Substantive Editing for Fiction 201

You understand the basics of editing fiction (industry standards, showing versus telling, goals-motivations-conflicts, and the plot basics), but there’s another level of fiction writing (and editing) that you want to explore. You don’t simply want to help your clients write good books—you want to help them write great novels!

You don’t want people to read your clients’ books, shrug, and say, “It was okay.” You want to help your authors create novels that capture readers’ attention and keep them engaged through the last page. To do that, you need more than just an understanding of fiction-writing basics. You need to understand the more complex, understated elements that keep readers turning the page. Understanding these techniques will create novels that keep the reader wondering what will happen next, not scratching their heads and asking, “Why did she do that?”

Substantive Editing for Fiction (SEF) 201 builds on the foundation laid in SEF 101 (a recommended prerequisite, but not required). The 6-week course goes deeper, looking at the key elements of great fiction, such as:

• The Words (pacing, floating body parts, and clichés)
• Dialogue (punctuation, tags, and authenticity)
• The Senses (engaging them, overusing them, and comparing them)
• The Three-Part Plot (and Subplots)
• Three Plot Essentials
• Creating Better Characters (with quirks, without stereotypes, and secondary characters)

Don’t settle for good when you can have great—SEF 201 will give you the tools you need to help your authors create great stories.