Learn to edit your 80% pieces to 100% completion and ready to publish!
Bring new life to dormant pieces of writing – and gain practical tools & confidence to hit the publish button!
Event organizer Ely Bakouche x the Lighthouse Library
🌰 In a nutshell
Whether you’re writing for Substack, a blog, or a book chapter, this workshop will help you make your work ready(ier) for publication. Bring your draft to the live editing session where you’ll watch a seasoned editor edit a real piece – sharing the thought process, decision-making, and strategies. It's hands-on and interactive: Ask questions, practice editing, and leave with techniques that build momentum, and that might even make editing enjoyable.
🕰️ Time investment 2 hours (one for learning; one for self-editing)
💵 Financial investment 30€
✅ Outcomes for all participants: kind expert editing advice to make your voice and writing shine; accountability to work on your draft during the session
✅ Outcomes for the lucky writer who’ll have their piece edited: same as all participants + a full piece edited by a seasoned editor
Note The session will be recorded and highlights of the session will be shared on YouTube.
“Ely’s editing style is kind, hands-on, and encouraging. Time flew by!” – past participant Laura Puttkamer, freelancer writer & comms strategist
📝 Longer description – here’s what will happen before & during the workshop
Ahead of the workshop:
For each session, I select one participant’s piece of writing that’s been submitted ahead of the workshop.
I edit it in my own time. I also send all the participants the draft to read before the workshop.
Workshop Part 1 (45 to 60 minutes):
Short introduction about my approach to editing the piece.
I walk you through my thought process behind editing, including decisions, recommendations, and strategies.
Throughout this part, you are warmly encouraged to ask questions, share suggestions, and support the writer whose work you read!
Workshop Part 2:
Short break - tea refill, bathroom, etc.
Everyone spends the rest of the session editing their own draft.
(30 minutes to an hour depending on the discussions during the first part)
Wrap up & feedback form – very important, so I can improve the workshop experience for you!
“I absolutely loved seeing Ely’s thought process. I could tell that she had edited the piece really deeply, and it was excellent to see both how detailed her thoughts were, and how she made sure there was a narrative arc throughout.” – past participant Jennifer Lachs, Community facilitator & writer
✅ This is for you if:
You enjoy writing and care about quality writing;
You love engaging with ideas and/or storytelling;
You want to learn about conveying ideas and emotions better in writing;
You believe in sharing your ideas with the world;
You often get stuck after writing your draft… which sometimes means not publishing at all :(
You are feeling uninspired in your writing, or feeling stuck;
You really do want to put your ideas out there even though it’s scary and overwhelming.
“Ely’s style is insightful, interesting, and on the side of the writer. What I really liked was to go through the reasons for an edit. I often edit in ways that I think are effective, but I would be hard pushed to explain so much the why, and the effect, and this is very helpful, as a writer. – Sara, translator and writer
❌ This is not for you if:
You want to find what is “wrong” in your writing;
You hope to change your writing to “fit in” or make it more palatable;
You are looking for SEO or content marketing tips [read about my take on content marketing here];
You are writing short-form social media posts (we will be diving into conveying ideas here, and short-form posts don’t really give us the time to do that. Now if you are thinking of turning your LinkedIn posts into newsletters... Welcome!).
Requirements
Pick a piece of writing you liked writing, but feel is not fully ready to put out there;
The draft should be around 750 words and up;
If you submit your draft, you are okay with other people reading it;
If you submit your draft, you agree with some highlights of the workshop to be posted on YouTube.
➡ Book & submit your piece
After you book your spot, you'll receive a link to submit your piece to get a chance to have it edited by a professional editor!
Outcomes:
Get a chance to have your piece edited by a professional editor, with kind, supportive, and helpful feedback to work with straight away;
Learn to become a better, kinder editor;
Get the accountability to edit your writing during the session.
Important to understand: Your submission will be shared with the group prior to the workshop. We will go through my editing process of your piece during the workshop.
There is one spot in each workshop!
Feedback from a previous participant who got their piece edited: “Ely's editing is very honest, precise, and thorough, and at the same time very kind and gentle. She has the ability to clearly explain the reasoning behind her changes and to gently nudge you with her suggestions. I'm usually quite scared of feedback, but this was pure joy.” – Federica, travel writer working on a book
Still unsure?
“Do it! You can learn so much from seeing other writers' pieces being edited, and your own writing will benefit massively from Ely's comments. I loved that she has a big-picture view and does not get stuck on tiny details, although of course she also brings an eye for the details and spots any typos and logical inconsistencies. The session flew by!” – Laura Puttkamer, freelance writer & comms strategist
About your host
Ely is the founder of the Lighthouse Library. We consult on communication strategy and digital publishing, focusing on creating high quality, long-form pieces where the human behind the writing can show up as they are. We work with micro and small business owners who want to redefine the way they exist online, beyond content marketing niches and social media virality.
Ely acts as the lighthouse keeper, and her role is to turn on the light so you can build a digital body of work you are proud of, for example using Substack or ideas-led newsletters. She fell in love with editing when she ran an online magazine for three years, where SEO went out the window but the website was still visited by up to 80,000 readers every month. Ely loves ideas, cheerleading her fellow humans, and championing original ideas. She has been working with content management & creative writing for 8+ years, and even wrote a book.
Learn about Ely’s approach to editing, writing, and building a meaningful digital body of work in her Substack, The Lighthouse Library.