Novel in a Year: First Draft

In Person with Cynthia Pelayo

This is the year to write your novel.

Novel in a Year: First Draft is a unique opportunity to join a writing cohort, study novel craft, workshop key scenes, measure your progress, meet deadlines, and give and get support for the long slog from plotting to composition and beyond.

APPLICATION WINDOW OPEN JAN. 13 – FEB. 27

It’s a chance to devote an entire year to your novel, giving it the attention and effort your work deserves. Award-winning author Cynthia Pelayo (The Forgotten Sisters) will lead workshops, offer in-depth craft lectures, help you through the drafting process, and provide personalized guidance and feedback on your manuscript.

Benefit from special Master Classes from visiting authors, or participate virtually via our PJ Seminars. You’ll also have additional access to visiting agents and editors.

CLASS WILL MEET IN-PERSON AT THE STUDIO.

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet. Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, The Forgotten Sisters, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems. Read more about her here.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

Students at any stage of novel drafting are encouraged to apply. You may have completed a 500-page draft; others may have nothing more than an idea and a first sentence.

Work of any genre is welcome, as Cynthia has taught and written various genres including speculative, young adult, and horror.

This application-based class is selective, and you will find your classmates to be dedicated and serious about their work.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Specific topics covered during the class sessions include:

  • Openings
  • Plotting & Pacing
  • Voice, Tense & POV
  • Scene Building & Time
  • Character Building
  • The Vast Middle
  • Themes & “Aboutness”
  • Endings
  • Representing Your Novel
  • The Publication Process

PLEASE NOTE: This program is for novelists who are ready to make a strong commitment to their work, and our waitlist for the course is typically very long. Students will be expected to participate in the full program.

HOW IT WORKS

Students will meet in the Studio monthly for three-hour sessions to discuss craft, solve drafting challenges, workshop scenes, and share some snacks and beverages. In between class sessions you’ll have plenty of time to write and generate new work while still staying in touch via StoryStudio’s private online class forum.

We’ve structured this program to provide maximum benefit without demanding too much time away from focusing on your own work. In addition to workshopping short scenes in class, participants will meet individually with Cynthia for 100-page manuscript reviews.

Students enrolled in this course will receive complimentary admission and early registration to three (3) classes from our acclaimed PJ Seminar Master Class series throughout the year. (Recent and upcoming writers include Alexander Chee, Pam Houston, Vu Tran, Garth Greenwell, Laura van den Berg, Kaveh Akbar, and Nick Flynn, among others.)

The class also includes a half-day offsite writers retreat, where you can spend the day writing and thinking, with breaks to mingle at lunch and over drinks with students in our other novel workshops. As a writer in our Novel in a Year program, you’re considered a “VIP” at the studio.

Throughout the course, you’ll have access to a private online forum for exchanging additional work and sharing articles and links of interest. And most importantly, these courses provide accountability check-ins to report your progress and struggles, and keep you writing.

YOUR WRITING COMMUNITY

Whether you’ve already made headway on your novel or are just gathering ideas, your cohort will provide the structure, companionship, feedback, good humor, and emotional support to help you see your project through.

You’ll also join StoryStudio’s larger community—in person and on social media—where you can connect with students from other classes, receive “first chance” invitations to special programming, and stay informed about literary events around the city.

The Novel In a Year program has been going for over ten years, and you will have the opportunity to benefit socially and professionally from a strong network of alumni, many of whom are experiencing publishing success.

The program fee is $2,750.

This tuition includes:

11 sessions, meeting once per month for 11 months
A manuscript review with Cynthia Pelayo
A half-day retreat at Ragdale with your cohort
3 comped passes to our PJ Master Class series
Discounts to the Writers Festival and Pub Crawl
A private online chat forum
VIP status at the Studio
A literary community to take well beyond this program

2026 Schedule Meets IN-PERSON AT THE STUDIO on the Following Dates:
6:30pm – 9:30pm Central 

April 13
May 11
June 8
July 13
August 17
September 14
October 12
November 9
December 14
January 11, 2027
February 8, 2027

HOW TO APPLY

APPLICATIONS CLOSED

This course is limited to 12 students and is submission based.

  1. You will be asked to submit a 10-page writing sample in a .doc or PDF. The sample can be a short story or novel excerpt.
  2. Someone who submits on the first day has the same chance as someone who submits on the last day, so don’t worry, and don’t rush.
  3. Payment isn’t due until after the application period is closed and acceptances have been sent out. We are happy to discuss payment plans with students who are accepted.

The next cohort will begin in April 2026, and applications will open in the winter of 2026. Please subscribe to our newsletter to get the most up-to-date information.