Edit Your Novel is an advanced-level group mentoring experience, designed for writers with a draft novel – either a work-in-progress or a novel you would like to revisit.

The course is suitable if you:

• Have a full draft of a novel you’d like to work on
• Are published and working on a new novel
• Would like to broaden your knowledge of the publishing industry and submission process
• Want to get query-ready
• Are considering self-publishing or an indie-author route
• Want to develop effective editing habits and routines, and grow in confidence as a novelist
• Would like the opportunity to pitch your novel at agents
• Enjoy the discipline of deadlines and peer feedback
• Want to join a friendly and supportive small group of learners
• Can dedicate 10 hours per week for the duration of the course

This course allows you to:

• Acquire the key skills needed to professionally self-edit a novel and prepare a manuscript for submission
• Gain greater understanding of commercial expectations around genre, market and publishing
• Further your potential as a novelist
• Use editing techniques to diagnose and fix problems in your work
• Think like an editor and get your novel to a professional standard
• Get to grips with the professional aspects of preparing a manuscript for submission to literary agents
• Practise your pitching skills and present your novel live to agents
• Edit 10,000 words of your novel, and produce a synopsis and covering letter ready to send out to agents
• Further develop the professional skills novelists require (eg discipline, attention to detail, ability to work to deadlines)
• Increase your professionalism in working with others
• Practise giving effective feedback to other writers and receiving critical notes
• Build greater independence, autonomy and critical judgment as you self-direct, self-manage and realise your project to the course briefs.

Our courses and training are carefully designed to support accessible and inclusive learning. 

This course is divided into sessions released one by one fortnightly. 

There’s no need to log on at a set time. You can work through the learning materials whenever suits you, day or night, wherever you are in the world. Just complete the assignments and join forum discussions by the session deadline. This is augmented by live group Zooms organised to suit the timezones of the group, three one-to-one mentoring sessions with your tutor, and a live agent pitch session.

Our teaching method is based on the science of active learning: you read/listen/watch, try out, share and reflect. It’s a social experience – you become part of a small group, feeding back on each other’s writing to build a supportive bunch of readers you trust and can continue working with after the course finishes. Find out more here.

Session 1: Plan and Plot – Learn about diagnostic structuring techniques and how to apply them to your novel. How to think commercially about your novel, including mastering taglines, comp titles and genre.
You’ll find and fix plot problems in your work-in-progress, and produce a solid structural overview (synopsis).

Group Zoom meeting.

Session 2: Cracking Characters – 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.
You’ll make a detailed analysis of your protagonist, including their inner and external conflicts mapped side by side with your plot structure.

Meet your tutor one-to-one for your first mentoring session.

Session 3: What is the Point of View? – Explore different POVs and 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.
You’ll edit your work to avoid head-hopping and bring us even closer to your protagonist.

Receive a tutor mark-up of your manuscript, assessing your use of point of view.

Session 4: Effective Dialogue and Description – 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.
You’ll red-pen and rewrite scenes to make them better serve your narrative.

Group Zoom meeting.

Session 5: Show-stopping Scenes – 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.
You’ll check that each scene in your first 10,000 words is really necessary, and rewrite one full scene implementing the techniques you’ve learned.

Meet your tutor one-to-one for your second mentoring session.

Session 6: Page-turning Pacing – 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.
You’ll apply the idea of pacing to your overall structure.

Group Zoom.

Session 7: Let Show not Tell Lead the Way – 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.
You’ll experiment with inhabiting the ‘show not tell’ mindset when editing.

Meet your tutor one-to-one for your third mentoring session.

Session 8: How to Catch an Agent’s Eye – Find out what makes the perfect industry-level package to submit to agents, including a compelling book description and covering letter, and watertight synopsis. Learn how to research the right agents for you, with tips on how to land on your chosen agent’s desk.

You’ll finalise and submit an industry-standard submission package, aided by an editing checklist of dos and don’ts.

Pre-pitch one-to-one preparation session with your tutor.

Live Agent Pitch – Pitch your novel to a group of agents and publishers specially selected to meet the needs of the group. Don’t worry if you’re not yet ready to pitch – you are welcome to observe the pitch and we’ll give you access to a list of agents open to submission from course alumni.

Final group Zoom round-up and debrief.

At the end of the course you will receive a detailed editorial feedback report on your first 10,000 words, synopsis and covering letter.

Opportunity to ask your tutor questions about your editorial report. 

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.

Join our alumni community 

After your course, you can join our online alumni community – a friendly group of writers supporting each other as they continue to explore and develop their writing. There’s no cost for this. It’s easy to access via the online classroom, where you can:

• Revisit all your course materials, including tutor notes, feedback, videos, podcasts and forum posts
• Rejoin your classmates, and continue working together in a private space
• Join monthly live alumni events with expert tutors and industry guests, including agents, editors, publishers, competition and festival organisers, and prizewinning writers
• Meet alumni from other courses to find beta-readers and share work on our critiquing forum
• Network with other writers working in your genre or area of interest
• Take part in weekly ‘sit and write’ Zoom sessions, to push forward with your work-in progress

Taking things further
If you’d like to continue to another Professional Writing Academy course or be paired with a mentor, please get in touch for more details.