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
- Four Levels of Editing (26 min)
Developmental, line, copy editing and proofreading - Planning Your Edit (24 min)
Overcoming common editing myths
Big-Picture Editing
- Plot & Structure (25 min)
Evaluating story arcs and narrative flow - Character Development (29 min)
The Protagonist Test for dynamic characters - Point of View (26 min)
Choosing and maintaining narrative perspective - Pacing Techniques (27 min)
Balancing scenes and narration - Scene Construction (26 min)
Crafting effective narrative bridges
Line-Level Refinement
- Show vs Tell (14 min)
When to dramatize vs summarize - Dialogue Editing (27 min)
Making conversations sparkle - Sentence Crafting (28 min)
Elevating prose with strong verbs - Pruning Prose (29 min)
Eliminating redundancy and fluff - Grammar Rules to Break (12 min)
When to ignore conventional wisdom
Final Steps
- Next Steps After Editing (26 min)
Beta readers, professional editors, and publishing

