Edit Your Novel course
Learn how to edit your novel the professional way with our CPD-accredited course.
Over 18 weeks, take your novel from first draft to submission-ready with our Edit Your Novel virtual course, run in collaboration with Professional Writing Academy. The course covers: plan and plot, characterisation, POV, effective dialogue and description, show-stopping scenes, page-turning pacing, Show not Tell, and how to catch an agent’s eye. By the end, you’ll emerge a pro in self-editing, with a concrete submission package and a list of agents who are open to receiving queries.
Next Course
Start Date: 14th October 2024
Earlybird Price: £1,782 (ends 2 September 2024)
Location: Online
Duration: 18 weeks
Format: 7 fortnightly classes, plus final class lasting one month
Edit Your Novel Course Cornerstones
Meet Your Tutors
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Kathryn Price
After achieving a first in Literature and Criticism at UCL, Kathryn worked for literary agencies and for a bookshop specialising in crime fiction where she developed a taste for unusual and macabre stories. Following her true passions – editing and teaching writing skills – she joined Cornerstones as managing editor in 2005 and later became co-director. In 2014 she decided to focus on the editorial side of the business and now works closely with authors developing their manuscripts. She is also co-author of the forthcoming On Editing, the essential Cornerstones guide to writing and editing a successful novel, which the Edit Your Novel course is based on.
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Ayisha Malik
Ayisha began her publishing career at Penguin Random House, joining Cornerstones Literary Consultancy as editorial assistant in 2010 where she became managing editor within her first year. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and her debut novel, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (Bonnier) was published in January 2016, a WHSmith’s Fresh Talent pick. This Green and Pleasant Land was published by Zaffre Books in 2019, and both novels were optioned for television. She now writes full-time, and is a ghostwriter and Cornerstones market editor along with being a tutor for the Edit Your Novel the Professional Way course.
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Lee Weatherly
Lee Weatherly (L.A. Weatherly) has written more than 50 books for children and young adults, including the bestselling Angel series. She is published in 20 different languages, and awards for her work include the Sheffield Children’s Book Award, the Stockport Children’s Book Award, and the Leeds Book Award. Passionate about guiding new writing talent, Lee ran the Cornerstones Kids Corner and now tutors for the Edit Your Novel course. Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Lee lives with her husband and cat in a rambling Victorian house in the Scottish Borders, where she one day hopes to run a writers’ retreat.
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Rachel Hamilton
Rachel is a literary agent with the Ben Illis Agency and the author of six books, published by Simon & Schuster, OUP, and Scholastic US. She has a first-class degree in English Literature and Language and a PGCE in Secondary English, which she puts to good use running creative writing workshops and events for both adults and children. She also lectures at Bath Spa University. Rachel freelances as an editor, copywriter, and festival moderator to feed her need for new stories. She works as a Cornerstones market editor and tutors on the Edit Your Novel the Professional Way course.
Course Outline
During the course, literary consultants Ayisha Malik and Helen Corner-Bryant will show you how to take your novel from draft to agent-ready submission. We’ll introduce you to the techniques used by professional editors based on our time-tested approach to author development, as well as the skills outlined in our essential guide to editing, On Editing. You’ll need to put in up to 10 hours per week to make the most of the course (180 hours over the 18 weeks) – that includes reading and thinking, completing practical exercises, feeding back on your peers’ novels, and contributing to forum discussions. You can work at any time of the day (or night) – you just need to meet the final deadline in each class.
It’s very important that we both agree that you and your manuscript are at the right stage to get the most out of this course.
As with all Cornerstones editing services, we like to review applications. You can apply online by completing this form. We’ll review your application and get back to you within five working days.
If we confirm your place, we’ll email you payment options and the Terms & Conditions. Once payment has been received we will email you a receipt and confirm your place and the course start date. You will be emailed a login and link to the online classroom with how-to steps to get you started.
Please expand the boxes below for a detailed overview of the aims and outcomes from each class.
Class 1: Plan and Plot
Aim: Learn about diagnostic structuring techniques and how to apply them to your own work.
Outcome: Find and fix plot problems and produce a solid structural overview (synopsis). You will talk to your tutor about your novel (15-20 minutes).
Class 2: Characters with Heart
Aim: Find out how to assess character strengths and weaknesses, and flesh out less defined characters. Analyse characters in terms of their role and function in the plot, looking at character arcs and their impact on structure.
Outcome: Make a detailed analysis of your protagonist, including their inner and external conflicts mapped side by side with your plot structure.
Class 3: What Is The Point Of View?
Aim: Examine different POVs and explore their effect on tension and readability. Learn the dos and don’ts of (POV) and how to make yours as effective and intimate as possible.
Outcome (choose one option):
A: Edit 500 – 750 words of your novel to avoid head-hopping
B: Edit 500 – 750 words, using a different POV
C: Edit 500 – 750 words using advanced techniques to bring us even closer to the POV character
Class 4: Effective Dialogue and Description
Aim: Understand the purpose of dialogue and how to juggle context, text and subtext. Explore ways to use description to kick-start the reader’s imagination, and blend dialogue and description effectively within the parameters of POV.
Outcome: Red-pen and rewrite one short scene to make more of your description and dialogue (to include infrastructure, scene- setting and dialogue/cushioning).
Class 5: Show-stopping Scenes
Aim: Learn how to prioritise material so that each scene has a clear purpose and direction, using questions and answers to increase tension and make scenes shine.
Outcome: Check that each scene in your first 10,000 words is really needed and rewrite one full scene implementing the techniques you’ve learned.
Class 6: Page-turning Pacing
Aim: Develop advanced approaches to balancing material — dealing with overwriting or superfluous elements, and knowing when to extend/slow down and when to cut back/speed up. Discover how to apply the idea of pacing to your overall structure.
Outcome: Rewrite a dramatic incident employing pacing appropriate to the subject and atmosphere.
Class 7: Let Show not Tell Lead the Way
Aim: Find out how to spot telling in your writing, and why, how and where to dramatise instead. See how to use ‘show not tell’ as a lens to examine every aspect of your writing and learn how to inhabit the ‘show not tell’ mindset when editing.
Outcome: Edit your first chapter using ‘show not tell’ techniques to guide you. You’ll participate in a tutor-led online group discussion on common problems, with troubleshooting tips.
Class 8: How to Catch an Agent's Eye
Aim: Create an industry-level package to submit to agents; learn how to research and pitch, with tips on how to land on your chosen agent’s desk. Write a catchy book description and covering letter, using an editing checklist of dos and don’ts.
Outcome: Apply the techniques you’ve learned to your first 10,000 words, then write your covering letter and finalise the synopsis you produced in Class 1. At the end of the course you’ll receive detailed tutor feedback on your first 10,000 words, synopsis and covering letter.
You’ll have an edited and industry-formatted version of the first 10,000 words of your novel, together with a synopsis and covering letter, ready to send out to agents. You’ll also have a good working knowledge of the professional editing techniques you need to apply to the rest of your manuscript, and a plan to put those skills into action. At the end of the course you’ll receive detailed tutor feedback on your first 10,000 words, synopsis and covering letter.
