Self Edit Course
I have just finished the Self Edit course run by Debi Alper and Emma Darwin.
I wanted to give an honest review. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jericho and their incredible work, but I have to tell it like it is.
The course is THE BEST FREAKING THING I HAVE EVER DONE!
ahem!
It’s booked up way into 2022 already and I reserved my spot for June 2021 back in July 2020 and it was worth it. When I found out it was going to be all done online and text based (no Zoom chats) I felt a bit let-down. I wondered how on earth they were going to justify the price tag on the course. I’ll admit it, I was sceptical. But as soon as it started and we got our first assignment everything started falling into place. The structure of the course is magic. It takes you through the steps needed to assess your work and become a better reader of other people’s writing.
I have grown as a writer (I didn’t call myself a writer before the course) and now have 11 other writers I regularly check in on to ask questions and give my own thoughts when asked. It’s the start of a fantastic bubble of fresh inspiration and energy, fuelled by the frenetic pace of the course, the incredibly detailed feedback and the encouragement of my course mates. I feel armed to the teeth with information that will help me ensure my shitty first draft will get as close as possible to where it needs to be before launching it at agents with a car deodoriser sellotaped to it to stop it from smelling too bad. I have firmed up things I had only read about in books, writerly things that made some sense but which I couldn’t be sure I was doing right. Now I know.
If I make it to publication (and the course has made me believe it is possible) then I will be including acknowledgements that refer to this course and the people on it. I’ve gone from zero to hero in six weeks and feel unstoppable. If you haven’t already looked into this course, do it. You may regret not checking it out because it’s a hot ticket and places will go fast. I am in no way paid by Jericho Writers but I am willing to bet anyone here in Townhouse who has done the course will back up what I have said.
Thank you Self Edit course. You rock.
Nice to hear Debi still rocks. A core group of my course still checks in with each other every Tuesday, even after 4+ years. An unrepeatable experience.
I remember you recommending it Kate. It was terrific and Debi is the legend everyone says she is
It has to be one of the most incredible boosts an aspiring writer can get. Love the fact you’re still in touch with course mates after all that time.
Absolutely fantastic course and I’m feeling a tiny bit heart broken it’s over.
So glad we did this together, Andrew! I’m not surprised you feel confident – your writing was good at the start but terrific by the end. If we don’t see your unique book in print at some point I’ll be flabbergasted.
Though I’ll never look at school desks in the same way again😂
I would recommend it to anyone
Right back at you Lynn. As we went from brief outline to chapter breakdowns and then extracts it was surreal how invested I became in characters like yours. The ‘behind-the-curtain’ view of novel writing is fascinating and thankfully don’t detract from the joy of discovering new ideas and situations. We’ve got some editing to do….but I reckon I’ll be reading about that house by the sea very soon.
It was a pleasure to be in such fine company for the course, Andrew and Lynn. I’d echo what you say – a complete game changer for me!
Andrew – where are you ? Haven’t seen any posts lately. Hoping you are playing buckets and spades in the sand somewhere then it will be back to scratching out your brilliant words on JW’s site. All best, Bridget F