Description
Our courses are asynchronous, meaning you never need to be at your computer at any specific hour. More information about how these classes are conducted is available here.
After placing your order, your course will be added to your personal course library on our education site. That site has different login information from the main EFA site. Please check your email for information on how to access the course.
If this session is full or the dates don’t work for you, join the waitlist to be informed of last-minute openings and future sessions.
Imagine developmental editors (DEs) as master detectives searching for evidence and clues to build a case for a strong story direction. We could also picture DEs as the architects behind the scenes, meticulously piecing together the narrative puzzle, guiding the flow of tales, and ensuring characters are the heartbeat of the story. Whether sharpening an unfocused manuscript or boosting a writer’s self-belief, DEs are the unsung heroes who uplift and embolden authors. As the author’s collaborating partner, you refine and amplify the author’s voice, transforming a shared vision into an extraordinary reality.
This four-week advanced course is presented through videos, readings, guided discussions, interactive activities, and assignments. There are four modules, each lasting one week. Activities and discussions are designed to make you think deeper about a craft topic or help you tackle an edit more efficiently. As you expand your understanding of the principles of developmental editing, you’ll put your knowledge into practice with the instructor’s guidance. The sample manuscript is a 100,000-word fantasy novel with plot holes, head-hopping, and multiple point-of-view characters—a challenge for any DE, but one you can surmount!
- Week 1: Solidifying the Story: Premise, Narrative Question, Structure & Focus. We’ll learn to troubleshoot potential issues with a novel’s premise (conflict, goal, and stakes), narrative question, structure, and focus.
- Week 2: Strengthening the Plot: Complications & Consequences. We will assess the role of progressive complications and believable consequences and how they impact the reader’s experience.
- Week 3: Reinforcing the Developmental Editor’s Role. You will learn how to expand your knowledge and experience so you can edit more objectively and efficiently, and strengthen your author-editor relationships. Activities include discussing the legal and ethical issues that editors must address in manuscripts and creating an editorial letter template for issues that often plague new authors.
- Week 4: Creating an Engaging Developmental Editorial Letter for a Novel. Students will develop a thorough, thoughtful, and engaging developmental editorial letter for the sample manuscript. This letter will include demonstrations and examples to help the author tackle the suggested revisions.
There will be ample time to discuss the sample manuscript with your classmates and instructor. Some discussions are guided, and some are open. The instructor will participate in discussion posts, host a Zoom chat, and give personalized feedback.
You will come away from this course with a stronger understanding of the craft of fiction, a deeper appreciation for the art of the developmental edit, and the higher skills needed to make a difference in your clients’ manuscripts—and their lives!
Required tools: Microsoft Word.
Our students say…
Val is an excellent teacher. Her curriculum is challenging, engaging, and valuable. —A.C.
Val really made this course spectacular for me. She is so enthusiastic and embodies everything I want to be as an editor. On top of that, it is immediately clear that she knows what she’s talking about, but she’s also incredibly humble. Her feedback is invaluable and her support throughout the courses is heartwarming. I couldn’t have asked for a better instructor or a better person to introduce me to developmental editing and guide me through all three courses. —E.K.
This class is for editors who are experienced in developmental editing of fiction or who have completed Developmental Editing of Fiction: Intermediate.
Val M. Mathews (she/her) teaches courses in editing for the University of California Berkeley Extension, Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, and the Editorial Freelancers Association in New York City. She also works as an editorial consultant for CRAFT Literary and Masters Review, two well-established online literary magazines, and has worked as an editor for traditional publishers. Val earned an MA in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University and a BFA from the University of Georgia. Fun fact about Val: She’s been an FAA-certified flight instructor for over 25 years, and in the past, she flew Lear jets for a living.
