Robert Olen Butler under the lights.

Janet Burroway

Janet recording her narration in Chicago.

So, Is It Done?
Navigating the Revision Process

Hosted by Janet Burroway

So, Is It Done? Tough question, huh? Does the story start on page three? Is there a conflict? Are those verbs active? So many questions. But help is on the way. This interactive DVD guides you towards answering the question, So, Is It Done?

If you are doing any kind of writing, you will need to revise. Whether you are earning a degree, writing on your own after the kids go to sleep, or fulfilling a retirement dream, chances are you’ll be unhappy with your first draft. Revision can involve the writer taking risks with structure, or re-envisioning character, plot, or setting. For your work to live up to its potential, you’ll need both internal and external insight; you’ll need your creative instinct, your conscious critic, and readers you trust. You may seek these insights many times, over many drafts.

Acclaimed writer and teacher of writing Janet Burroway, and the featured authors on this DVD, present five rounds of revision that you can try on your own or with a group or class.

• Click here to play a 1.5 minute program promo (3.5mb Quicktime movie).
• Click on the links below to view Bonus Footage Sample Clips:
  • Robert Olen Butler on Significant Detail
    (3.5mb Quicktime movie)
  • Discussion on the Writers' Voice
    (4.1mb Quicktime movie)
  • John McNally Revises John McNally
    (5.2mb Quicktime movie)
• Click here to read the program and bonus sections.
• Click here to read about the 122-page digital book anthology included on the DVD.
• Click here to read about the program participants.

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Janet Burroway writes in all genres and for the small screen. Her seven novels include Raw Silk, runner-up for the National Book Award. Her textbook Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft is the most widely used writing text in America. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita at Florida State University.

Praise for, So, Is It Done? Navigating the Revision Process, Hosted by Janet Burroway.

"So, Is It Done? demystifies the writing process without denying the mystery involved. I learned a lot myself, and my students finally understand what I've been telling them all along."
—Paul Noble
Creative Writing Teacher, Oak Park River Forest H.S., Oak Park, IL

“Janet Burroway’s So, Is It Done? is a convincing (and compelling) presentation of revision as a necessary step in all good writing. It is unique in that it shows professional writers in the usually private act of rethinking and remaking their work, and talking about rewriting as a natural and often enjoyable component of the creative labor. I plan to incorporate this invaluable program into all my creative writing courses’ syllabi--it will save my students from (some of) my constant nagging about the need to revise their work.”
—Judith Ortiz Cofer
Author of The Meaning of Consuelo, The Latin Deli and The Line of the Sun.
Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Georgia

“In the wake of her indispensable textbook, Janet Burroway now offers a splendid and concise guide to the thorny task of revision. Writers, young and old, will feel encouraged and enlightened by this excellent DVD which offers a wonderful range of specific advice and suggestive comments from a group of experienced and thoughtful writers.”
—Margot Livesey
Author of Banishing Verona, Eva Moves the Furniture, and others.
She is Writer-in-Residence at Emerson College

“I think this DVD is a useful and necessary product, especially since so many undergraduate writers—and some graduate students—don't really understand or even see the need for revision.”
—Alison Lurie
Author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Foreign Affairs

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