Blog
From Draft to Publication-Ready: Inside the Year-Long Novel Incubator with Joss Lake
by Writing Workshops Staff
2 hours ago
Revising a novel can feel like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube in the dark. You know all the pieces are there, but finding the right configuration—the one that makes everything click into place—requires more than just determination. It demands structure, insight, and the kind of steady guidance that can transform a promising draft into a manuscript ready for the publishing world.
Enter Joss Lake, whose debut novel Future Feeling was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award and earned him recognition as one of the Strand's "30 Writers to Watch."
As a novelist whose work has been supported by Columbia University, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and Queens Council for the Arts, Lake brings both the lived experience of publication and the pedagogical expertise honed through years of teaching fiction at Columbia University, Baruch College, the School of Visual Arts, and beyond. His 2022 residency as the Jacob Julien Visiting Writer at Wesleyan University further cemented his reputation as an educator who understands not just what makes novels work, but how to guide writers through the complex journey of revision.
Now, Lake is launching the Year-Long Novel Incubator, a comprehensive MFA-level workshop beginning January 2026. This isn't just another writing class—it's a transformative twelve-month immersion designed for 6-12 serious fiction writers ready to move from early draft to polished manuscript.
With five one-on-one meetings, two full developmental edits, quarterly workshop cycles, and an impressive roster of 2026 guest faculty, including novelists Daphne Palasi Andreades, Zaina Arafat, Anelise Chen, Denne Michele Norris, and literary agent Chris Clemans, the program offers what even prestigious MFA programs often lack: consistent, skilled community feedback on complete manuscripts paired with practical publishing insights.
What sets Lake's approach apart is his four-phase structure that mirrors the actual revision process novelists face—from goal-setting and character development through structural work and scene-level craft, culminating in sentence-level polish and publication preparation. It's a roadmap designed not to constrain creativity but to channel it, ensuring writers don't waste months on granular edits before addressing bigger structural issues. In this interview, Lake shares his philosophy on revision, community, and what it truly takes to transform a manuscript into a book that's ready to find its readers.
Writing Workshops: Your program is structured into four distinct phases over the year, from goal-setting to polishing for publication. What inspired you to design the Novel Incubator with this specific progression, and why is this approach more effective than tackling novel revision all at once?
Joss Lake: I've found that writers thrive when they can break down a complex undertaking, like revising a book, into concrete steps. Tackling novel revision all at once is simply too overwhelming, as there are so many layers to the revision process. Also, focusing on more granular issues might be a waste of time if, in looking at the bigger picture, the novel moves in a different direction. By starting with big-picture editorial feedback and big-picture structural work, I work with the writer to really connect with and flesh out their intentions and to understand the distinct pieces of the book and how they fit together. From there, we continue developing and tightening, expanding and shaping the book into its true form.
Writing Workshops: You mention that participants should come in with at least 25,000 words and be ready to add approximately 5,000 words per month through accountability tools. For writers considering the program, can you walk us through what these accountability tools look like in practice, and how you help students balance substantial new writing with deep revision work?
Joss Lake: I want to clarify that the more writing someone comes in with, the more they'll be able to immerse into the revision process. However, if someone has at least 25,000 words, and they are committed to both revising and rigorously generating, that's certainly doable. Accountability tools for generating are designed to encourage steady, consistent accrual of words. Participants will have the option to be paired with someone else as an "accountability partner" and optional Zoom rooms for pairs to meet in between our sessions. Participants will have writing folders that they'll upload their writing into, which will help me get a sense of their output. I strongly recommend that folks in the generating process differentiate between the generative stage and other stages of revision. In the generative stage, you should try to get the words on the page without second-guessing yourself. I would focus on word count, not quality. The more you understand about where you're heading and the work that you're revising thoroughly, the easier it will eventually be to integrate newer writing into the revision.
Writing Workshops: In Phase 1, you focus on "shaping and sharpening characters and their desires." As both a novelist and educator, what are the most common character-related issues you see in early novel drafts, and what techniques do you use to help writers develop what you call the "aliveness" of their characters?
Joss Lake: In earlier drafts, writers may have an intuitive but not fully fleshed out sense of who their characters are, what they want, and what will keep holding them back. I push writers to get clarity around who these people are that they're creating and also, and importantly, who they are outside of their primary desires and confrontations. What kinds of texture can we bring to the page to make them real? What is a guilty pleasure, a song they love, an unusual penchant? I think the sense of aliveness connects to our intimacy with our character, and we need to get them even beyond the level at which it will come across directly on the page.
Writing Workshops: The program includes five one-on-one meetings with you throughout the year, plus two full developmental edits—one at the beginning and an editorial read at the end. Can you describe what a developmental edit with you looks like? What will students walk away with from these individualized sessions?
Joss Lake: A developmental edit is a "big picture" read through and is a crucial part of the novel-writing process. Even in a typical 4-semester MFA program, it's unusual to be able to workshop and receive feedback on an entire work, so it's important to have someone read for the strengths and weaknesses as you're starting a big revision. The first developmental read, I treat much in the way that an agent might read a client's pages and respond. I'll read through the work and write a 2-3 page editorial letter about what I'm seeing on the page, what I'm missing, and suggestions for development. In the second developmental read, I'll focus on what has been added and changed, and make more granular notes on the sentence-level. Using this feedback, writers should be able to gain a clear sense of how to prepare their work for publication.
Writing Workshops: You've assembled an impressive roster of 2026 guest faculty, including Daphne Palasi Andreades, Zaina Arafat, Anelise Chen, Denne Michele Norris, and literary agent Chris Clemans. How do you approach bringing in guest speakers, and what conversations do you hope these established novelists, editors, and agents will have with your students about the publishing process?
Joss Lake: I love bringing in guests, many of whom are friends and respected peers, in order to both inspire emerging writers and to assuage certain anxieties. All of the invited writers are both experts in the field and also, extremely approachable humans who are able to share about their successes and moments of difficulty in an accessible way. I want to bring in guests who help emerging writers understand that they, too, can do this, not guests who make publishing a book feel like an ineffable and unreachable endpoint. To that end, I want students to feel comfortable sharing about the points of the process that they find challenging or rewarding and to have an open conversation about wherever they find themselves. Also, these writers have all taken various paths to publication and I hope that participants can really internalize that there's no "one way" to be a writer.
Writing Workshops: In Phase 2, you work on "outlining and evaluating structural unity" and "building momentum without tying things up in a bow." This sounds like a delicate balance. For writers who worry about over-plotting or losing the organic feeling of their narrative, how do you help them think about novel structure in a way that serves the story?
Joss Lake: I definitely used to worry a lot about the age-old question of plotting vs. "pantsing" (as in, flying by the seat of one's pants) and was convinced that I needed to keep my writing intuitive and fresh by avoiding any overt plotting. But the more that I read and write and teach, the more that I see the structural unity as serving the intuition and freshness of the book rather than constricting it. I admire how George Saunders tracks the moves of short stories in A Swim in the Pond in the Rain and we'll be looking at excerpts that show how exciting it can be to fiddle with structure in order to increase the level of tension or surprise or emotional connection that the reader experiences. It's helpful to think of ourselves in the structural stages as frazzled tinkerers rather than "grand artists," trying different approaches and fiddling around with the through lines and transitions and narrative connections. Of course, for those who fall on the other end of the "plotter/pantser" spectrum, they'll be encouraged to let go of the detailed outline and really immerse in their character's deep desires and troubles and the world that they're building out.
Writing Workshops: The program emphasizes creating "a supportive community of writers" focused on "mutual thriving, not competition," and you mention using best practices of workshopping to ensure writers get the feedback they desire. What does a typical workshop session look like in your program, and how do you cultivate an environment where 6-12 fiction writers can give each other truly useful, generative feedback?
Joss Lake: In order to set up a supportive workshopping environment, we come up with group norms and discuss ways that we might ensure that everyone feels supported (for example, allowing the writer to respond during their workshop, not assuming that we are experts of someone else's work, asking questions from a place of curiosity, focusing on how a piece is working rather that if we "like" or "dislike" it). In a workshop, it's helpful to get folks to summarize what is happening in the given section in a non-evaluative way, and then we jump in to questioning and discussing and responding to everything from a character's primary drive to whether it makes sense that the plants in a given chapter would all die after one day of not watering them. Obviously, the point is not to get hung up on small details, but to really curiously move through a novel excerpt and reflect back the places where we're fully immersed and the places that make us feel like we're being pulled out of the flow.
Early on, I like to establish that the workshop space is non-competitive and in fact, the more generous writers are to each other, the more they will receive back and learn about their own process. I encourage folks to think critically about the feedback they receive and to take what feels useful and leave the rest. I also tell writers in a workshop to think about their peers not as other writers to be in competition with but of potential allies and readers and supporters for years to come. This reframing has a dramatic effect in the tone of a workshop, and I love watching writers build relationships with each other that last long after a workshop ends.
Writing Workshops: By the end of the year, what transformation do you hope to see in your students? Not just in their manuscripts, but in their relationship to themselves as novelists? And can you share an example of a student whose journey through a similar intensive program illustrates what's possible when a writer commits to this level of sustained revision and craft study?
Joss Lake: By the end of the year, my hope is that students feel confident in their identity as writers, knowing that they have the language and the tools to move through the drafting and revising process and a whole crew of people to support them. I want them to feel liberated from (or at the least skeptical of) any sort of "imposter syndrome" they might have entered into the workshop with. After finishing this incubator, they should have a crystallized sense of what their novel is doing and how to either keep refining or prepare to submit their work. Above all, I hope that they feel like they are part of a writing community and that they can move forward toward publication with a sense of accomplishment and a deep connection to their purpose.
Both in the MFA program at Columbia and through other courses, I've had the opportunity to work with writers beyond a semester-long course, and it's incredible what happens when you combine ample time, a strong relationship, and a dedication to the craft of writing. I've seen students transform their tentative ideas and proposals into exciting drafts and their polished sections into full books that they're getting ready to submit. Completing an intensive, durational program not only sets up writers to finish the book that they're currently working on, but also provides them with the tools and ideally, peer and instructor support, to publish many more.
The journey from early draft to publication-ready manuscript doesn't have to be a solitary struggle. With the right structure, community, and guidance, the overwhelming task of novel revision becomes a series of manageable, even exciting steps. Joss Lake's Year-Long Novel Incubator offers exactly this kind of roadmap—breaking down the complex work of revision into four strategic phases while providing the accountability, craft instruction, and individualized feedback that transforms promising drafts into polished books.
Whether you're wrestling with character motivations, struggling with structural coherence, or simply seeking the community and deadline pressure to finally finish your manuscript, this program provides the comprehensive support system you need. With only 6-12 spots available for the 2026 cohort beginning January 6th, now is the time to commit to your novel and to yourself as a novelist.
Ready to transform your early draft into a publication-ready manuscript? Learn more and apply to the Year-Long Novel Incubator with Joss Lake.
