Learn about fiction writing and editing tools

Hone your writing and editing skills with articles, books, webinars, booklets and podcast episodes dedicated to making your publishing life easier.

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ARTICLES
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BOOKS AND COURSES
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WEBINARS
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PODCAST EPISODES

Articles about time-saving fiction writing and editing tools

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

Free booklet: Formatting in Word: Find and replace

This booklet provides independent authors and editors with guidance on how to tidy up a Word document.

Guidance on inclusive and respectful writing

Explore resources that help editors and writers work to actively consider whether the words in a novel are driving story forward and enriching readers, or causing unintended harm. 

​The tools linked to in this booklet aim to help you apply good editorial judgement to fiction from a conscious-language perspective.

Books and courses to help you hone line craft​

Editing Fiction at Sentence Level

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

Style Sheets for Fiction Editing

'The style sheet template is brilliant and will save me loads of time.' – Leona Skene
Learn how to how to create and use branded style sheets that improve efficiency and consistency, and demonstrate professionalism. Includes a ready-to-go customizable style-sheet template.

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.​

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.

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.​

Andy Maslen, bestselling crime author

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HELPED ME SHED SO MANY OF MY FEARS​
​Through all of the changes and feedback I was never once anxious. That you made all of the changes needed with generosity and care is incredible. This is what I want to spend my life doing, and you have helped me to shed so many of my fears about doing so. It means everything. Thank you.

REBECCA MILTON, FANTASY AUTHOR​

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Free webinars on formatting and layout in fiction

Using styles

This 13-minute webinar shows writers and editors how to bring consistency to their book-file interiors using Microsoft Word's styles tool.

Preparing for editing

​This 14-minute webinar offers writers 12 tips on how to make a book file ready for an editor and avoid wasting time on unnecessary design.​

Listen to The Writing and Editing Tools Collection

Listen to these episodes of The Editing Podcast in which Denise and Louise discuss resources to make your writing and editing life easier.

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free proofreading checklist – a one-stop resource for reviewing designed page proofs!