This three-hour workshop is designed to help life writers develop their editing skills and refine their personal narratives. Primarily intended for students who have completed our Memoir & Life Writing course, this session offers practical guidance on transforming first drafts into polished and compelling stories. You'll learn how to approach your own work with fresh eyes, make structural decisions, and craft prose that truly captures your lived experience. Whether you're working on a full-length memoir or shorter personal essays, this workshop will equip you with the editorial tools to elevate your writing.
You will explore the essential elements of self-editing for life writing. Topics include developing an editorial eye for your own work, identifying and strengthening narrative structure, refining your voice and style, cutting unnecessary material while preserving authenticity, recognising common pitfalls in memoir writing and techniques for improving clarity and emotional impact. You'll have the opportunity to work with your own writing and apply editing principles in real time.
This workshop is primarily designed for students who have completed our Memoir & Life Writing course and wish to take their work to the next level. However, the course is open to anyone who has begun writing their own life story and would like to learn practical editing techniques to improve their work. No previous editing experience is required—just a willingness to view your writing with a critical yet compassionate eye.
Please bring a pen, paper for note-taking, and copies of your own work in progress. Having material you're actively working on will allow you to apply the editing techniques we cover directly to your writing during the workshop.
You could consider enrolling on one of our other Creative Writing courses.