Sign up for the Unfinished Draft workshop
Bring new life to your unfinished pieces of writing and get them ready for publication in this free editing workshop!
Bring new life to your unfinished pieces of writing and get them ready for digital publication!
Already know you want to attend the workshop?
Dust out a piece of writing that's longing to see the world, and I'll see you on October 1st, 11 am CET!
When you tell me that you have more writing ideas than published work and a graveyard of drafts gathering digital dust, I see potential and possibility.
This workshop exists to help you work with that potential and possibility so you can hit the publish button on your unfinished drafts. You'll leave the workshop with practical strategies and tools to edit your work, and motivation to get your wonderful ideas and stories out into the world!
The Unfinished Draft workshop in a nutshell
Whether you’re writing for your newsletter, a blog, or a book chapter, this workshop will help you make your writing ready for publication.
During this live editing session, 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). And of course, bring your draft!
🕰️ Time investment: 2 hours (one for learning; one for self-editing)
💵 Financial investment: free, only this once!
✅ 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
Here’s what you’ll walk away with:
💧 Clear, repeatable strategies to make your writing ready for publication
💪🏽 Motivation to finish your drafts – your way!
🧠 An editing mindset to get your next piece of writing faster from idea to published
Note: The session will be recorded and highlights of the session might 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
Ready to learn how to get your opinion-led and story-anchored pieces ready for publication, without the "best CTA and SEO strategies"?
📝 Longer description – here’s what will happen before & during the workshop
Ahead of the workshop
- After signing up, you submit a piece of writing for a chance to get it edited by a seasoned and passionate editor (yours truly)!
- 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.
During the workshop
- Workshop Part 1 (45 to 60 minutes): Learn practical strategies to make a piece ready of digital publication
- 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: Apply what you've learned
- 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
- You enjoy writing and care about quality writing – not dumbed down for social media or "optimized" for virality (or whatever the hustle bros are teaching these days);
- 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
- 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 “best marketing practices” recommendations
- You want help to go “viral” or grow your newsletter 10x by tomorrow
- You are looking for SEO or content marketing tips (I broke up with content marketing, you can read about it 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!).
- You think AI is good enough for writing and editing.
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. Here's what you need:
- Pick an unfinished piece of writing you liked writing that you feel is "not quite ready yet";
- The draft should be around 750 words and up;
- If you submit your draft, you are okay with other people reading it (I can anonymize it upon request);
- If you submit your draft, you agree with some highlights of the workshop to be posted on YouTube.
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 only :)
- 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.
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
Let's get your unfinished draft out into the world!
Still unsure whether this is for you?
“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
Hi, I'm Ely (reads like Ellie), and I'm the founder of the Lighthouse Library, and I’ve loved engaging with ideas for as long as I can remember.
My background is in linguistics and translation, a training that shaped the way I see communication: As meaning-making rather than just a marketing vehicle.
I help solo and micro business owners publish their writing online, often in the form of newsletters, articles, resources, or even micro magazines. I bring a journalistic approach to digital content creation, preferring to move away from content marketing niches and social media virality in favor of nuanced thinking and intentional storytelling.
My role as editorial strategist and editor is to help you build a digital body of work you are proud of; that helps you spread the word about who you are, your craft and the work you do – without selling your soul to algorithms or dumbing your ideas and stories down for social media. While I have been working with content management in many shapes, I fell in love with editing when I ran an online magazine, where SEO went out the window but the website was still visited by up to 100,000 readers every month.
Championing original ideas and cheering you on the path to meaningful digital publishing is a huge part of my work. I truly believe there is space for quieter and deeper way of existing online and starting conversations. If you're here, I'm going to have a guess and assume you might be on board with that, too... Welcome :)
You can learn more about my approach to editing, writing, and building a meaningful digital body of work in my writing here at The Lighthouse Library publication.