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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 Approaching an Agent and How to Impress a Publisher. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.
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 Twitter.
Sarah Leipciger’s most recent novel, Moon Road, was published with Doubleday UK and Penguin Canada in 2024 and has been optioned for film. Her debut novel, The Mountain Can Wait, was published in 2015, and her second novel, Coming Up for Air, followed in 2020; it was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Crown Award and has been adapted for stage with the Leipzig Opera House, to be premiered in spring 2026. She has had short stories shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Fish Prize and the Asham Award, and is a past winner of THIS Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt. She has also written non-fiction for The Guardian and The Toronto Star. Sarah has facilitated writing workshops across the country, including at literature festivals and men's prisons in London. She is an Associate Lecturer with the Creative Writing Department at Birbeck University, and Guest Tutor at Goldsmiths University.
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.
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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.jpg129129GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Writing/Novels and short stories/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Novel Writing/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Fiction Writing/Courses/vm/Writing Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Writing/Craft focus courses for creative writers/Courses/Writing/Courses/Writing/Novels and short stories/Courses/vm/Summer offers228515882039204820181345313581135991361412285117712051653201813581Once 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 />
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This course will focus on the editing process exclusively. It will not cover self-publishing, or submitting work to agents and professional editors. <br />
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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>352651001Craft focus: how to edit your novel129129https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/product/c/r/craft_focus_how_to_edit_your_novel-square_10.jpgInStockDaytimeSat-SunKeeley StreetAvailable courses1 to 4 weeksWeekend2026-05-23T00:00:00+00:00Some experience, AdvancedMay 2026WritingHW151129129Craft focus: how to edit your novel12965129Sarah Leipcigercraft-focus-how-to-edit-your-novel/hw151-2526Once 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|2026-05-23 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>City Lit runs a range of professional development courses for writers including Approaching an Agent and How to Impress a Publisher. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.<br/><br/>All students are invited to join us at <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/latelines">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">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">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/citylitwriting">Twitter</a>.virtual12912965HW151NONESat-Sun23/05/26 - 24/05/2610:30 - 16:3010:3016:302 sessions21 to 4 weeksWeekendKSKeeley StreetSarah LeipcigerSome experience, AdvancedAvailable courses2026-05-23T00:00:00+00:00DaytimeMay 2026Writing129129Craft focus: how to edit your novelcraft-focus-how-to-edit-your-novel/hw151-2526Once 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|2026-05-23 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>City Lit runs a range of professional development courses for writers including Approaching an Agent and How to Impress a Publisher. Browse the writing section of our website for further details.<br/><br/>All students are invited to join us at <a href="https://www.citylit.ac.uk/latelines">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">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">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/citylitwriting">Twitter</a>.configurable
15881205Novels and short storieshttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/history-culture-and-writing/writing/novels-and-short-stories1/2/285/1177/1205/1588/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Writing/Novels and short stories
