From First Draft to Finished Novel: The Writing Group Journey

Go behind the scenes with three authors who’ve taken their novels from messy drafts to finished books—all with the help of a writing group. Whether you’re a writer seeking feedback or a reader curious about how books are made, this panel offers insights into the creative process and the community that fuels it.

About the Panelists 

Kat Rosenfield is a freelance pop culture and political writer, and the author of five books, including the Edgar-nominated No One Will Miss Her. A former reporter for MTV News, her work has appeared in outlets including Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Playboy, Reason, The New York Times, and Unherd, where she is a regular columnist. (She's written six books, and the newest one will be published March 10, 2026, titled How to Survive in the Woods.) kat rosenfield 

Leigh Stein is an author and cultural critic. She makes fun of what the internet is doing to us. She is the bestselling author of six books, including the critically acclaimed satirical novel Self Care and the gothic mystery If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You. She has written culture pieces and personal essays for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker online, Airmail, Allure, ELLE, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate. ABOUT — Leigh Stein 

Julia Strayer has stories in Glimmer Train, Kenyon Review Online, The Cincinnati Review, Jellyfish Review, Okay Donkey, HAD, Atticus Review, and others. Her stories have won contests and awards and are included in The Wigleaf Top 50 and The Best Small Fictions. A novel-in-progress has been named a finalist in the CRAFT Literary First Chapters contest. She’s a Submissions Editor at SmokeLong Quarterly and teaches creative writing at New York University. You can find her stories at Home - Julia Strayer