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Self-editing your Novel
Next date: 27th February, 2012
This course is designed for those who have already completed a manuscript or who have completed a major chunk of it. The course teaches the crucial skills involved in wrenching that first draft into shape. And remember: writing is re-writing. The important bit starts now!
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Keeping it simple, keeping it friendly
Our online course is designed to be simple to fit into your life, simple to understand ... and very friendly.
Simple to fit into your life. Because the course is online, you can dip in and out whenever you want. As long as you have a few hours to spare each week, it doesn't matter what other commitments you have, or which times of day are most convenient for you.
Simple to understand. Our online course course environment is straightforward. If you can turn a computer on, your technical skills are probably fine. All our courses are hosted on our social networking site, The Word Cloud, so you can pop over right now to see how it feels.
Friendly. Our approach is highly interactive and supportive. You'll have your tutor to help you, but you'll also get loads of support and encouragement from your classmates.
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Course Tutors
Your course tutors will be Debi Alper (left top) and Emma Darwin (left bottom).
Debi is the author of Nirvana Bites and Trading Tatiana (both Orion), gritty urban stories told with love and humour. Emma is the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Mathematics of Love and A Secret Alchemy, both historical fiction. Debi and Emma are hugely experienced and popular tutors and editors, with a long track record of helping first-time writers achieve publication.
Bookings info
Duration: 6 week course
Next start date: 25 February, 2012
Fee: £295
Syllabus: See detailed info below
Each week, you will get an introductory video, detailed lecture notes, a discussion topic, a homework assignment and feedback on that assignment. In addition, all class members are encouraged to chip in themselves. Ask questions that have been bothering you. Get into debates with your tutors and classmates. Offer each other feedback. Set challenges. Have fun!
How to book: See schedule and bookings info
More about our online courses: Click here
Any questions?: Ask away
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Course Syllabus
Course Purpose
So you've completed your novel or are close to doing so. So what next? This course is designed to give you the self-editing skills you need to ensure your novel is as good as it possibly can be, before you start pitching to agents. The exercises and feedback will mainly be based on your own novel, so you can see how to apply our advice specifically to your book.
Introductory Period
Before the course starts, you'll be able to watch an introductory video from the course tutors and get to know your fellow students in a dedicated area of the Word Cloud site.
Week One - Plot & Structure
Have you started your book in the right place? Are you including information that was vital for you as the author but that the reader doesn't need? Is it clear in every chapter what your main character needs, what they do in order to get it and what gets in their way? This session is designed to ensure that 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.
Week Two - Character
Creating convincing and engaging characters is vital to the success of your novel. The reader has to see them changing and needs to care about what happens to them. In this session, we'll be teaching you techniques to ensure you know your characters both inside and out, and can bring them alive as characters-in-action.
Week Three - Voice
When you submit your MS to an agent, they will be able to tell at a glance whether or not it's worth their time to read on. More than any other single issue, they will base this assessment on voice. Whether you're writing in the first or third person, creating an engaging voice and getting this right is essential. This session will give you the tools to check whether you're there yet or not. (And if you don't know what voice is, then this week is essential!)
Week Four - Point of View and Psychic Distance
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. At other times, you might choose to be more remote and objective. But how do you know which technique to use and when? This session will show you how to make those decisions and how to move between POVs if you need to.
Week Five - Prose Microscope
You might have a compelling story to tell with sizzling characters, but if you don't get the words right your chances of engaging a reader's interest are minimal. 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'? What about punctuation? In this session, we'll place a piece of your prose under the microscope and examine it in detail, highlighting your strengths as well as those areas that could be improved.
Week Six - Over to You
What area of your book concerns you most? Are you uneasy about a certain aspect of character development? Maybe there's a plot device that you suspect might feel contrived. Or perhaps you're not confident that you've really nailed a particular voice. In this session, we ask you to focus on an aspect of your own book that you would like feedback on.
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