Fiction Writing Masterclass

Lesson 7: How to Edit Your Fiction Writing

This week we’ll cover structural and line editing, to ensure your short story is perfectly polished for publication.

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This is the seventh lesson in an 8-part series on writing fiction. It has been designed to take you through the process of writing a short story from start to finish. For more information, including the content covered in each lesson, check out my introductory post here.

“There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.” — Robert Graves

Of all the stages in the short story creation process, editing is the most important. This is where you tidy, cut, change, refine, tighten, and polish what is likely to be messy writing. Up until this point, you’ve been using your creative brain, but now it’s time to switch to your analytical brain and adopt the role of editor.

First and foremost, put your writing aside for as long as possible. This is with the aim that you’ll forget your story sufficiently enough that when you come back to it, you are reading it with fresh eyes as if you are a reader and not the author. This has two benefits:

• Firstly, you will…