Our intern, Shelby Weisburg, a graduate student in NC State’s MFA Fiction Writing program, recently interviewed Devon Maguire, about her experiences in the year-long 2024 Novel Intensive class. Read on to learn how the course helped Devon to learn how to worldbuild, find a supportive community of writers, and finish a draft of her novel!

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Can you start by introducing yourself as a writer? What did you work on over the course of this class?

I am a software developer by day, and, in my free time, I spent the last year working on a high fantasy novel thematically centered on death and dying. My main character's brother died before the novel starts, and it follows her journey of coming to terms with his death.

How did you hear about Redbud and what made you decide to take this class?

I discovered Redbud when I was looking online for an avenue to improve my writing post-college. During college, I got a minor in creative writing. I knew I didn't want it to be my career, but, after graduating, I really missed having structured time and community to improve on this novel idea that I've had since middle school. So I signed up for Redbud’s Intermediate Fiction, Master Novel, and Fantasy Worldbuilding classes.

About a year or two after my first Redbud class, they offered the first Novel Intensive course. Unfortunately, I missed the deadline for the first year of the Novel Intensive, but I knew I really wanted to apply for the second year. When the applications re-opened, I applied and got in. I came into the class with a full first draft of the novel I’d been working on, but I wanted to be able to refine that draft and make it into something more cohesive and understandable. I wanted to receive feedback and restructure it in a way better aligned with what I envisioned. Of course, there will probably be thirty more drafts before it's completely finished, but my novel is much closer to that end than it was before this class.

Can you talk a little bit about the course itself? How was it structured and what were your biggest takeaways?

In this class, we had five sessions that were six weeks long. The class was very workshop heavy in the beginning. For the first half of the year, we focused on writing as much as we could and getting as much feedback as we could. At that halfway point, we had a one-on-one with our instructor, Ben. He's great. 10-out-of-10 would recommend! Meeting with him individually really let me dig into my draft and ask, What do I need to touch on in order to get through the dreaded middle and get to the end? The last half of the class was focused more on bringing the draft together through revision, structure, and endings.

Some of the biggest takeaways I had from this class were coming up with different ways to motivate myself to write and keep going. I always want to go back and edit, so it takes me forever to get through a draft. This class really helped me push past that and just get words down on paper, to really have something to work with rather than agonizing over every detail feeling perfect the first time. From a craft perspective, I learned a lot more about where my book fits and how it fits together. And a lot more about my characters, their character arcs, and how other readers view them. And how to better worldbuild and provide information in a coherent way that helps readers navigate the world I’m creating without overwhelming them.

What is the community at Redbud Writing Project like? How did the community impact what you took away from the class?

I loved the community orientation of this class. Writing can be kind of lonely, especially when you've been working on an idea for as long as I have. You can get a little despairing. But it was helpful to be in community with other writers going through the same struggles. It’s rewarding for you to push through those struggles and also support others as they do, too.

Having a year-long course allowed us to get to know each other so well. Even though the class finished, we're still meeting up outside of class to write.

Our class was made up of diverse people from all different backgrounds. Some of us were parents, some of us were not; some of us had partners, some single. And we also wrote across all genres. We had one person who wrote historical fiction. We had a couple of fantasy people. We had a couple of people catered towards young adult fiction, a couple of adult literary fiction writers. So, it was helpful to know how my work would be received by all different audiences and perspectives.

The 2024 Novel Intensive Cohort being subject to Arshia’s photography skills

What did you accomplish in this class that you’re the most proud of?

As for what I accomplished in this class, I’m most proud that I finished most of the second draft of my novel. And I'm really proud of the connections that I was able to make in the class, too. Like I said, we're still meeting up to write at coffee shops on the weekends. Going into this class, I had the goal of fostering a community of writers for when the class finished, and I’m proud that I’ve been a catalyst to keep this community going because it's just a wonderful thing.

Overall, why would you recommend getting involved with Redbud?

I feel like there are so few opportunities to create in a writing community outside of college, which we can't all afford to go back and do. I'd love to get an MFA, but I don't have the time and I have to keep my full-time job. This class gives people a unique opportunity to refine their craft and be in community outside of a traditional college setting. I've always loved taking classes at Redbud in part because my tuition helps support other people who don't necessarily have the resources to pay for these classes.

When you go to college, your money's going towards an institution, and you don't necessarily see its direct impact. But, with Redbud, you see how scholarship money funds all of the workshops, like the memoir workshops and the underrepresented writers workshops. So, not only am I taking the class, but I'm also supporting a community that's encouraging writers who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

I would recommend getting involved with Redbud because it's a great opportunity to learn from others and help develop the writers’ community in North Carolina. All of the ways that people can get involved—whether it's volunteering with the program or teaching a class or being a student—all of these roles help keep Redbud alive, which, in turn, helps keep the writing community in the Triangle thriving.

Student Spotlight: Devon Maguire from our 2024 Year Long Novel Intensive