CLASS 82 | Kill Your Darlings: Tips for Self-Editing

Stand out in a competitive market by submitting your strongest possible work. When you pitch agents and editors, first impressions matter—and even after a sale, turning in a manuscript that requires heavy developmental editing creates unnecessary stress for you and extra burden on your publishing team. Professional revisions are part of the process, but the cleanest, tightest draft you can deliver gives you the best chance at success and a smoother path to publication.

You’ll learn to ruthlessly “kill your darlings” (the figurative kind) and sharpen your self-editing skills. I’ll share practical techniques for identifying and fixing common problems such as sluggish pacing, excessive backstory, flat or unnatural dialogue, repetitive phrasing, and underdeveloped characters. By the end of the class, you’ll have the tools and the confidence to evaluate your own manuscript with a critical eye and transform it into a polished, submission-ready novel.

📣 You can register for this individual class, or you can join Outliers to unlock access to this and all upcoming classes!

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

New York Times Bestselling author Allison Brennan believes life's too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. She relocated from Northern California to Arizona in 2019 where she enjoys reading, hiking, and Spring Training. Her most recent books are Make It Out Alive in the Quinn & Costa series and a stand-alone thriller, Whisper Creek. allisonbrennan.com.