Tampa: How to Edit Your Novel Systematically

UPDATE: We had a great time at the Tampa workshop. If you were unable to make that event, I’ll be teaching the same workshop again in Orlando June 16.

A Method for Revising Your Book Like a Pro

Tampa: April 14, 2018, at 1901 S. Village Avenue, Tampa FL 33612

Writers know that great writing requires rewriting, editing, and polishing a manuscript to perfection. But writing and editing are two different skills, and writers are seldom taught how to edit. So writers approach editing haphazardly. We think editing means reading our books over and over, fixing mistakes as we see them until there are no more mistakes to find. But it is possible—and very common—to get stuck in an infinite loop of revision, because one never knows when one is finished.

I struggled with this as a writer, but when I trained to be an editor, I learned a systematic method of editing that allows editors to work through a manuscript efficiently and with sure knowledge about when the job is done.

Edit checklist

In this full-day class, I’ll teach you the rigorous process professional editors use to evaluate and edit novels. You’ll learn how to build a book map to analyze (and if necessary fix) your novel’s structure. Then you’ll get tools for planning your editing in a methodical way so you can tackle issues in the correct order, avoid analysis paralysis, and—most importantly—know when you have finished. We’ll cover 10 elements of fiction:

  • Character
  • Point of View
  • Plot
  • Structure
  • Pacing
  • Setting
  • Description
  • Dialog
  • Voice
  • Mechanics

Every attendee will receive an advance copy of my upcoming editing book, which is based on the Edit Like a Pro: Elements of Fiction series.

The doors will open at 8:30 a.m. for registration, coffee, and Second Breakfast. Teaching starts at 9 a.m. We’ll break at noon for lunch, which is included. I’ll wrap up the teaching by 4 p.m., after which we can have Q&A time and socialize.

Enter your name and email address below if you’d like to be notified of future seminars, including the June 16 event in Orlando.

 

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4 Comments

  1. Kristen,
    This sounds like a terrific seminar but there’s no way possible that I can attend. Will you be making this available online?
    Carol

    1. Carol, doing my editing seminar as an online course is a long-term goal of mine. But since it includes six solid hours of teaching, that kind of production is a ways off. I am negotiating to do this same seminar in Orlando, probably in June. I’ll let you know when we confirm the details of that!

  2. After Orlando, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Gulf to New Orleans. I can get to New Orleans, no sweat. Whaddaya say?

    1. Ha! Helen, as much as I’d love to take this show on the road, I’m not sure I can draw enough attendees to make it profitable. Maybe someday!

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