Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more.
Learning modes and locations may be different depending on the course start date. Please check the location of your chosen course and read our guide to learning modes and locations to help you choose the right course for you.
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
During the editing process, the writer transforms their work from that raw first draft to a polished piece of literature, making it one of the most rewarding stages of a writing project. This course, ideal for experienced creative writers, is designed to help you fruitfully apply the editing skills you learn to your own work and to the writings of others.
What will we cover?
- The stages of a work: first draft, manuscript proper, copy-edited/proof-read manuscript. - Taking care and making correct choices in line-by-line editing. - Identifying and solving problems: the editor’s eye, and how the writer can learn from it. - Learning to read one’s own work as dispassionately as someone else’s. - Editing to improve narrative/structure; editing to improve style. - The challenge of truly rewriting, where rewriting is necessary. - How to trim, and how to cut more substantively. - The virtues of succinctness and omission. - How to feed back editing opinions to another writer, supportively. - Editing to improve the marketability of a manuscript.
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Understand the different stages of editing - Approach manuscript edits with greater confidence - Edit a section of your manuscript - Identify and explore the shape of your novel as a whole, and in doing so achieve a bird's eye view of structure, and of your main characters' internal and external arcs.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is for experienced creative writers who have a finished story ready to edit.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
- Formal instruction from the teacher combined with group discussion - Analysis of short pieces in class through group discussion, and editing of these set as homework. - Individual short writing exercises set as homework, to be discussed and worked on as the shared property of the class.
City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Please bring a pen and paper. Please have access to at least four or five chapters of your novel manuscript, including the first chapter - either digital or hard copy.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit runs a range of professional development courses for writers including How to get an agent and How to get published. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.
Collect the other Craft Focus courses on offer too to give key elements of your writing the special attention they deserve. Or, why not try one of our term-long fiction courses? You may also enjoy a Reading for writers course, or the Craft of fiction reading and writing group. There are lots of options to develop your fiction available via the online prospectus. If you need help finding the right one, just give us a call!
All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Bluesky.
Sarah Leipciger is a Canadian novelist living and teaching in the UK. She has published three novels, the most recent being Moon Road, which came out in 2024 in the UK and North America, and was flagged in the Sunday Times as: 'if Elizabeth Strout drove a pick-up truck'. Moon Road has been optioned for film. Her second novel, Coming Up for Air, longlisted for the Historical Writer’s Association prize, was made into an opera for the Leipzig Opera House’s 2026 season. Sarah's short fiction has been shortlisted for prestigious awards including the Bridport Prize and Fish Prize, and she has contributed creative non-fiction to national newspapers including The Guardian and the Toronto Star. She was a facilitator of creative writing workshops in London prisons for two decades, and has been working as a tutor at City Lit since 2019. She is Associate Lecturer with the MA in Creative Writing at both Birkbeck and Goldsmiths universities. Sarah is currently working on her fourth novel.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
product
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/craft-focus-how-to-edit-your-novel174688Craft focus: how to edit your novelhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/product/c/r/craft_focus_how_to_edit_your_novel-square.jpg149149GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Writing/Novels and short stories/Novels and short stories/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Novel Writing/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Fiction Writing/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Courses/Writing/Craft focus courses for creative writers/Courses/Writing/Courses/Writing/Novels and short stories/Courses/vm/Summer offers228515882039204820181345313581135991361412285135811359916532018Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more. <div data-content-type="html" data-appearance="default" data-element="main">This course is about helping your novel find the best version of itself. You may be interested in working with a professional editor, or connecting directly with a readership, or you may simply want to understand how to apply a critical eye to your own creation. This course will help you understand the different types of edit available to writers, and enable you to apply and practice a key skill from each essential editorial stage to your own work.<br />
<br />
This course will focus on the editing process exclusively. It will not cover self-publishing, or submitting work to agents and professional editors. <br />
<br />
This is a live online face-to-face course. You will need:<br />
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.<br />
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone if you don't have a computer.<br />
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.<br />
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.</div>453087016Craft focus: how to edit your novel149149https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/product/c/r/craft_focus_how_to_edit_your_novel-square_11.jpgInStockDaytimeSat-SunKeeley StreetAvailable courses1 to 4 weeksWeekend2027-05-22T00:00:00+00:00Some experience, AdvancedMay 2027WritingHW151149149Craft focus: how to edit your novel14997149Sarah Leipcigercraft-focus-how-to-edit-your-novel/hw151-2627Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more.0000-Available|2027-05-22 00:00:00During the editing process, the writer transforms their work from that raw first draft to a polished piece of literature, making it one of the most rewarding stages of a writing project. This course, ideal for experienced creative writers, is designed to help you fruitfully apply the editing skills you learn to your own work and to the writings of others.Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more.- The stages of a work: first draft, manuscript proper, copy-edited/proof-read manuscript.<br>- Taking care and making correct choices in line-by-line editing. <br>- Identifying and solving problems: the editor’s eye, and how the writer can learn from it.<br>- Learning to read one’s own work as dispassionately as someone else’s.<br>- Editing to improve narrative/structure; editing to improve style.<br>- The challenge of truly rewriting, where rewriting is necessary.<br>- How to trim, and how to cut more substantively.<br>- The virtues of succinctness and omission.<br>- How to feed back editing opinions to another writer, supportively. <br>- Editing to improve the marketability of a manuscript.- Understand the different stages of editing <br>- Approach manuscript edits with greater confidence<br>- Edit a section of your manuscript<br>- Identify and explore the shape of your novel as a whole, and in doing so achieve a bird's eye view of structure, and of your main characters' internal and external arcs.This course is for experienced creative writers who have a finished story ready to edit.- Formal instruction from the teacher combined with group discussion<br>- Analysis of short pieces in class through group discussion, and editing of these set as homework.<br>- Individual short writing exercises set as homework, to be discussed and worked on as the shared property of the class. <br />
<br />
City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our <a href=" https://www.citylit.ac.uk/expectations-for-participating-in-writing-courses" target="_blank">expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit</a>.<p>Please bring a pen and paper. Please have access to at least four or five chapters of your novel manuscript, including the first chapter - either digital or hard copy.</p><p>City Lit runs a range of professional development courses for writers including <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/how-to-get-an-agent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to get an agent </a>and <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/how-to-get-published" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to get published</a>. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.<br><br>Collect the other <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?q=craft+focus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Craft Focus courses </a>on offer too to give key elements of your writing the special attention they deserve. Or, why not try one of our <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?filter.skus.customFields.cl_duration_filter=11+weeks+or+longer&q=fiction+writing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">term-long fiction</a> courses? You may also enjoy a <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?q=reading+for+writers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reading for writers</a> course, or the Craft of fiction reading and writing group. There are lots of options to develop your fiction available via the online prospectus. If you need help finding the right one, just give us a call!<br><br>All students are invited to join us at <a href=" https://www.citylit.ac.uk/latelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Late Lines</a>, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/betweenthelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Between the Lines</a>, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/citylitcreativewriting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a> and<a href="http://citylitwriting.bsky.social on Bluesky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Bluesky</a>.</p>Novels and short storiesNovels and short storiesvirtual14914997HW151NONESat-Sun22/05/27 - 23/05/2710:30 - 16:3010:3016:302 sessions21 to 4 weeksWeekendKSKeeley StreetSarah LeipcigerSome experience, AdvancedAvailable courses2027-05-22T00:00:00+00:00DaytimeMay 2027Writing149149Craft focus: how to edit your novelcraft-focus-how-to-edit-your-novel/hw151-2627Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more.0000-Available|2027-05-22 00:00:00During the editing process, the writer transforms their work from that raw first draft to a polished piece of literature, making it one of the most rewarding stages of a writing project. This course, ideal for experienced creative writers, is designed to help you fruitfully apply the editing skills you learn to your own work and to the writings of others.Once your story is on the page, the editing process begins. Where do you start and what skills do you need? This course guides learners through the editing of a story or manuscript, exploring approaches to making line edits, improving narrative structure and more.- The stages of a work: first draft, manuscript proper, copy-edited/proof-read manuscript.<br>- Taking care and making correct choices in line-by-line editing. <br>- Identifying and solving problems: the editor’s eye, and how the writer can learn from it.<br>- Learning to read one’s own work as dispassionately as someone else’s.<br>- Editing to improve narrative/structure; editing to improve style.<br>- The challenge of truly rewriting, where rewriting is necessary.<br>- How to trim, and how to cut more substantively.<br>- The virtues of succinctness and omission.<br>- How to feed back editing opinions to another writer, supportively. <br>- Editing to improve the marketability of a manuscript.- Understand the different stages of editing <br>- Approach manuscript edits with greater confidence<br>- Edit a section of your manuscript<br>- Identify and explore the shape of your novel as a whole, and in doing so achieve a bird's eye view of structure, and of your main characters' internal and external arcs.This course is for experienced creative writers who have a finished story ready to edit.- Formal instruction from the teacher combined with group discussion<br>- Analysis of short pieces in class through group discussion, and editing of these set as homework.<br>- Individual short writing exercises set as homework, to be discussed and worked on as the shared property of the class. <br />
<br />
City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our <a href=" https://www.citylit.ac.uk/expectations-for-participating-in-writing-courses" target="_blank">expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit</a>.<p>Please bring a pen and paper. Please have access to at least four or five chapters of your novel manuscript, including the first chapter - either digital or hard copy.</p><p>City Lit runs a range of professional development courses for writers including <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/how-to-get-an-agent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to get an agent </a>and <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/how-to-get-published" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to get published</a>. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.<br><br>Collect the other <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?q=craft+focus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Craft Focus courses </a>on offer too to give key elements of your writing the special attention they deserve. Or, why not try one of our <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?filter.skus.customFields.cl_duration_filter=11+weeks+or+longer&amp;q=fiction+writing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">term-long fiction</a> courses? You may also enjoy a <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/searchcourse/?q=reading+for+writers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reading for writers</a> course, or the Craft of fiction reading and writing group. There are lots of options to develop your fiction available via the online prospectus. If you need help finding the right one, just give us a call!<br><br>All students are invited to join us at <a href=" https://www.citylit.ac.uk/latelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Late Lines</a>, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/betweenthelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Between the Lines</a>, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/citylitcreativewriting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a> and<a href="http://citylitwriting.bsky.social on Bluesky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Bluesky</a>.</p>Novels and short storiesNovels and short storiesconfigurable
158813599Novels and short storieshttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/writing/novels-and-short-stories/novels-and-short-stories-11/2/285/13581/13599/1588/Courses/Writing/Novels and short stories/Novels and short stories
