Sub-editing masterclass
Your writing is only as good as your edit. Learn to cut a story to its point and carry the reader to the end. Start any time.
Date: Start any time
Location: Fully online
Price: £300.00 + VAT
Trainer: Martin Lloyd
Most writing makes the reader work too hard. The point sits buried. The sentences sag, or the argument is lost long before the end. Not because the thinking is weak, but because the writing got in the way. This course fixes that.
You learn to find what a piece is really saying; cut what buries it; order content so it carries the reader to the end. The result shows in copy that makes its point first time, in arguments that land. Fewer drafts sent back, and a clearer standard across everything your team puts out.
AI drafts a story in seconds. It can't tell you what to cut, which point to lead on, or which line is wrong but reads fine. This course trains that judgement.
Every section puts you to work. There's material to read, videos to watch and quizzes to get through. Next, a real piece of copy lands in your hands. You edit it yourself, before setting your version against a former BBC editor's take on the same piece. You do it again and again across the training sessions.
Course creator Martin Lloyd spent ten years as writing standards editor at the BBC Academy, the corporation's training arm. He built its interactive e-learning end to end, and this masterclass runs on the same craft.
Martin signed off everything the Academy published against standards he set. The training reached BBC staff of every kind, and people across the media worldwide. He ran workshops that sharpened the Academy trainers' own writing and showed them how to get their training online.
The gap between your edit and his is the lesson.
Martin holds nothing back. He teaches everything he's learned in more than 30 years of editing, and the course covers the craft end to end. It's the equivalent of about three days of face-to-face training, taken at the pace you choose. Whatever you edit now - by the end you'll edit it better.
Access is instant - there's no date to wait for or schedule to keep. Each person works at their own pace and fits it around the job.
Who is it for?
- Journalists, editors, sub-editors and proofreaders
- PRs and comms staff who edit copy
- Marketing and social writers who want it sharper
- Anyone who checks or improves other people's copy
- No sub-editing experience needed
Why do it?
- Copy that goes out right the first time, not after three passes
- A team that can edit its own work, instead of everything routing through one person
- Editing learned properly, not just picked up on the job
- A higher standard across everything your team puts out
What you will learn
- How to find a story's real point and lead with it
- Structure that keeps a reader to the end
- When to rewrite, when to cut, and when to leave a line alone
- Simplifying copy: plainer words, fewer of them
- Content editing: judging a story's angle and its "so what?"
- SEO that works: headlines and links that get a story found
- Sharpening someone's copy without losing their voice
- Editing your own work as well as you edit everyone else's
- Editing at speed, and to a word count
- The advanced grammar, spelling and punctuation that even strong writers get wrong
- A sharper eye for the errors most people miss
- Image research, cropping and editing
Course timing
This is a self-directed course on our online training platform. You can start any time and complete it at your own pace. We recommend setting aside between 2 and 4 hours a week over about 6 weeks.
About Martin Lloyd
Martin Lloyd is a JournalismUK and NCTJ trainer. He spent ten years as writing standards editor at the BBC Academy - training news journalists, TV and radio producers, and senior managers. He mentored a team of 15 digital content producers, and produced writing guides for BBC staff.
Martin has since trained staff at the likes of Fortune, the UK Government, ITV, Forbes, Global, NICE, Yahoo News and the International Olympic Committee.
He has also mentored editors at the Financial Times and the Guardian. Earlier in his career, Martin edited copy and designed pages for newspapers and magazines including Metro, Broadcast, New Statesman and Campaign.
Prefer to learn live, or train your team together?
You can also sign up for Martin’s courses on Zoom:
Sub-editing skills
Proofreading: what AI still misses
Plus, companies can book either course as a private session for their own staff. Contact Ophelia at ophelia@journalism.co.uk or call 07516252910.
