editing

You’re so frustrated, you could scream. You’ve taken classes, you’ve filled out GMC charts, you’ve read books on writing and joined professional writing associations. You’ve worked hard and long at your craft. You’ve finished a book – maybe more than one – then pitched and submitted it, or even...

Developmental edits are the first edit writers skip, but the first thing mentioned in reviews. If your story feels weak, your opening isn’t strong enough to hook readers, your plot goes haywire or your characters feel like cardboard—you need a dev edit. Join developmental editor Jodi Henley as...

You’ve done it! Reached the end of your draft. Wouldn’t it be nice if that was all you had to do? But unless you are a wonder writer, your initial draft will not be perfect. So, what comes next? Revision! In this workshop, you will receive a revision road map and a tip for revising your draft...

You’ve done it! You’ve finished your first draft. Maybe even you’ve gone over your draft a few times and had some beta reader feedback as well. But you’re either not sure it’s ready to send off to an editor, or if you’re if you’ve decided to edit it all on your own, you’re not sure if you’ve...

Have you ever finished the first draft of a book and thought it was missing something, but you weren't sure what? That "what" is probably layering - the process of adding details to your story, from character traits to body language to descriptions of the environment surrounding your story. Each...

***FREE to all registered users. This group is what you make of it - it's a safe space for writers to meet and greet. Register to access the discussion. Once registered click on the Classroom Discussions tab.*** Welcome to Find Your Crew, where the mission is to bring like-minded...

Work through this three-pass edit to get your manuscript ready to submit (or indie publish) in January 2023! Writer and professional editor Kate McMurray walks you through the process of taking your manuscript from good to great in a series of workshops on revising and editing your work. The...

Get your book polished and ready to submit (or self publish) to start the New Year! Writer and professional editor Kate McMurray walks you through the process of taking your manuscript from good to great in a series of workshops on revising and editing your work. The series starts with Big...

Be Your Own Developmental Editor will provide the tools and techniques to help you see your manuscript the way an editor or agent might see it. We’ll ask the tough questions to guide you in making your manuscript the best it can be. You’ll use these tools to assess your story’s strengths and...

WHAT IS THE STORY GRID? The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what...

After you’ve completed your manuscript and you’re standing at the foot of Revision Mountain, climbing to the summit can feel impossible. It’s hard to look at your own writing with the objective eye needed to shape it into a tight, polished, publishable story—but just like writing, self-editing...

You’ve finished your rough draft—great! Here’s how to quickly and easily revise it to show off your true writing skills. From the award-winning author and educator who brought you the Fast Drafting method comes an easy, effective way to approach the often daunting task of revising your work. It doe

Want to take your manuscript from good to great? A few simple things can help your story shine and stand out from the pack. Our goals for this workshop: · Cut wordiness to make your manuscript clearer and more readable. · Check for other grammatical sins like excessive sentence...

Not long ago my agent gave me what sounded like an impossible mission. Trim a 100,000+ word manuscript to under 90,000 words. That’s approximately 35 pages worth of words. Words I sweated to string together. Words I loved. “I think it will interest more editors at the shorter length,” my agent...

Award-winning editor Brenda Chin has worked in the romance industry for more than 32 years. Throughout her many years with Harlequin, she had the opportunity to work with some of the best writers in the business, often buying their first book. Brenda is offering her expertise to help authors go...

Award-winning editor Brenda Chin has worked in the romance industry for more than 32 years. Throughout her many years with Harlequin, she had the opportunity to work with some of the best writers in the business, often buying their first book. Brenda is offering her expertise to help authors go...

You’ve just typed The End. Sigh! You’re done… Not so fast. You can be absolutely sure that somewhere in that stack of pages are: embarrassing plot holes; limp love scenes; sentences that clank instead of ring; conflicts that go nowhere; colorless cardboard characters; and fight scenes with...

Learn how to identify shallow POV and make it deeper. Learn how to change your writing from Telling to Showing. Want to perk up the pace of your prose? Need help pinpointing weak spots in your writing style? Your Instructor: Linda Carroll-Bradd, owner of Lustre Editing This workshop will...

There’s an old Zen proverb that reads, “After Enlightenment comes the Laundry.” Perhaps you feel like that after NanoWrimo. After the rush of writing a novel in a month the adrenaline is still pumping and then you read what you wrote. You’ve been to the mountain top, you looked out over the...

As an editor, I spend an inordinate amount of time instructing authors in the basics. What makes a good plot? Have I used the right words? The End: What do I do after I've written the book? is a class that answers these and other questions for fiction writers. From word choice, punctuation and...