Wendy Baldwin
Linguaverse Linguistic Solutions

Effective Self-Revision

mini-course

January 5-16, 2026

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Learn and practice self-revision strategies with an editor of academic texts.

Feel more confident when sending your work to the next set of eyes.
 

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KEY DETAILS

Who: Writers of academic or professional/non-fiction texts
What: Six practical sessions
When: January 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16; from 9:00–10:45 (CET)
Where: Zoom

How: How-to discussion and in-session practice

How many: 20 participants

How much: €90​

Language: Presentation and discussion will be in English; the text you choose for individual practice can be in any language

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DESCRIPTION​

Self-revision is a key step in crafting an effective text, but it can be a significant sticking point for academic and professional authors. All too often you feel the pressure of the looming deadline, the anxiety that comes with sending your work to others, the tendency to focus on the ever-elusive notion of perfection, difficulty in viewing your text from the reader's perspective, and the lack of a systematic approach to revising your text prior to delivery.

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All these pressures can slow you down, increase stress and push the critical self-revision work into a shorter time frame, by which point you won't be able to revise as thoroughly as you otherwise might. An unevenly or insufficiently revised text simply won't have the same impact or give you the same opportunities as a more thoroughly revised one will.

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The good news is you can improve the effectiveness of your self-revision process by learning to approach the job in a systematic manner and adding a set of management strategies to your writer's toolbox.

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In this practical, hands-on mini-course, you'll learn how a professional editor and translator of academic texts manages the (self-)revision process and explore how you can adapt those lessons to your own self-revision practice.​​​

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The course contents cover three areas that constitute the heart of an effective self-revision practice:

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1. Mindset. Revising requires a shift in vision, not only in terms of the roles of author and reader but also in terms of crafting a text that will have the impact you desire on the people you are writing for.

2. Time. Revising to a determined standard requires a clear and accurate awareness of time and strategies for planning and managing your time.

3. System. Revising requires knowing what to edit when and using a set of tools that help you work through your text in an ordered and consistent fashion, in line with your impact goals and needs.

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​Because our focus is on process rather than fixes for specific writing problems or issues specific to English, the course is suitable for a wide range of writers, regardless of discipline, genre or language.​

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​BENEFITS

   ✅  A better understanding of the role that mindset and intention play in self-revision

   ✅  Tools and strategies that help you manage time

   ✅  An approach to self-revision that is more systematic and focused​

   ✅  Improved ability to discriminate between issues that need attention now vs. later

   ✅  Recognizing the difference between being temporarily stuck and spinning your wheels

   ✅  Increased confidence in tackling the task of self-revision and meeting reader expectation

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​​DATES & TIMING

Note all timings are Madrid time. Please adjust for your time zone as needed.

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We meet 9:00-10:45 on the following days:

• January 5, Monday

• January 7, Wednesday

• January 9, Friday

• January 12, Monday

• January 14, Wednesday

• January 16, Friday

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THE STRUCTURE

Each session will start with approximately 45 minutes of discussion about an aspect of self-revision (mindset, a strategy, an area or aspect of writing that typically needs attention, a tool), then each participant will spend approximately the next 45 minutes putting what we've discussed into practice in their own work-in-progress, following a sequence of goal-setting > practice > observation + future action. We'll take the final 15 minutes to assess and troubleshoot.
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THE APPROACH

Why split the content over two weeks and encourage in-session testing and evaluation, supported by discussion with peers, instead of packing everything into one or two days?

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• Everyone is busy and few have the luxury of being able to dedicate whole or half days to training and practice. Here you only need to commit to short sessions over six mornings, leaving the rest of those days free for other commitments.

• I want you to truly engage with the practice of self-revision and test and tweak the strategies during and between sessions so you're more likely to integrate them into your practice after the course.

• Having regular contact with your writing-in-progress and observing the outcomes of your practice leads to greater satisfaction and builds confidence.

• Discussing process and outcomes with peers encourages adaptation and strengthens your sense of control and competence.

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WHAT PARTICIPANTS HAVE SAID

“For a busy academic teacher and Department Chair it was a life-saving experience to participate in this module. It helped me a great deal to get back into the crucial self-revision work on a long over-due book manuscript.”
     –Heike Becker, Cape Town/Berlin

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"[This] self-revision course of yours absolutely blew my mind! I know of several people at my institution that would be up for attending one, after I said so many wonderful things about it."
     –MB, University of Portsmouth

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PRICE

€90 (includes all applicable taxes)
 

 

 

If the above ticket price is beyond your current personal budget, you may choose the solidarity rate of €67.50.​

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​​Note for writers in Spain: If a university, research center or company in Spain is paying for you to attend the workshop, do not use the above payment links. Contact me to arrange payment and secure your seat.​

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CANCELATION POLICY

• You can cancel your booking and receive a full refund (minus a processing fee of €20) up to 24 hours before the retreat starts.

• If you'd like to transfer your booking to another person, you may do so up to 24 hours prior to start. Send me an email and we'll sort out the details.

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WHAT IF THERE ARE NO SPACES LEFT?

I can put you on the waiting list for this edition or on the list to be notified when the mini-course runs again.

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HOW DO I PREPARE?

• Choose a work-in-progress that needs revising; if you don't have a current WIP, you can choose a previously written/submitted manuscript and work on that. It's fine if your text is in a language other than English, as a good deal of what we'll talk about is useful for revising academic or professional texts written in any language.

• Registered participants will be asked to complete a brief survey and do a bit of light reading prior to the start of our sessions.

 

 

WHAT IF I CAN'T STAY THE WHOLE TIME?

Although the expectation is that you attend all six sessions, I understand that retreating from home or the office is not free of challenges. If you need to miss a session, arrive late or duck out early, that's okay. You'll receive a set of slides after each session, so you can see what you missed and put it into practice in your chosen work-in-progress before the next session.​​​​​​​​​​

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ABOUT THE FACILITATOR​

I draw on the many academic and writing-support hats I've worn in my career.

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The core of the course comes from my training and experience as an editor and translator of academic texts, where (self-)revision strategies are indispensable to producing quality edits/translations that meet both writer and reader expectation in the required timeframe.​

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The structured in-session practice draws on the writing retreats I regularly run, where focusing on and observing process in a structured environment supported by peer-to-peer discussion have been shown to increase writing output while also increasing writers' self-efficacy and satisfaction (Murray and Newton 2009).

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My general approach to writing and writer support is based on my own experience in academia as well as over three decades of working with mostly multilingual scholars across all career stages as a language and writing trainer, editor, translator and writing retreat facilitator. This makes me very familiar with and sensitive to the contexts, communicative goals and tensions you juggle when writing for publication and career progression.

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ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?