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Page Perfect: Editing Your Own Writing – including a sample copy-edit on your work

w/ Angela Meyer

Revision and redrafting are essential parts of building a successful manuscript – so learning to edit yourself, often before you are working with an actual editor, is an essential step in learning how to write well.

7 October – 4 November 2020

Wednesdays, 6.30-8.30pm AEDT

 

 $ 620 /$ 527 alumni


This is a past course.

This course will tackle many questions. What is the difference between a structural and copy edit? How do you keep track of your style? How do you pare things back when they are getting unruly? What should you hold on to and what should you let go?

In this unique course, your teacher will take you through the process of working with an editor if your piece is accepted for publication. You will have an opportunity to workshop your own material, as well as discuss that of fellow participants. This is a chance to get your prose into the best shape it possibly can be before submitting it to publications.

Featuring special guests throughout the course, this is a rare opportunity to develop your writing in real time, with writing and editing experts alike, while gaining new skills you can carry with you for the rest of your career.

This program will also include the rare opportunity have a sample of your work copy-edited by a Senior Editor. You will work towards providing a 2000-3000 word piece, which will receive two rounds of revisions returned to you following the conclusion of the course.

 


Writers you'll be working with:

Angela Meyer

Angela Meyer is an award-winning writer and editor. Her debut novel, A Superior Spectre (Ventura Press), was shortlisted for an Aurealis Award, the MUD Literary Prize, an Australian Book Industry Award, the Readings Prize for New Australian Writing and a Saltire Literary Society Award (Scotland). She is also the author of a novella, Joan Smokes,…

Course outline

Week one:
Introduction and overall editing considerations – thinking about the voice of a piece, the point of view, tense, etc. and why you are the one to ‘author’ it.

Week two:
The big picture – looking at your work in terms of structure and story.

Week three:
The line edit – how to make the micro work for the macro, including sentence structure and rhythm, cohesive imagery, clarity of thought.

Week four:
Copy editing and proofreading – the finest details: tips and tools for spelling, grammar and making these micro-decisions.

Week five:
Editor-writer communication, final tips on how to edit yourself and how to be edited well.

 

Praise for this course

‘Angela had a great style, she was welcoming and inclusive. She managed discussion so everyone got to have their say and provided thoughtful responses to queries. Her expertise was evident and I learned a lot.’
— Participant, 2019

‘It took me back to the basics of good writing and editing. I enjoyed meeting the other writers and hearing about their experience.’
— Participant, 2019

‘Angela was a great teacher and clearly took the time to prepare well for each class.’
— Participant, 2019

How to Book

This is a past course.