Erica Orloff

On December 6, 2014, Erica Orloff will teach a Master Class that will help you take your work to the next level!

From the Drawer to Publication: The Recipe for Editing and Polishing Your Manuscript

You’re struggling through a seemingly endless edit. Perhaps you have one of those manuscripts “in a drawer” (or under the bed or stored on your old laptop), or maybe you have 50,000 unpolished words from a recent month of crazed novel writing. You want to do something with it—submit or indie publish—but you know it’s not quite “there” yet.

Then this is the Master Class for you.

Take one author/editor with three decades of editing experience and twenty-five published novels to her credit . . .  and you and your manuscript. Roll up sleeves. Add plenty of coffee and four hours on a Saturday. Flavor with a few dashes of inspiration. Add laughter and commiseration with fellow writers. Add two cups of perseverance. And four tablespoons of grammar. Don’t forget pacing and character development to taste. Stir well. And watch your manuscript rise like the perfect soufflé.

  • Every class member receives the first five pages of their novel line-edited. (To take advantage of this, please supply your manuscript pages, double-spaced, when you receive confirmation of registration).
  • Hands-on training for HOW to edit, the specifics, to see firsthand and have a few “A-ha” moments of what editors and agents really look for.
  • Learn how professional editors polish your work, what to look for beyond simple typos.
  • Learn how to effectively pace your novel, along with exercises designed to teach you whether a scene or character is a “darling” to be deleted or killed or if they deserve to stay in the book.
  • Play the “No, but . . . Yes, and” brainstorming technique for unsticking plot.
  • Examine character arcs and motivation.
  • In-class “first pages” editing—the class will help you be sure your first chapter is ready to be shown, and then you can apply those lessons to the rest of your book.
  • Bring your laptop and current manuscript. The manuscript can be unfinished, but you should have 50 pages to work on.

 Saturday, December 6

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. with an hour for lunch

*Lunch is not included, but there are many restaurants within walking distance

Location: St. Stephen’s Church, 6000 Grove Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226, second floor of the Fellowship Hall

Parking: Free parking available in onsite parking lot and on the street

 

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After publishing over 20 novels for adults, Erica Orloff penned the popular middle-grade children’s fantasy trilogy, The Magickeepers (Jabberwocky) under the pen name Erica Kirov. She also writes young adult novels, including In Dreams (2014, Penguin). Her books have been noted in Us Weekly, Cosmopolitan, and American Girl, among many other publications, as well as being translated into eight languages. Her contemporary novels have been considered “ground-breaking” (Romantic Times), with complex heroines facing issues from gambling addiction to breast cancer. As a publishing consultant and ghostwriter, Erica is in much demand through her editorial company Editing for Authors and its subsidiary, Dragon Tree Books. A University of Richmond alumna, she also lectures and teaches on writing, including acting as the Writer-in-Residence at Clover Hill High School, and guest lecturing at various schools from elementary through college.