Ready to revise and refine your work?
Editing a novel is a challenging and time-intensive process that demands a sharp critical eye and a willingness to make tough decisions. This online short course, led by Santanu Bhattacharya, acclaimed author of One Small Voice and Deviants, is designed to help you approach your work with fresh perspective and refine your manuscript to its full potential.
Over eight weeks, you’ll dive into your writing on both a granular, word-by-word level and a broader, structural level. You’ll explore how experimenting with elements like structure, perspective, and point of view can transform your narrative and deepen the connection between your story and its readers.
This course is tailored for writers with a novel in progress — you don’t need a completed manuscript to participate. It’s ideal for those feeling stuck in their draft and seeking practical tools to move their narrative forward. As part of the course, Santanu will review up to 3,500 words of your writing, culminating in a one-on-one tutorial to discuss your work and plan your next steps.
Start date
Monday 1 June
Location
Online
Length
Eight weeks (please see course schedule below)
Price
£300*
*Payment plans available. Contact us at [email protected] to find out more.
Course format
This course is delivered weekly (see course programme below). The majority of the content is presented in text form via Teachable, allowing you to progress through the material chapter by chapter at your own pace. You will submit two assignments directly to your tutor for personalised feedback and guidance, due at the end of week three and week six.
The course also includes up to two live Zoom sessions: a welcome session in the first module, followed by a one-to-one tutorial with your tutor later in the course.
Click to find out more about the course structure and the equipment you may need.
Course programme
Week one – Introduction
In the first week of the course, you’ll begin working through writing exercises focusing on mood. You’ll attend a live session where you will meet your course mates, and Santanu will give you an overview of the course structure and materials, and you’ll discuss how to read your own writing with the eyes of an outsider.
Week two – Plot
Focusing on plot, we’ll begin to examine the central threads that hold your narrative together. You’ll choose a 500-word excerpt from your novel, and spend time polishing its structure and timing, paying close attention to how plot emerges through action and choice.
Week three – Language
If plot is the scaffolding, then words are the bricks that construct your novel. Looking at language, you’ll look at how your sentences sound and feel on the page, and how voice emerges through word choice, before submitting a 500-word excerpt to your tutor for feedback.
Week four – Pace
Pace determines how long a reader stays inside a moment. This week, you’ll focus on how scenes unfold and time moves in your novel, and how momentum is sustained to hold a reader’s attention across the narrative.
Week five – Finalising
This week, you’ll focus on the final stages of revision, creating a personalised checklist to evaluate your writing. You’ll then apply these essential pre-submission checks to a 3,000-word excerpt from your manuscript.
Week six – Polish
Drawing on everything you’ve learned in the course, you’ll polish your excerpt before submitting it to your tutor for feedback and guidance.
Week seven – Feedback
Santanu will read and return your 3,000-word excerpt with feedback during this week.
Week eight – Tutorial
In the final week of the course, you will have a one-to-one tutorial with Santanu to discuss feedback and plan next steps in your writing.
Live sessions
There will be two live sessions for this course, which will take place over Zoom.
Timings for these courses will be confirmed shortly.
Santanu Bhattacharya
Santanu Bhattacharya is the author of One Small Voice (Fig Tree), which was chosen as an Observer Best Debut Novel for 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. He is the winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize Residency, the Mo Siewcharran Prize, the Life Writing Prize, and a London Writers’ Award. His second novel Deviants will be published in 2025. He grew up in India, and now lives in London.
Hear from former students
Got a question?
If you still have questions, get in touch with the learning team by email [email protected] or phone (+44) 01603 877177 between our working hours of 9am – 5pm GMT, Monday to Friday. We’re here to help!