Title: The Ultimate Self-Editing Checklist… and how to use it
Instructor: Gregg Bridgeman
Intended audience: beginner to intermediate
Instruction time: approximately 45 minutes
Applicable genre: mainly fiction though would apply to non-fiction as well
Why do you need this class? You have a brilliant cover and a snappy blurb! The reader is so hooked he or she stops and checks the “Look inside” preview.
Q: What is the reader looking for?
A: Any reason to stop reading and move on.
Traditional authors face the same challenge because editors and agents look for any opportunity to stop reading your manuscript, too. This class gives authors the single tool and the training to remove any excuse the audience may have to stop reading.
Description: Whether submitting to an agent or editor or self-publishing, a clean manuscript is a must! Follow this checklist to have the ultimate clean manuscript. This workshop covers the origins of the checklist then elaborates on the major parts including having the right spiritual attitude. With that frame of mind, instruction is provided to plan character names, conflict, general plot-lines, and how to knock out that first draft super-fast. Then we move into corralling the front and back matter, the most important self-revision steps that every writer MUST perform, and concludes with the nitty-gritty checklist items to result in a very clean manuscript. Students will receive detailed class notes, a one-pager checklist, and a detailed checklist form and printable spreadsheet to use or personalize. Bonus materials include a list more than ten-thousand-character last names that do not end in the letter “s.”
Class Materials: