Effective Editing: How to Take Your Writing to the Next Level

Overview

Course No. 2145
Editor Molly McCowan teaches professional editing techniques through:

• 13 step-by-step lessons on self-editing fiction and nonfiction
• Big-picture to line-level editing strategies
• Character development, plot structure, and prose refinement
• Practical exercises for polishing manuscripts

Transform rough drafts into publishable works with proven editing methods.

Video Lessons

The Editing Framework

1. Four Levels of Editing (26 min)
   Developmental, line, copy editing and proofreading
2. Planning Your Edit (24 min)
   Overcoming common editing myths

Big-Picture Editing

3. Plot & Structure (25 min)
   Evaluating story arcs and narrative flow
4. Character Development (29 min)
   The Protagonist Test for dynamic characters
5. Point of View (26 min)
   Choosing and maintaining narrative perspective
6. Pacing Techniques (27 min)
   Balancing scenes and narration
7. Scene Construction (26 min)
   Crafting effective narrative bridges

Line-Level Refinement

8. Show vs Tell (14 min)
   When to dramatize vs summarize
9. Dialogue Editing (27 min)
   Making conversations sparkle
10. Sentence Crafting (28 min)
    Elevating prose with strong verbs
11. Pruning Prose (29 min)
    Eliminating redundancy and fluff
12. Grammar Rules to Break (12 min)
    When to ignore conventional wisdom

Final Steps

13. Next Steps After Editing (26 min)
    Beta readers, professional editors, and publishing