Courses run by Andrew Hodges

Editing Fantasy Fiction 

 

I teach the course Editing Fantasy Fiction for the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. This is a four-week course covering important developmental issues that often crop up in fantasy fiction manuscripts. There are four live sessions to create a cohort environment, and these are complemented by short videos and exercises to complete. At the end of the course, participants read a fantasy novella and draft an editorial letter covering important developmental problems they think the author should tackle.

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The Autumn 2026 cohort has now sold out, but there are still places available on the Spring 2027 cohort.​

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Session 1: Fantasy genres and character: From Lord of the Rings to Fourth Wing

 

We’ll discuss subgenres in fantasy, with specific focus on how horror and romance often form part of fantasy novels. We’ll also discuss the Romantasy boom and touch on editing for market versus editing for technique. Finally, we’ll look at common problems with character that editors need to watch out for in fantasy novels.

Session 2: Worldbuilding and setting: Calling a rabbit a smeerp

 

We’ll discuss the importance of worldbuilding in fantasy fiction, and the difficulties linked to creating a believable, compelling, consistent world. We’ll discuss worldbuilding-driven versus character/plot-driven novels, and how newer authors often overemphasise worldbuilding in their writing. We’ll finish with the most common worldbuilding problems and how you can tackle them as editors.

Session 3: Story structure and POV problems: Why Save the Cat! could ruin a novel

 

We’ll take a look at common story structures used in fantasy fiction and the problems that can arise when authors try to follow rigid templates or don’t plot their novel in advance at all. In the second half of the session, we’ll briefly discuss the use of first person, third-person limited and omniscient narration in fantasy fiction, and highlight common issues with POV that often come up in edits.

Session 4: Bringing it all together

 

Fantasy writers often struggle with fight scenes. These can be some of the hardest scenes to write. In this session, we’ll look at some examples of fight scenes and use them as a springboard to integrate the theoretical insights and problems discussed in the three earlier sessions.

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