Write and Edit with Confidence Literature and Books

A 6-week writing course led by acclaimed writing coach, mentor and lecturer Dr Rachel Knightley.

Level up your writing routine with a six-week course in getting to grips with your story, genre, and what it's going to take to turn that work-in-progress into a submission-ready draft. Each writer will have a minimum of two optional reading slots to present work-in-progress for discussion and feedback. You will also be given access to a Dropbox folder containing full resources for the course.
Week 1: What is good editing?
Develop key healthy habits around writing, rewriting and editing; recognise key self-sabotaging habits and make positive creative choices. How to clarify what is at the 'heart' of the story you want to tell, and make decisions according to your central vision.
Week 2: Point of View – the reader's eye.
The stability and effectiveness of the world you present is only as strong as your point of view is stable. Understand point of view, what your options are and how to edit it for maximum clarity of meaning and emotional connection.
Week 3: Description – setting not set-dressing!
No matter how beautiful your description, what makes something significant is its relevance to the story and world. Lift exposition from your character’s head and write the events that caused the thoughts, so they can cause the feelings in your reader too.
Week 4: Dialogue and Action – real people, places and things.
Place and plot are only as real as the characters inhabiting them. Show people, places and things through action, dialogue, facial and vocal expression, and how much detail is relevant and at what point you’re in danger of overwhelming the reader.
Week 5: Plot: your character's domino effect.
Build a synopsis so you can separate style from substance and make them work with each other. Identify the key events in your story and ensure causality for a satisfying conclusion.
Week 6: Structure: linear or non-linear?
Does your story belong in chronological order? Depending on what you put first, your reader's opinions of characters and events will be greatly affected, so make sure you make active decisions over which structure is best for you. This final week is also a celebration of your skills and a chance to apply them with confidence and excitement as we mark the end of term by blending imagination, memories, observations and questions about the world into a unique story of your own. Tips on submissions to agents, competitions and publishers.
Dr Rachel Knightley is an author of fiction and non-fiction and a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). After her MA and PhD in Creative Writing, Rachel studied Teaching Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge (PGCert and Business and Personal Coaching (PGCert). Rachel’s short stories appear in a number of anthologies and her first collection, Beyond Glass, was published in May 2021. Her second will be published in 2023. Her non-fiction includes Your Creative Writing Toolkit and the GCSE Drama Study & Revision Guide for Illuminate/Hodder Education. She is a visiting lecturer in creative writing at the University of Roehampton and writes and presents on film and literature for Starburst Magazine and YouTube, Severin Films, Second Sight Films and Indicator Films. www.rachelknightley.com

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