Plotstormers II: The Editing Strikes Back

Gold Star Members
Editing, Novel writing

Deconstruct. Reconstruct. Turn your manuscript into something beautiful

Take This Course

Learn how to take your story apart and put it back together in a more awesome way
Emerge triumphant with a detailed, watertight plan for redrafting your story
Join our lovely little online community to support you through plotstorming, editing, and beyond

You know what makes great writing? Really great editing. 

Let us give you the tools and techniques to deconstruct your work and rebuild it again, taking it from ‘hmm this is a bit meh’ and elevating it to ‘aah this is amazing!’

We get it. You’d rather cut your own hand off than get down to editing your work. But you have to do it because otherwise what was the point of slogging it out through the first draft?

Whether you’re contemplating a new project or at the end of a 150,000 word manuscript, you need to know how to venture into the magical world of redrafting and editing. Guess what? We can help! Spend six weeks (or however long you need!) learning how to transform a rough, vulnerable, wibbly-shaped writing project into a majestic beast of a finished manuscript.

Our approach to editing isn’t just about correcting typos and tweaking sentence structure (though we do cover the proofreading process too) – this is an elbows-deep practical method of deconstruction and reconstruction to help you develop your story’s structure, narrative and characterisation right down to its fundamentals.

When it comes to writing, one size does NOT fit all, so we’ll give you a tonne of editing options and techniques to suit your particular story. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss and brainstorm your plot with your fellow WHQers throughout the course, so you won’t be going it alone. And when you’re done, you’ll emerge triumphant with a solid, detailed outline plan for the redrafting process and all the resources you need to get your manuscript to the submission stage.

NOTE: You DON’T need to have done the OG Plotstormers to take this course, but you DO need a zero or first (or sixth) draft.

30 steps in 7 sections

1Begin at the beginning

  • Introduction to Plotstormers II

2What's Your Story?

  • EXERCISE: The elevator pitch
  • EXERCISE: Working from memory
  • READ: Question time
  • EXERCISE: Let’s expand this mothersucker
  • WATCH: Whose story is this?

3Who dat? Who dis? What they doin'?

  • READ: In which your character takes a long hard look at themselves
  • EXERCISE: Ch-ch-changes
  • EXERCISE: Tracing character arcs
  • DISCUSS: The ultimate transformation

4Break it down, baby!

  • READ: Break away from your zero draft
  • EXERCISE: Summaries are your friend
  • WATCH: Death of a thousand cuts
  • EXERCISE: Putting your summary to work
  • DISCUSS: What’s your problem, dude?

5Back to basics

  • READ: Revisiting the three act structure
  • EXERCISE: What shape is your story?
  • WATCH: Sticking points
  • READ: The point of no return
  • DISCUSS: What if?

6New fricken' draft!

  • EXERCISE: Brand new draft, baby!
  • READ: Finding your voice
  • EXERCISE: Filling holes
  • DISCUSS: A whole new world
  • WATCH: One draft does not a book make

7Edit like a BAWSSSSSS

  • READ: How to tackle the big bad edit
  • EXERCISE: Scene by scene
  • READ: Big sweeps
  • READ: Tips and tricks
  • DISCUSS: Beta beta beta
  • Take This Course

Writers’ HQ | Plotstormers II: The Editing Strikes Back