Novel & Script Third Draft - Part 2 - Re-writing and Editing

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Novel & Script Third Draft - Part 2 - Re-writing and Editing

Take your novel or screenplay, and your writing, to the next level

Third Draft – Part 2 is an advanced rewriting and editing course for writers who have completed Third Draft – Part 1 and are ready to take a major leap forward in their writing.

You will learn sophisticated rewriting and editing techniques to develop a more distinctive and engaging voice, give your characters greater depth and complexity, and shape scenes and chapters that build on one another with stronger pacing and dramatic momentum.

Throughout the course, you will continue developing your novel or screenplay with detailed, ongoing feedback from your tutor, helping you identify opportunities and strengthen your writing as you go.

Towards the end of the course, you will apply everything you’ve learned to the most important 12,000 words of your story: your opening. Your tutor will provide a detailed critique, followed by a one-on-one consultation about the strengths of your manuscript, the opportunities for further development and what you need to focus on next.

By then, you will be able to look back at where you started and see just how far your story, and your writing, have come.

“I’d hate to think what my story would’ve looked like if I hadn’t learnt so much from this course. I’m so sorry it is over.” Sonya Fearby

Course Information

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

Pre-requisite: 7-Month Novel & Script Third Draft Course

The Third Draft Part 2 course group meets once every two months at our Sydney Studio. The sessions run from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm on either a Saturday or a Sunday.

The Power of Feedback

One of the most powerful ways to improve your writing is to receive ongoing, high-quality feedback as you work through your manuscript, which is why feedback is built into every stage of the Third Draft process.

Ed Catmul, the founder of Pixar, who made such classics as Finding Nemo and Toy Story, said, “All the Pixar writers no matter how smart, talented and well organised they are become lost somewhere along the way.

“We believe in the power of embracing candid feedback and the iterative process of re-working, re-working, re-working and re-working … The story steadily improves with each step of the process. In my experience, creative people discover and realise their vision over time.”

For each chapter you submit in Third Draft – Part 2, you will receive guidance on your scene planning before you begin writing. You’ll then receive feedback on the opening 600 words, helping you identify opportunities early, followed by detailed feedback on a complete chapter each session.

This iterative process means you are continually learning, applying what you’ve learned and improving the next piece of writing.

Over time, those incremental improvements can transform both your manuscript and your ability as a writer.

There is a clear pathway and structure to follow and the writing improves substantially. I learned more about the mechanics of good storytelling than I could have imagined. The Last Balfour is now being published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia. It really is a dream come true.

Cait Duggan

The Process

Pre-Course Work

Before the course starts, you will follow a process to help you explore and clarify your entire story. This is an opportunity to integrate any discoveries and insights you have made about your character and story through the writing in Part 1, potentially deepening your overall character journey and story structure.

Bringing out your unique voice

To make your writing compelling, unique, and engaging you need to develop a distinctive voice and explore moral problems that everyone can connect with.

The Third Draft Part 2 process will help you find the most dramatic and meaningful shape for each scene, drawing out the deeper themes of your story and enhancing your unique voice.

How the process works:

In each session, you will be given targeted exercises designed to keep you on track and help you further develop your characters, story and writing skills.

The tools will also enable you to track your character’s decision-making process and inner journey at an incremental level that builds drama and emotional engagement.

During the course, you will learn how to:

1. Draw readers deeply into your characters’ moral problems and emotional journeys, creating greater involvement in what happens and why it matters.

2. Develop your pacing so that you bring character and action together and your story builds naturally with dramatic momentum and maximum emotional impact.

3. Use irony and subtext to reveal the deeper themes of your story, without becoming obvious or heavy-handed.

4. Discover what makes your perspective unique, and draw on your own experiences and insights to develop a more distinctive and engaging voice.

5. Reveal character and story information at the right time, building curiosity, emotional engagement and a deeper understanding of your characters.

6. Use the ongoing feedback cycle to strengthen your writing as you go, identifying opportunities early and applying what you learn to each new chapter.

7. Develop your rewriting and editing skills through live on-screen editing sessions, learning how to apply the tools and techniques to your own work.

8. Become part of a community of passionate, like-minded writers who will inspire you, keep you accountable and encourage you to keep developing your craft.

Crafting a Strong Opening

Towards the end of the course, you will apply all you have learned to the most important 12,000 words of your story: your opening.

Your tutor will read and critique the first 12,000 words of your story and you will have a one-on-one consultation to discuss your progress and what you need to do to next.

This is an important milestone to see your writing and story take shape and to get an honest and supportive assessment of the stength and opportunities in your writing and what you need to focus on to ensure your story achieves its potential.

Receiving objective, targeted feedback on your writing makes all the difference.

“As I was reading everyone’s work for this session, I felt that the writing in general has reached a close-to-publishable standard, better than many of the books I read.

“The voice of each writer is much clearer and confident; there is a sense of finding and settling down with the voice. There is a shift from being a slave to language to owning it. This is really satisfying to see.” Wallace Lee

I will be completely honest and come out of the closet and declare that I have been full of doubt that any of our stories would ever hit the shelves with any degree of success. But I was wrong. Everyone’s writing has taken off. The quantum leaps in sentence structure, pacing and vocabulary would be impressive enough. But more, the emotion, the subtlety of plot and the development character are an order of magnitude better. I now see that are all within a whisker of publication.

Gilbert Mane

Session Dates and Times

Third Draft Part 2 Live – 12 July 2026

All workshops run from 10am to 6pm except final session: 2.00pm to 6.00pm & drinks.

Session 1: Sunday 12 July 2026

Session 2: Sunday 30 August 2026

Session 3: Saturday 17 October 2026

Session 4: Sunday 6 December 2026

XMAS BREAK

Session 5: Saturday 30 January 2027

Session 6: Sunday 2 May 2027

Third Draft Part 2 Live – 13 July 2025

All workshops run from 10am to 6pm except final session: 2.00pm to 6.00pm & drinks.

Session 1: Sunday 13 July 2025

Session 2: Sunday 31 August 2025

Session 3: Sunday 19 October 2025

Session 4: Saturday 29 November 2025

XMAS BREAK

Session 5: Saturday 31 January 2026

Session 6: Sunday 3 May 2026

To join the next Novel & Script Third Draft - Part 2 Course

Enrol Now

Novel & Script Third Draft - Part 2

SYDNEY WRITING COURSE

Start Date

12 July 2026
Duration

10 Months
When

Scroll down to see Workshop Dates
Where

Bronte Studio
Course Fee

$4,445 inc GST

Emma Lord

"I had only the earliest inklings of Anomaly in my head when I began the first draft course at the Writers' Studio. That course – and the subsequent second and third draft courses – provided the framework I needed to explore the possibilities of my story without binding commitment to what I put on the page. In short – I was empowered to make a very big, very necessary mess! Each draft – and the encouraging feedback I received along the way – helped me refine my story possibilities, until the novel took on thematic layers and momentum. For me, the structure provided was the key to creative freedom and productivity. My time with Roland, Kathleen, and the wonderful tutors at the Writers' Studio was an essential part of making Anomaly a reality – and now I'm implementing everything I learned for book two."

Nigel Bartlett

I'm extremely grateful to Roland and the couple of years I spent at the Writer's Studio. My time there finally set me on the path I'd wanted to follow for years. It taught me so much about plot and structure and, importantly, it cleared my head of the rubbish I'd previously believed about the mystery of writing and the creative process. The scales fell from my eyes at the Writers' Studio. 'King of The Road' published by Random House, 2015

Alex Gilly

Writers' Studio graduate and former tutor, Alexander Gilly, has signed a two-book deal with Tor/Forge, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, in New York. This is his first novel, a high-seas action-thriller that Alex developed through our first, second and third draft novel writing courses. 'I'm thrilled,' says Alex. 'By sticking with my story and to the principles I learned at the Writers' Studio, and by getting lucky, I've realised a life-long ambition. Thank you Roland and Kathleen!

Nick Lathouris

"The Writers' Studio is my testing ground, and a place equipped with the finest mental technologies, which unlike the thousands of books on the subject, are designed to nurture the screenwriter through that arduous practice and discipline of animating a story step-by-step, day by day, and refining it so that it represents the best of what you are."

L.A. Larkin

"If it wasn't for Unlocking Creativity and The Writers' Studio First Draft (Novel & Script) Course I wouldn't be where I am today - an author about to be published. Thank you Roland for the inspiration."  

Krew Boylan

‘Before I did the Unlocking Creativity course I knew I loved to write creatively but had no idea how I might start to channel that into something like a novel. The course teaches the basics of storytelling in a really accessible and inspiring way. Things like the importance of sensory detail in scene setting, writing a character’s emotion and conflict on every page. ‘The techniques really worked for me and I’m still a little bit amazed I was able to write a book and have it published using them. I refer to the notes I took during Unlocking Creativity even

Elizabeth Farrelly

Dear Roland. So excited. I have a publishing offer for my first book of fiction. So what I'm really saying is - thank you!' Elizabeth published her children's book, Caro Was Here, through Walker Books

Rachel Ward

"A truly practical approach to the secrets of good story telling."

Shannon Garner

Thanks to The Writer's Studio I truly found my love of writing buried within. After completing the 4-week Unlocking Creativity course and then the 10-month Novel & Script First Draft course, I found the determination to write and submit my memoir 'Labour of Love' which has been published by Simon & Schuster. Thank you Writers’ Studio for triggering my drive and inspiration and my deep adoration for writing.

Elizabeth Packett

I work as professional script writer and editor, so I understand the basics of story structure, but the way the everything was broken down to the smallest of steps was just brilliant. It made me dig for my story, and get in deep, and get complex, rather than settling for the easiest first thought. Forcing me to think deeper and come up with more imaginative solutions. Loved the dance! Such a beautiful perfect balance.”

Julia Zemiro

"I am doing a 10-month online writing course with them (The Writers' Studio) and it's challenging, exciting and frustrating. As it should be."