SEVEN DRAFTS by Allison K. Williams
Allison K. Williams . Unknown Year . English
Winner, 2021 Foreword INDIES award “Brilliant, time-tested and clear” advice that will help writers at all stages, in all genres, write their very best book—and then make it better. As a freelance editor for more than a decade, Williams has shepherded books from rough draft to polished manuscripts bought by Big Five houses, university and literary presses, and for independent publishers. Now, she distills everything she’s learned from editing hundreds of drafts, coaching writers past creative blocks, and navigating authors through querying and publication, into this useful guide for every step from idea to book. Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book divides writing and revision into distinct stages, with a new focus in each draft. Williams’ frank, funny voice encourages writers to tackle even big editing tasks with a sense of humor and a feeling that someone who understands is on their side. With plenty of fresh examples, insider wisdom, and snappy footnotes, Seven Drafts teaches story, character, elements of writing craft and structure, how to seek and use feedback, and the publication process.
Categories: Self-Help
About the Author
Guerrilla memoirist, essay writer, playwright and travel journalist, Allison Williams has written about race, culture and comedy for National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Prairie Schooner, Kenyon Review Online and Travelers’ Tales. She currently serves as Social Media Editor for Brevity. Her fiction has appeared in Crossed Genres, Smokelong Quarterly, Deep South and The Drum; her plays include the Heidemann Award finalist Miss Kentucky, scripts for NPR’s All Ears Theatre, and the London Fringe Best Of Fringe winner, TRUE STORY. She received her MFA from Western Michigan University and has been a teaching fellow at the Prague Summer Program and the Kenyon Writers Workshop (with Dinty W. Moore), and an Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with Rick Moody, Dani Shapiro and David Shields. As a storyteller, Allison has performed at London’s Theatre Royal and Rich Mix, Filocafe in Mumbai and The Kautilya Society in Varanasi, India, and is a twotime winner of The Moth StorySLAM. As a former aerialist and acrobat, she performed in 23 countries. Home base is currently Dubai, where “The Pork Shop” is a separate, dimly-lit room at the back of the supermarket. It’s like buying meat porn. Find her at www.idowords.net and on Instagram and Twitter @guerillamemoir
