Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing

There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting. Good writers become published writers through the process of rewriting. It’s hard work. In this course, we’ll be training ourselves to become our own editors by first teaching ourselves what makes fiction work. By focusing on concrete self-editing checklists, lookouts, and questions—and using key concepts in James Scott Bell’s Write Great Fiction: Revision, & Self-Editing—you’ll learn how to turn your first draft into a fine-tuned, finished, and publishable novel.

Course level:  Intermediate / Advanced

Required Book:  Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell

Workshop Length:  8 weeks

Tuition:  $349.00 ($314.10 for VIP)

Start Date: View Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing Course Schedule

Course Structure
The workshop will consist of eight one-week sessions. Each session will include online lectures (text based), associated textbook reading assignments, and writing exercises submitted to the instructor for private review. In addition, the course provides an interactive area that you might use to further the conversation with your peers and thus create a community of writers.

You will learn:

  • How to compartmentalize your writing
  • How to strengthen your characters and provide them with complexity
  • How Bell’s LOCK method can help solidify your plot and structure
  • How to write attention grabbing openings, stake-raising middles, and resounding ends
  • Specific strategies for revising and polishing your work.

Who should take this course:

  • Writers who want to learn specific strategies for revising and polishing their work
  • Fiction writers of any genre
  • Graduates of intermediate level classes

Register for Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing Writing Workshop

Course Outline

Session One: Introduction: Real Toads and Imaginary Gardens

  • Course introduction
  • Self-editing basics
  • Compartmental Writing
  • Finding your story

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): Write a 500-word synopsis of your novel idea in the style of back cover copy. Then, answer the following questions: Is this story substantial enough to cover hundreds of pages? What is the main conflict in this story? Does the main conflict of the story open to several mini-conflicts? Why do you think this story is interesting or universally appealing? (Your answers to these questions should not exceed 300 words.)

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Using a draft of your work-in-progress, write a 500-word synopsis of your novel idea in the style of back cover copy. Then, answer the following questions: Is this story substantial enough, interesting enough? Does the main conflict of the story open to several mini-conflicts? Why do you think this story is interesting or universally appealing? What is the concept of the novel? Who are the main characters and what is the primary conflict? (Your answers to these questions should not exceed 300 words.)

Session Two: Strengthening Your Characters

  • Creating character complexity, plausibility, and likeability
  • Finding your character’s motivation
  • Appearance versus interiority
  • Character self-editing checklists

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): Select one character in your novel and write a 250-word bio about him or her. You may choose to use Bell’s checklist on p. 31–32 as a guide. When you are finished, write a scene (500 words) in which your character wants something, but can’t have it. See if you can include as many items from the checklists above.

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Select one character from your novel in progress and write a 250-word bio of him or her. (Use Bell’s checklist on p. 31–32 as a guide.) Next, find the scene where this character is first introduced. Rewrite this scene, paying particular attention to embedding it with character history, complexity, motivation, and physical description. Aim for 500 words. Finally, write an assessment in approximately 200 words. How did the scene change from draft to draft? How were you able to flesh out your character?

Session Three: Plot Happens

  • Bell’s LOCK system define
  • Discovering your character’s objective
  • Deepening conflict
  • Letting your leads lead

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): Choose a character from list A, a quality from list B, and write a 100-word character sketch. Next, choose a situation from list C. Brainstorm the ways in which such a lead, when faced with a particular situation, might naturally react to or against it. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate that plot isn’t simply what happens, but, rather, how a character responds to a given situation. Write a 600-word scene.

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Using a work-in-progress, write a 200-word assessment of the LOCK system at work in your novel. Use the following questions as a guide:

  1. How would you describe the lead?
  2. What is my lead’s objective?
  3. What is at stake for my lead?
  4. What is the major conflict, or what is standing in the way of my lead?
  5. What is my climactic scene?
  6. How is the story resolved? Does it seem earned?

Next, brainstorm ways in which you can deepen the conflict for your character and raise the stakes. Write a 600-word scene in which your lead’s path to his objective is more deeply complicated. (Don’t worry, for now, if the scene doesn’t “fit” into your overall novel.)

Session Four: HIP to Be Scene

  • The scene defined
  • Crafting attention grabbing scene openings
  • Creating complications in your scene middles
  • Methods for scene endings

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): First, for your own reference, analyze the scene you wrote in the previous exercise. How could you get to the action of the scene faster? What is the purpose of the scene? What is revealed about the character in the scene? What kind of ending have you employed?

Now, rewrite the scene (500–750 words), paying particular attention to Bell’s HIP principles and the principles of scene structure. Make sure your scene has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Then, answer the following questions:

  1. What is learned about your character in this scene?
  2. What is the conflict in this scene?
  3. How did you complicate the tension of the scene from your first draft to your second?
  4. Which of the above listed strategies for conclusion did you use and why?
  5. If this scene were part of your novel, what scene do you imagine would come next?

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Select a scene from your novel-in-progress, and answer the following questions:

  1. What is the goal of this scene?
  2. How does this scene fit into the overall trajectory of your novel’s plot?
  3. What is at stake for your character in this scene?
  4. What is your character’s immediate objective, and how have you complicated it?
  5. Does this scene have a beginning, a middle, and an end?

Now, rewrite this scene in approximately 500–750 words, being sure to start in media res and end with a specific conclusion strategy above. What changed from first to second draft? How did you raise the stakes for your character?

Session Five: The First Act (of Three)

  • The importance of the first line
  • Attention-grabbing opening pages
  • Editing the first third of your novel

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): Think back to the novel synopsis you wrote for Lesson One. Write the first 750–1,000 words of the novel—the opening scene—paying close attention to writing a sharp opening line, introducing the main character and “significant event” and revealing (or at least hinting at) the underlying conflict. In 200 words, describe the scene that you think will need to follow this one.

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Reread the opening scene of your novel-in-progress. Rewrite this scene (750–1,000 words), paying particular attention to the opening line and more quickly revealing the character complexity and conflict. Then, in 200 words, answer the question: How did your scene change from the first draft to the second?

Session Six: Act Deux: Middles

  • How to raise stakes in your novel
  • The basics of internal scenes
  • The basics of external scenes
  • Signposting your novel

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): For your own reference, create a signpost outline of your novel. What types of scenes will you need to include in the middle section in order to heighten the conflict and deepen the tension? After you’ve created your signpost outline, select two scenes to write. One should be an external scene and another should be an internal scene. Don’t worry if these scenes do not fall back to back in your novel. Aim for 600 words apiece.

Writing Assignment (Advanced): For your own reference, outline the middle section of your novel. Are there enough obstacles between your character and what he or she wants? Do you have enough variety in terms of scene type? Next, select two scenes—one internal and one external scene—and rewrite them, paying particular attention to raising the stakes for your character. Aim for approximately 600 words each.

Session Seven: The Final Act: Climax-Resolution

  • The difference between the climax and resolution
  • Considerations in the last third of your novel
  • Strategies for concluding your novel

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): Write the climax scene of your novel (approximately 800–1,000 words). Be sure to provide adequate detail and emotion to reveal why this scene is the moment of recognition for your character. Then answer the question: Why is this the most important moment for your character?

Writing Assignment (Advanced): Locate the climax scene in your novel-in-progress. Rewrite it, being sure to slow the pacing enough to reveal why this moment is fundamental to your character’s development (approximately 1,000 words). Then answer the question: How did this scene change from draft to draft?

Session Eight: Rounding Third and Heading for Home: Final Tips

  • Getting the most out of outside readers
  • Using reverse outlines in the revision process
  • Final revision checklists

Writing Assignment (Fundamental): By now, you’ve written an opening scene, an internal scene, and a climax scene for your novel-in-progress. For your own reference, draft a reverse outline for as much of your novel as you have written. Next, pretend you are a reader of your novel. Write an essay (700 words) that explores the theme(s) of your novel in progress. Where do you see evidence of this theme? After you’ve done this, write the final scene of your novel (approximately 750–1,000 words) being sure to weave subtle elements of theme into these pages. Follow the advice for good novel endings from Lesson Seven. Lastly, for your own reference, make a list of 5 to 10 writing goals for yourself. When do you intend to complete the novel? Who will your outside readers be? When do you hope to complete final revisions, etc.?

Writing Assignment (Advanced): For your own reference, draft a reverse outline of your novel. You won’t actually be turning this in, but the hard work will be worth it in the end. Next, pretend you are a reader of your novel and not the author. Write a 700-word essay: what is the theme of your novel and how do you see this theme develop throughout the work. After you’ve done this, rewrite the final scene from your novel (approximately 1,000–1,200 words) being sure to weave into this scene elements of theme you explored in your essay. Pay close attention to the pacing of this scene and make sure to be reflective in tone. Lastly, for your own reference, make a list of 5 to 10 writing goals for yourself in terms of your revision. What do you hope to accomplish with this draft and by when? When do you hope to complete your final revision? When do you plan to find outside readers, etc.?