The Next Draft with Laurel Cohn
Got a work-in-progress?
Whether you’re struggling to complete an early draft, or resisting the idea of another round of revisions, developing a work for publication can have you swinging between wild confidence and crippling self-doubt. You may be committed to your project and at the same time overwhelmed by the process, unsure of the next steps, unclear on how to tackle the next draft. You are not alone.
Much of what I do as a developmental editor focusses on helping writers understand how to deepen their writing: how to dig in to their most recent draft to build on the strengths and address the weaknesses; how to craft the reader’s relationship with the story; how to amplify the themes, strengthen the structure, develop the characterisations, hone the dialogue, finesse the argument, intensify the descriptions, nail the opening, strip away what isn’t serving the story. This is the stuff of structural editing that I cover in my course The Next Draft, guiding you through a step-by-step process to developing your manuscript and taking it to the next level in the next draft, whether you’ve got seven drafts under your belt, or just the one.
If you’re stuck half-way through your first draft I encourage you to push through to the end. It may be messy; let’s face it, nearly all early drafts are. You are experimenting, you are finding your voice, you are playing with ideas. Hopefully, you are having fun! Your early drafts, especially your first, may seem like a train wreck, a compost heap. It may be shambolic, confused, all over the place. It may be overly long, or under the word count you’re aiming for. All of that is fine. It’s just an early draft. In later drafts you will expand your understanding of what you want to say and how to say it.
It’s in the development phase over multiple drafts that you grow the idea that has been planted in those early drafts. It’s in the redrafting process that magic happens.
But you need a complete draft before you can begin redrafting.
If you work well to deadlines, why don’t you aim to finish your current draft by early December and join me for The Next Draft, three full-day sessions over three months, starting mid-December.
As one QWC participant said of the course:
‘I’ve learned so much over the three sessions and you deliver it in a relatable and easily understandable manner, which is quite the feat given the complexity of the content at times. I just wanted to thank you for helping me so much and teaching me skills which I’ll use for the rest of my writing career.’
Laurel Cohn is a book editor passionate about communication and the power of stories in our lives. As a developmental editor and writing coach she has been helping writers prepare their work for publication for over three decades, and is a popular workshop presenter. Laurel has a PhD in literary and cultural studies.
The Next Draft with Laurel Cohn 2024/25
An intensive three-part course that will help you survive the next draft of your work-in-progress.
10:30am – 4:30pm, Saturday 14 December 2024
10:30am – 4:30pm, Saturday 18 January 2025
10:30am – 4:30pm, Saturday 15 February 2025