Third Draft - Novel & Script - Part 1 - Crafting the Writing

Course Information

This course has payment options, please click the ‘Enrol Now’ link to view the payment options.

Prerequisite: Second Draft Writing course.

“For me, this course is where it’s really at. Getting at last to the coalface, the actual word-by-word writing of the thing has allowed me to connect with the character and the story in a way that I had found difficult to this point. I think I have learned to trust the narrative thread and not feel the need to control it constantly.”

Elizabeth Farrelly, Author and Senior Journalist

How the Third Draft Writing Course Works

While you’ll continue to refine your structure in this course, the real focus is on the writing — the craft of re-writing and editing, making each scene as good as it can be.

The Third Draft is the most challenging yet exciting part of the writing process — where your story starts to feel like a book.

Each session, you will:

• Learn new tools and techniques designed to help you improve your writing and storytelling.
• Take what you have done in the Second Draft and plan your chapters, focusing on your character’s motivation, inner conflict and the emotional and dramatic logic of each scene.
• Receive targeted feedback on your chapter planning from your tutor, helping you shape strong turning points and build scenes with rising tension and authentic emotional stakes.
• See the benefits on the page when you start rewriting and editing.
• Write your chapters one at a time, submitting the opening 600 words of each chapter for feedback so you can catch issues early, push each chapter further and keep improving as you go.
• At the end of each session, choose one of your two chapters to polish and submit  for detailed feedback. These multiple rounds of feedback will accelerate your development as a writer.

Experience the satisfaction of watching your manuscript come to life on the page.

"This has been my favourite course. I have loved focusing on the writing and the detail. I have learnt so much about the actual craft of writing in this course. The first lesson was about point of view and it has stuck with me ever since. That and other tools such as having a clear dramatic question have made a huge difference to my writing. And I felt that everyone in the class, after applying the tools and techniques, had a strong story worthy of being published."

Kylie Keogh – journalist and media manager

On Learning the Craft of Re-writing and Editing

“The art of writing is the art of re-writing. Success depends on attitude and patience as you take it one step at a time. So much of writing is about re-writing, I never get it right the first few times. I’m of the school that it’s in the re-writes that the story is born. It’s a refiner’s craft. As territorial as we are, it is important to be challenged.”
Tina Howe, Nominated twice for Pulitzer Prize for Drama

“Most writers spend too much time looking at the big picture and not enough time down in the mines doing the nitty-gritty of the scene work. If you can master this skill of the scene you will be well ahead of the game.” Matt Bird – The Secrets of Story

“Re-writing is king. Whether you make it or don’t make it is in the re-write.” Michael Connelly

"I have emerged from being a dreamer to being a writer. This course has made that possible because it has given me the tools and the courage to give it a go. This has been an incredibly valuable (and sometimes confronting) experience. I think we all discovered what an almighty process this is."

Penny Robinson, author and executive producer of RPA

How the Course Works

During the course you will:

• • Follow a process to explore, clarify and focus the spine of each chapter with feedback from your tutor before re-writing and editing. To have your writing work on the page for your reader, you need to first be clear about your characters’ motivation and have a sound structure.
  • Learn how to shape your writing in a way that connects your readers emotionally with your characters and story.
  • Receive detailed, critical feedback on your writing and do extensive re-writing and editing to make every scene as good as it can be. Having fresh eyes review and critique your work, is critical to your progress as a writer.
  • Have your writing flowing logically and dramatically so everything makes sense and your story feels authentic.

If you work through the process one step at a time, you will be amazed at how much your writing improves as you master the course’s tools and techniques and take on the feedback from your tutor.

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