Yesterday I lined up a trio of self-paced courses from Club Ed, run by the amazing Jennifer Lawler, a true treasure in the editing community and a fantastic teacher. I’ve learned a lot from Jennifer over the years, and she is one of the very best resources for anyone looking to develop their editing skills.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
I love having courses on hand, and CPD is an important part of my editing life. Along with ready-to-go marketing and admin tasks, courses are a perfect anxiety killer when an unplanned gap opens in my schedule.
I’m a big believer in the work itself being a wonderful teacher, but I never take a course without
- learning something new
- reinforcing my knowledge
- gaining a new perspective
One of the most rewarding things about freelance editing is always, always, always learning.
If you’re curious, these are the three courses I selected:
Understanding Goal–Motivation–Conflict for Editors
GMC is essential for crafting compelling characters and narratives. I’m looking forward to this deep dive!
Call to Adventure: Editing the Opening
Writers have to connect with their readers quickly, and this class should provide great insights on how to do that effectively.
Many writers struggle with sagging middles in their manuscripts, and this course promises helpful advice for guiding authors on how to keep their readers engaged.
Editing Horror
Club Ed has also been kind enough to host my one-hour webinar (recorded) on how to edit horror. In this webinar, I explore the following:
- What is horror?
- Brief history of the genre
- Subgenres
- Horror beats and tropes
- Character: protagonist v. the monster
- Setting
- Controlling theme: From life to death to damnation
- The unknown
- Reader immersion
- Editorial concerns for problematic tropes
Here’s to all the learning we have ahead of us!
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