Editor's First Aid: CRP for Your Dying Manuscript

Guess what! I’m teaching a new class called Editor’s First Aid: CPR for Your Dying Manuscript. Check out the details below.

Maybe the horror stories about the hard road to publication are keeping you from finishing your novel. Maybe you've had one too many rejections with no explanation. No matter what is killing your writing, it’s time to breathe a little life into your manuscript.

Not sure where to start? As a freelance editor, I'm telling you there’s only one surefire way to avoid the dreaded rejection slip—know your craft. And I mean really learn it. Knowing your craft inside and out is the only way to identify and correct the problems in your writing.

Feeling overwhelmed? Maybe you think editing just isn't your strong suit? Don't worry. You don't have to do it alone. I'll walk you through some of the most common mistakes writers make so you can apply CRP to your dying manuscript.

In Editor’s First Aid, you'll learn about dialogue dilemmas, plotting problems, and bad beginnings, including:

• The 13 most common dialogue mistakes.
• How to avoid dialogue blunders.
• How to correct episodic writing.
• Understanding poor execution of GMCs (goals, motivations, conflicts).
• How to turn up the emotion.
• When (if ever) to add a prologue.
• All about the inciting incident and why it’s the best place to start your story.

Other benefits of Editor’s First Aid include:

• A professional editor to answer your questions.
• Opportunities to have your work professionally edited. (Samples will be randomly selected with a minimum of six critiques.)
• A chance to see real examples of how an editor looks at a manuscript.


About the Instructor: Lynnette Labelle is a freelance copyeditor, proofreader, and manuscript editor with over ten years of experience. She’s the owner of Labelle’s Writing on the Wall, an editing and coaching service for writers. Lynnette specializes in developmental copyediting, including line editing, for romance (all subgenres except historical), mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, YA, middle grade, and children’s fiction. She proofreads non-fiction and all fiction genres, and also helps writers create hooky query letters and strong synopses. Lynnette has a bachelor of education degree from the University of Manitoba, where she specialized in English and French. She excelled in Advanced Creative Writing in university and studied writing for children and teens through the Institute of Children’s Literature. She’s a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, Romance Writers of America, RWA Online, and Savvy Authors. For more information, visit www.labelleseditorialservices.com

When: February 6 – March 2, 2012
Where: RWA Online (www.rwaonlinechapter.org)

Hope to see you there.  If not, keep an eye on my website.  I'll probably teach this on on my own later in the year.

Lynnette Labelle
www.labelleseditorialservices.com