The R(ev)ise and Shine! Residency
August 31 - September 3, 2024 @ The Highlights Foundation
Yes, residency.
Modeled on the MFA residency, in fact.
Why?
Because we value your time and your resources, and we know that it sometimes takes a big push, a concerted effort, to get a project well-launched or over the finish line.
This won’t be your spa retreat. Your write-between-sight-seeing retreat. Your hang-with-friends retreat—although our location has some of the tastiest food, loveliest hikes, and best opportunities to build community during meals and fun-filled evening activities.
This will be your “I want to roll-up-my-sleeves and write the best book I possibly can” retreat.
The residency is scheduled over Labor Day weekend, August 31-September 3, 2024 on the Highlights Foundation campus in Boyds Mills, Pennsylvania. Apt, huh? While your friends and family are kicking back, you’ll be kicking it up a notch.
This residency is open to everyone. We welcome all writers to apply, from picture book to adult fiction, brand new visitors to the R(ev)ise and Shine! community and old friends alike. Whether you have published before or are just starting out, we will tailor your experience to meet you where you are in your writing journey.
You will be assigned to two mentors who will work closely with you to determine your unique strengths and needs as a writer, as well as what’s working and what isn’t (yet!) in your current draft. Together we will help you design a plan of action for your next revision or for getting out of a stuck place. Come prepared to leap over hurdles that have been getting in your way.
Cost: $1999
Includes: Private room/cabin, delicious chef-prepared meals, and a full schedule of programming.
To Apply
Complete the application by May 1, 2024.
Acceptances will be announced on May 6, 2024.
If you are accepted, you must register with the Highlights Foundation by May 15, 2024 or risk losing your spot. We will send instructions on how to register.
The number of participants for this retreat is limited, providing a very low attendee-mentor ratio.
Before the Residency
Send us 20 pages of your project (or your entire picture book) plus a full-synopsis (for novels) by August 1, 2024.
For an additional fee, sign-up for an optional one-on-one meeting with our guest agent (more information coming soon).
The Residency
Take advantage of a full schedule of lectures, targeted writing exercises, one-on-one meetings with mentors, face time with an agent, and other group activities.
Or, if you prefer to focus on your writing, pick and choose among the events you'd like to join, and spend the rest of your time working in the comfort of your cozy room/cabin!
We are offering one $500 scholarship to a Black or Indigenous writer.
Meet Your Hosts
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Lesa Cline-Ransome
Mentor
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Rob Costello
Mentor
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Jo Knowles
Mentor
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Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Mentor
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James E. Ransome
Special Guest Illustrator
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Eric Smith
Special Guest Agent
Some of Our Books
Tentative Schedule
Day One: Saturday, August 31, 2024
3:00 p.m. - Check in
5:30-6:00 p.m. - Signature Cocktails/Mocktails & Appetizers/Meet & Greet
6:00-7:00 p.m. - Dinner
7:00 p.m. - Evening Gathering & Mingle
Day Two: Sunday, September 1, 2024
8:00-8:45 a.m. - Breakfast
9:00-10:00 a.m. - Morning Session: “Revising from the Ground Up: A Focus On Setting” with Rob
10:30-11:30 a.m. - One-on-One with Mentors & Optional Agent Meetings with Eric
12:00-12:45 p.m. - Lunch
1:00-2:00 p.m. - Afternoon Session: “Lift Every Voice: Fine Tuning Your Narrative” with Lesa
2:30-3:30 p.m. - One-on-One with Mentors & Optional Agent Meetings with Eric
4:00-5:00 p.m. - “Crafting Perfect Pitches & the Real Trick to Opening Pages” with Eric
5:30-6:00 p.m. - Appetizers
6:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Dinner
7:00-9:00 p.m. - “Cocktails & Collage” with James
Day Three: Monday, September 2, 2024
8:00-8:45 a.m. - Breakfast
9:00-10:00 a.m. - Morning Session: “Build a Solid Story Structure” with Jennifer
10:30-11:30 a.m. - One-on-One with Mentors & Optional Agent Meetings with Eric
12:00-12:45 p.m. - Lunch
1:00-2:00 p.m. - Afternoon Session: “Let’s Talk About It: Revising Dialogue to Develop Strong Characters and Create Active, Emotional Scenes” with Jo
2:30-3:30 p.m. - One-on-One with Mentors & Optional Agent Meetings with Eric
3:30-4:30 p.m. - Optional Nature Walk
5:30-6:00 p.m. - Appetizers
6:00-7:00 p.m. - Dinner
7:00 p.m. - Evening Celebration with R(ev)ise & Shine! & Community Readings
Day Four: Tuesday, September 3, 2024
8:00-8:45 a.m. - Breakfast
9:00-10:00 a.m. - Morning Session: “Ask Us Anything Panel” with Mentors & Special Guests
10:00-11:00 a.m. - Pack & Check-out
12:00-12:45 p.m. - Lunch & Final Good-byes
Our Presentations
Lesa:
Lift Every Voice: Fine Tuning Your Narrative
Bringing characters to life through authentic voice requires the work of seeing, listening, researching and remembering. And yet evoking and cultivating narrative voice remains one of the most elusive elements of craft. Utilizing mini exercises and discussion, Lesa’s presentation will highlight the works of diverse storytellers to guide us through finding, reshaping and lifting our own distinctive, narrative voice.
Jennifer:
Build a Solid Story Structure
Revising to improve story structure (narrative drive, pacing, character growth and transformation) can feel overwhelming. How do you get the necessary distance from your story to determine what changes need to be made? In this workshop, Jennifer will provide exercises to help you examine your desire lines; the tension provided by the personal, external, and philosophical stakes; and what specific appetite you’re building in the reader. By the end, you should have a clearer picture of what needs to be added to build a strong story foundation and what, perhaps, is faulty plumbing.
Rob:
Revising from the Ground Up: A Focus on Setting
Too many writers approach setting as an afterthought. But the truth is, no matter what kind of story you’re telling, building a richly imagined and detailed world is foundational to reader immersion. By analyzing mentor texts and using his own process as a guide, Rob will discuss revising for setting in order to enhance mood and tone, reveal and explore character more deeply, and shape and communicate the themes of the book.
James:
Cocktails and Collage
This 2-hour workshop will focus on exercises for the creative mind and will help participants approach collage-making with the eyes of a storyteller. Come prepared to take an artistic journey in building abstract picture-making skills and developing your senses to inspire creative thinking and approaches to visual puzzles. Relax into working with painted, found, and purchased papers to explore new directions in problem solving, seeking out new discoveries and expanding your own artistic awareness that can be applied to the page and beyond. No prior art experience necessary. All levels welcome.
Jo:
Let's Talk About It: Revising Dialogue to Develop Strong Characters and Create Active, Emotional Scenes
Dialogue serves many purposes, but often isn't used to its greatest effect! Dialogue can be used to build character, create tension, infuse emotion, reveal important details and power dynamics about relationships, and so much more! This workshop will explore how to use dialogue to your best advantage. Jo will provide plenty of examples and fun exercises that will help participants explore the many ways dialogue can help make a scene come to life.
Eric:
Crafting Perfect Pitches & the Real Trick to Opening Pages
All too often writers fret over query letters and their first few pages, often leading to overthinking and/or overwriting. In Eric Smith's chat and Q&A, he'll discuss what agents (and editors!) look for in the perfect pitch, and what it is that makes those dreaded opening pages sing. Do you need to have action right away? Do your comps need to match a certain "x amount of years old" formula? Is there a required word count for query letters? What if I don't have a platform?! Hey. Take a breath. We're gonna talk about all these things, and he promises... you shouldn't be stressing.
Our Destination
On the traditional and contemporary lands of the Lenape Nation, the Highlights Foundation campus sits in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is sustainably cared for by the descendants of the founders of Highlights for Children, Garry and Caroline Myers. Their farmhouse is located here, which is still operational for lodging and gathering space as part of the facility.
The property is rich in family history and is a wonderful place that feeds the mind, body, and soul. It’s tucked in the northern-most terrain of the Pocono Mountains, situated a couple of hours away from NYC and Philadelphia.
The Highlights Foundation was founded by Garry and Caroline’s grandson Kent Brown in 1985, offering a weeklong summer workshop for children’s authors and illustrators at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. In 2000, the Foundation started offering smaller workshops and retreats for the children’s publishing community on these grounds year round, building more facilities and spaces to support operations.
Click to find out more about the stellar accommodations, food, and facilities available at the Highlights Foundation, or take the video tour below!
FAQs
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Don’t let the application dissuade you! All levels of experience are encouraged. We’ve asked you to apply simply to confirm we can serve your needs. We also seek to create a diverse community of writers with a balance of experience, skill, and writing goals.
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Each participant will be assigned two mentors. The first mentor will read your twenty pages and respond with a written critique emphasizing what’s working and offering suggestions for improvement. You will receive the response ahead of the residency and will have the opportunity to discuss the feedback there.
The second mentor will act as a writing resource or coach. This mentor is there to help you in any way you deem useful. You can discuss revision approaches, brainstorm story possibilities, puzzle out sticky story problems, air concerns, or ask industry questions.
You will be meeting one-on-one with each of your two assigned mentors. However, throughout the residency you will have many opportunities to interact with all of the mentors and special guests during meals and group activities.
Both mentors will take their lead from you, by supporting you on your particular journey.
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Our goal is that you will leave the residency with a clearer sense of both where your project shines and where it could still use some work. We’ll help you develop an individualized plan for revision, providing resources and guidance to follow as you approach your next draft.
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One-on-one consultations with our special guest agent, Eric Smith, are available for an additional fee, though you will have the opportunity to interact with Eric during meals and group activities. We ask, however, that you limit any questions for Eric regarding your own career & specific projects to the one-on-one consultations.
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Not to worry! Sometimes the very thing keeping you from putting an idea into words is that the idea hasn’t been fully formed or brainstormed yet. During our one-on-one meetings we’ll ask probing questions to help you take that all-important next step: figuring out where your story starts! We’ll also help with outlining, plotting, goals, etc., to help you feel like you have a good plan to go home with and start writing.
When applying, simply note that you are coming to residency with an idea you'd like help with, rather than feedback on pages. If you'd like to share your idea and what's been keeping you from starting thus far, please do!
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No! Absolutely not. While we encourage everyone to attend as much of the programming as they like, the only sessions we ask attendees to make sure not to miss are their one-on-one meetings with their mentors. Everything else is optional.
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Well, tastes are subjective. But we sure think so! When you register, just make sure to let the folks at The Highlights Foundation know about any dietary restrictions or preferences you may have. They work very hard to ensure that each guest has something delicious awaiting them at mealtime.
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Because we have a lot to offer and limited time in which to do it, our schedule is designed with minimal opportunities for writing. That said, because the majority of our programming is optional, you can take as much time you like to write.
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Absolutely! The workshop is designed to appeal to everyone. The session will feature a series of fun exercises to help you express yourself creatively and enhance your writing practice.
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We have reserved a block of private cabins and rooms in the Farm House at the Highlights Foundation. Each writer will have their own cabin/room. All accommodations come with a comfortable bed, writing desk, and a private bathroom, among other amenities. To find out more click here.
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Yes. Eric Smith will be open to queries from all attendees of the residency.
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You can! All the members of the R(ev)ise and Shine! team are available to work one-on-one with residency participants. To find out more about what we offer, please visit our Manuscript Critiques page or reach out to us at our Contact Page.
All attendees to the R(ev)ise and Shine! Residency with received a 10% discount on their next critique or coaching service.
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