Self editing workshop -saturday 14th may 2022 - £40.00

Editing your own work is the hidden secret to high-quality writing - the unacknowledged engine that drives fiction from inspiration to publication. It’s also an intimidating process, requiring you to see your work as both writer and reader. So how can you bridge the divide, and turn your first draft into something that’s ready to go?

This workshop will examine the gap between getting an idea down on paper and sending out a finished version, giving you strategies to separate your internal editor from your internal writer and improve your own work at every level.

 Moving from large-scale structure to the finer details, you will explore a range of techniques that will make your writing more effective and compelling. We will combine discussion with practical exercises to investigate with you what makes a book connect with someone reading it for the first time.

 Whatever stage you’re at with your writing, and whether you’re planning to submit your work to a publisher or agent, or want to release your work independently, this workshop will supply you with the tools necessary for unlocking the power of your fiction.

 This course is for…

•    Writers with all levels of experience

·      Aspiring writers looking for direction as they take their first steps.

·      Experienced authors who are hoping to refine and renew their established routines for editing plot and structure. 

·      Suitable for fiction and non-fiction.  

Course content

      1. The big picture.

      This session is designed to ensure each of your chapters has the essential content to make up the ‘narrative triangle’, and that your pacing is spot on, with no faltering in the narrative drive. What makes up a structural edit?

·      How does your story start, who’s telling it and where are they telling it from?

·      Have you started your book in the right place? Are you including information vital to you, the author, but not needed by the reader? Is it clear in every chapter what your protagonist needs, what they do to get it and what gets in their way?

       2. The engine room - identifying narrative drive.

  This session shows you how to make those decisions about the structure of your book when editing and also move between POVs if you need to.

·      Novels are the only narrative form that can go deep inside fictional characters’ heads and see the world through their eyes. 

·      Sometimes you may want the reader to share your protagonists’ perceptions and empathise with them. Other times, you might choose to be more remote and objective. 

·      But how do you know which technique to use, and when?                             

3.  Creating An Engaging Voice

Whether you’re writing in the first or third person, creating an engaging voice and getting it right is essential.

·      How do you create a distinctive, strong voice that will hook agents

·      How do you differentiate between different Points of View?

·      How do you know which POV to use, and when? 

·      This session shows you how to make these decisions and also move between POVs if you need to.

·      Includes hints and tips on close POV and voice.

4. How to sharpen your prose.

In this session, we place a piece of prose under the microscope, examining it in detail. We look at where your strengths lie, and which areas need improvement. 

·      You might have a compelling story to tell with sizzling characters, but if you don’t get the words right how will you engage the interest of your reader? 

·      Does your prose have a pleasing rhythm, appropriate for the content? 

·      Are you tagging every verb with an adverb? 

·      Are you ‘telling’ when you should be ‘showing’? 

·      Sara will share with you her triage system of editing and how she approaches a structural edit step by step.

      5. Sweating the small stuff

      In this session we will show you how to choose your prose carefully, think about adjectives and adverbs and understand how to say what you really mean as succinctly and powerfully as possible.       

·      How to sharpen your own prose, sentence by sentence.

·      We will cover dialogue tags, internal dialogue and 'show don’t tell.'

·      We will talk about filler words, simplicity, rhythm and structure of sentence as well as showing you techniques and tips to really hone your prose techniques.

·      We will also be discussing ways to read your work back as a reader and not as a writer.

6. Now Over To You

This is your chance to ask questions about your current WIP.

Included in the Price of £40:

·      Session recording sent after the session

·      Workbook

·      Examples of edited text

·      Three presentations

Please note this session is 2 hours but we will take a 15-minute break after one hour. 

Session 1         12.30 —13.30

Break for 15 minutes: 13.30-1345

Session 2         13.45 —15.30

You can book the live workshop or pay for the recording and watch at your leisure. 

To book and for Payment details, please email me on coxsara887@gmail.com. You can pay by BACS or card.