Learn how to elevate the sentence in a novel

Hone your writing and editing craft with articles, books, webinars and audio content dedicated to helping you tell stories that are immersive and compelling rather than overworked and cluttered.

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Articles about line craft

Scroll down to see what's available in this section.

Books for fiction authors and editors

​Hone your novel line craft

Want to do your own line editing? This 74K-word book shows you how.

Making Sense of ‘Show, Don’t Tell’

Learn when to show and when to tell, and why both have a place in fiction. Visit the book's page to find out more about what's included. Or listen to an audio taster of the first chapter right here!

Andy Maslen, bestselling crime author

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THE IMPACT ON THE BETA READING TEAM HAS BEEN EXPLOSIVE
I’ve worked hard on those opening eight chapters. They’ve been adapted in accordance with your suggestions and edits, and the impact on the beta reading team has been explosive. The raw voice of both the narrator and characters was preserved despite such powerful changes.

DANIEL GARRETT, MYSTERY AUTHOR

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Courses for writers and editors

How to Line Edit for Suspense

Learn how to identify suspense points in a novel and evaluate their effectiveness. Use the trifecta to edit for improved reader experience and to communicate your revisions with confidence.

​Want to find out more about the course? Follow the link in the button below.

​Narrative Distance:
​A Toolbox for Writers and Editors

‘Told me masses of new stuff, and gave me a set of new tools to use immediately.’ – SoA @ Home Festival​ attendee
This webinar teaches professional fiction editors and commercial fiction authors how to recognize and control narrative (psychic) distance, and edit for a better reader experience.​

How to Edit Slurs in Dialogue

​This self-paced course teaches editors about six adaptable tools that can be used when line editing dialogue containing discriminatory language.

Sense and sensibility are at the heart of the teaching. You’ll learn how to offer solutions based on sound editorial judgement, and that respect character voice, dialogue flow, and reader engagement.​

How to Punctuate Dialogue

​This self-paced course teaches editors, proofreaders and writers how to punctuate dialogue in a novel according to publishing-industry conventions.

Practice exercises and model answers help you test your skills and knowledge so that you can edit with confidence.

Preparing Your Book for Submission

'The BEST event I have been to on how to edit a manuscript. I learned so much!' – ​SoA @ Home Festival​ attendee
This 30-minute webinar teaches commercial fiction authors 11 pithy line-editing tips that make a substantive difference to writing flow and reader experience.

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Listen to The Immersive Fiction Collection

Listen to these episodes of The Editing Podcast in which Denise and Louise chat with independent authors and editors about sensitive and immersive fiction.