Edit Your Novel
This course is for writers who:
Have graduated from our Write Your Novel course
Have completed a first draft (or more) of their manuscript
Are seeking expert guidance and feedback on their writing
Want to join an elite writing group and benefit from advanced workshopping
Are ready to perform a structural edit on their work – so they can prepare their manuscript for publication
“Feedback from the class and the tutor after each submission was great. Course content was great. I learnt a great deal about story structure and what needs to happen in each scene. Helped me look at my work in a more critical way and improve the quality of my novel.
“It’s a great collaborative learning environment and you learn ‘specific’ aspects of writing rather than ‘general’ theory.”
– Uma Srinivasan, Edit Your Novel graduate
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Edit Your Novel is a masterclass exclusively for Write Your Novel graduates.
Starting the redrafting process can be daunting – but we’re here to help
When you’ve finished your first draft, it’s hard to know where to start making it better. (And you know it needs to be better!) This course combines the proven benefits of group workshopping with a streamlined editing process so you can shape your story with confidence.
In this six-month course, you’ll edit your novel following the Australian Writers’ Centre’s signature Power Editing Process – guided by an experienced online tutor and an intimate group of writing peers. You’ll enjoy in-depth discussions and personalised feedback in regular Zoom sessions. And you’ll experience the joy of seeing your manuscript through to its next stage.
BONUS Inside Track: direct access to an agent
Students who participate fully in the course – which means submitting your writing and giving feedback to your classmates – will be rewarded with a rare opportunity.
Pitch to an agent
By completing all your own writing submitting and providing feedback to classmates, you will be invited to a group practice-pitching session with Abigail Nathan from Alex Adsett Agency.
Abigail is a leading Australian literary agent and has been working in publishing since 2001. She has edited for various Australian publishers including Allen & Unwin, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Harlequin, and Simon & Schuster, as well as UK publishers including Angry Robot, Hachette and Gollancz.
As an editor, Abigail’s work with publishers has been on commercial fiction and non-fiction, with a particular focus on genre – including speculative fiction, crime, romance and erotica – for authors such as Karly Lane, Alastair Reynolds, Dinuka McKenzie and many others.
The session takes place live on Zoom and gives you the opportunity to present your manuscript and receive valuable industry insight.
Abigail represents authors with great stories, told well – fiction in general and all things genre: sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, horror, crime, thriller, romance (and any combination of those), for adult, YA or middle grade.
Across the six months, you will:
- perform a structural edit on your novel following the Power Editing Process
- be guided each step along the way by an experienced tutor
- workshop your novel and receive regular feedback with your writing peers
- identify the weak points in your story and discover what you need to do to strengthen them
- emerge from the course with a next-level draft of your book and a set of beta readers to read it.
You might be ready to work on your second draft. Or perhaps your goal is to have your manuscript ready to submit to an agent or publisher. Whatever stage you’re at, the course will work for you.
With support and guidance, you’ll work through your draft, from structure to style, and improve it at every step. At the end of the course, several people will read your whole book and provide you with feedback – and you’ll do the same for them. It’s a powerful process and one that can make all the difference to the quality of your novel.
What can you expect?
This course is designed to help you finish a strong new draft of your novel, with expert guidance, accountability and a supportive peer group to keep you moving forward. Using the Power Editing Process as a step-by-step framework, you’ll develop sharper structure, deeper storytelling and a clearer vision for your book as a whole.
You’ll workshop your novel with writers at a similar level of experience (no beginners here), receive personalised feedback from an experienced tutor, and gain invaluable insight by reading and responding to the work of others. Along the way, we’ll help you make the tough but necessary editorial decisions – cutting what no longer serves the story, strengthening what does, and shaping your novel into the best version it can be.
By the end of the course, you’ll have progressed substantially through your edit, with focused feedback on your novel’s climax and resolution, and a much stronger sense of confidence and direction as a novelist.
“This course exceeded my expectations. Don’t hesitate. Do it!”
Venetia Vernon, graduate of Edit Your Novel
Structure of this online live course
This is a live, online course delivered through your own dedicated online classroom, with weekly Zoom sessions held from 6.30–8.30pm (Syd/Mel time) on the same day of the week the course begins. These Zoom sessions run each week for the duration of the course and form the core of the live teaching and workshopping experience.
In addition to attending the weekly Zoom classes, you’ll need to allow extra time each week to work through the module materials, continue editing your own novel, and read and comment on the workshopping submissions from your classmates.
You’ll be guided throughout by your online tutor, who is available to answer questions and provide personalised feedback. Our tutors are experienced professionals with years of industry and teaching experience – acting as a mentor as you work through the editing process.
Before the first Zoom session, you’ll be asked to complete two preparatory tasks to set you up for success:
- a synopsis of your novel
- a scene list mapped to a three-act structure
We provide detailed handouts and guidance for both tasks, so you’ll know exactly what’s required before the course begins.
Throughout the course, you’ll participate in regular workshopping, giving and receiving feedback in a small group, with your tutor overseeing the process to ensure it remains constructive, focused and supportive.
Free access to Fiction Essentials: Grammar and Punctuation
As part of your enrolment, you’ll also enjoy 12 months of free access to our Fiction Essentials: Grammar and Punctuation course – a valuable companion on your journey to publication.When your novel is ready to pitch to publishers or agents, how it’s presented matters just as much as the story itself. Grammar and punctuation can be tricky – even experienced writers find the rules confusing – but mastering them will make your writing shine.We recommend completing this bonus course before your Edit Your Novel course begins, so you can confidently apply what you learn as you polish your manuscript and prepare it for submission.Take the loneliness out of editing
It can be quite a solitary endeavour trying to edit your whole novel all by yourself. Edit Your Novel brings you back to working with a group who can encourage you, point out where you need to improve, and act as your ‘tribe’, even after the course is over. And of course, you’ll be guided through the process by one of our experienced online tutors, who have mentored countless authors just like you.
It’s the best of both worlds – you improve your book, and you develop editing skills which you can use again and again in your future writing.
Do you want to work with a group of aspiring authors like you who are committed to becoming better writers? Do you want guidance and help in completing your next draft?
Then join us for Edit Your Novel!
AWC Creative Writing Program
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: I’m writing a memoir. Is this course suitable for that?
A: The focus of the course will be on novels and fiction, but many of the same issues (especially structure) apply to memoirs. Not all of the Power Editing Process exercises will be applicable to memoir, but you should still be able to improve your draft through this course.
Q: I have most of my first draft done. Can I join the class and finish the draft as I go?
A: No. You must have the entire draft finished before you join the class – the first exercise, in Module 1, requires you to have a completed draft.
If you want to finish your first draft, we recommend Write Your Novel.
Q: What do I need to prepare for Edit Your Novel?
A: To apply for Edit Your Novel, you must be a graduate of our Write Your Novel course and have a complete first draft of your novel.
If accepted, there are two tasks that you will need to complete before the first Zoom session – a synopsis of your novel, and a list of scenes mapped to the 3-act structure. We provide handouts and guidance on how to complete both of these tasks. It’s important to set aside time to complete them both in the weeks leading up to the first Zoom session.
Getting these tasks done before the first Zoom will help you a great deal, and start the thinking you will need in order to improve your draft. Redrafting can be difficult and frustrating and confusing – but that’s why we’re here! We’ll go through this journey together, and end up with a better book.
Q: I’ve done three drafts, and I think my novel really just needs a polish. Will this course give me my money’s worth?
A: Almost certainly. Three drafts is great (and congratulations for getting that far!). But you may find, once you start analysing your manuscript using the Power Editing Process, that you need to do more than you think you do.
And receiving regular feedback from a group of experienced beta readers and supportive tutor during this final stage of your manuscript is priceless.
Q: Can’t I just do the Power Editing Process on my own?
A: Yes, indeed you can. This process is outlined in the Cut, Shape, Polish course, and it’s been designed so you can work through it to get your next draft. If you’re self-motivated and confident about making your own editing decisions on your manuscript, go for it.
However, editing within a supported framework has a number of advantages:
- Assessment and guidance from an experienced tutor.
- Feedback from beta readers (your fellow students act as your beta readers).
- A timeline – and a deadline! – which will keep you on track to have a fully completed draft in six months.
- Advice on your next steps.
Working alone doesn’t suit everyone – and, frankly, it’s hard to be objective about your own work. Having your editing processes checked and improved by a mentor and having your story read by beta readers is the best way to improve your draft.
Q: Do I need to log in at a set time?
A: You’ll attend the class meeting live via Zoom once a week. But the course modules, exercises, group workshopping and your own writing and editing can be completed in your own time – simply follow the deadlines to submit.
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Duration 1
This is an online tutor-led Zoom course
Starts: Wednesday 24 February 2027
Duration:
6 months
Feedback on your writing:
Yes
With: Bernadette Foley $550 per month Can’t make this one? Just fill out this form and we’ll be in touch when there’s a course date that suits you. | |||||
