the mentorship until you receive a formal acceptance notification via email.

Click HERE to Apply Now. Early applications are encouraged, as this program is limited to 6 writers.

Any questions about this mentorship? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Application Process: Complete Application Questionnaire.

Instructor Bio

Instructor Kayla Jean Murphy is the author of the novel More Abundantly, forthcoming from West Virginia University Press in 2027. Her chapbook of short stories, Cheap Seats, was published by Blue Arrangements Press in 2023. She received her MFA from Virginia Tech. Her short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and can be found in Joyland, Soft Union, R&R Magazine, and elsewhere. She has taught writing at Virginia Tech and Loyola University Maryland. She currently lives in Pennsylvania.

Who is this mentorship for?

This 6-month mentorship is for fiction writers who have completed a novel draft (or part of one) and feel that it needs significant revision but don't know where to start. Open to all levels, this program is ideal for novelists who are ready to throw out a first draft and generate a new one from scratch — and who want structured support, community, and close mentorship through the full arc of the drafting process.

What to expect:

Have you completed a novel draft (or most, or half, of one) and shoved it in a drawer, swearing to revise it later? Maybe you're too afraid to look. Or maybe you really want to revise it, but you just don't know where to start. This 6-month online writing mentorship welcomes fiction writers of any level who are ready to complete a second — or even third — draft of their novel. In this program, we will start from the beginning, throw out the first draft, and generate a new one together.

In The Writing Life, Annie Dillard says, "Courage, exhausted, stands on the bare reality: this writing weakens the work. You must demolish the work and start over."

To complete a novel draft at all is a difficult thing. To throw it away and start from scratch requires severe courage and faith in yourself as a writer. You tapped from that creative source once, and you will again — and you won't be going through it alone.

This creative writing mentorship is built on the premise that the hardest parts of novel drafting — the doubt, the blank page, the decision to demolish and rebuild — are best faced in community.

The program opens with five weeks of craft instruction and full-cohort Zoom sessions, during which you'll establish a vision for your novel, build a "carrier bag" of influences, draft a tentative outline, and work through foundational craft topics including narrative occasion, style, scene, dialogue, and pacing.

Beginning in Week 6, the program shifts to a bi-weekly schedule of one-on-one meetings with the instructor (20-30 minutes each, alternating weeks so you meet one-on-one every two weeks), with group check-ins at key milestones. You'll aim for 2,500 new words per week — 500 a day, five days a week — working toward a completed 60,000-80,000 word novel draft by the end of Week 24.

Feedback is personalized and evolves with the draft: line-by-line edits early on to establish voice and style, structural and plot suggestions as the draft progresses, and overarching manuscript-level feedback once the draft is complete.

This fiction mentorship also addresses the mental and emotional realities of novel drafting — convincing yourself that the story you are devoting years of your life to is worth telling — with a cohort of fellow novelists who share in that work alongside you.

Click HERE to Apply Now.

What are the writing goals?

In this mentorship, students will generate a completed novel draft of approximately 60,000-80,000 words. Feedback will be offered throughout the drafting process, personalized to each writer's stage and needs — ranging from line-by-line edits on early chapters to establish voice and style, to sparser line edits and structural suggestions as the draft matures, to overarching plot and manuscript-level comments once the draft is complete. Students will also receive bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with the instructor throughout the drafting phase, with additional email support available between meetings.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from:

• "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" by Ursula K. Le Guin
• "Dear Miss Paige: An Anonymous Letter on the Green Sickness of a First Novel"

Additional readings will be drawn from personal lists that each student creates during Week 2 — novels they want to emulate in their own work.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Introductions. Course structure overview. Reading and discussion of "Dear Miss Paige" and Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction."

Week 2: Present novel vision boards and carrier bags. Create personal reading lists of novels to emulate. Draft tentative novel outlines.

Week 3: Narrative occasion and style.

Week 4: Group check-in.

Week 5: Scene, dialogue, and pacing.

Weeks 6-12: Bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with the instructor (alternating cohort weeks). Students generate new pages and receive individualized feedback.

Week 13: Halfway group check-in. Students reflect on their carrier bags and outlines and reassess the shape of the novel.

Weeks 14-23: Bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with the instructor, with periodic full-cohort group check-ins. Students continue drafting toward a completed manuscript. In Week 23, students reflect on writing process and experiences.

Week 24: Virtual reading — each writer reads from their completed novel draft.

Click HERE to Apply Now.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• A completed novel draft of approximately 60,000-80,000 words
• The confidence that comes from building a new draft from scratch, in community with other novelists
• Practical tools for a sustained writing practice: time management, novel and chapter outlining, and meeting consistent word count goals
• The ability to create "carrier bags" of influences and intentions for future writing projects
• Personalized craft feedback that evolves across the arc of a full novel draft — from line-level edits to structural and manuscript-level notes
• Experience and community built around the emotional realities of long-form fiction — the doubt, the persistence, and the faith required to finish a book

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $4,995 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Kayla Jean Murphy
• Begins Tuesday, September 15, 2026
• Program meets for 24 weeks via Zoom, alternating between full-cohort group sessions and bi-weekly one-on-one meetings on Tuesdays at 6:00 PM ET
• Limited to 6 writers, selected by the instructor through an application process
• Tuition is $4,995 USD.

Click HERE to Apply Now.