Maggie Morris
Freelance Editor
Seminars
Revising Your Romance Like a Pro
Revising Your Romance Like a Pro Seminar
Hosted by: Ottawa Romance Writers
Location: Zoom
Date: Sunday, May 3, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: Members $10 CAD + fees, nonmembers $20 CAD + fees
Get useful tips for revising your manuscript (or starting one!) from a fiction editor with twelve years of experience. In this seminar, Maggie Morris will share the major issues she addresses during substantive and stylistic edits, including:
• Nailing your elevator pitch so you know the book you are revising toward.
• Do your romance plot and the external plot unspool in a satisfying way?
- What to track and how to track it.
• Is your world-building sufficient, logical, and does it serve the plot?
- Romantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, and the contemporary world.
• Is any kink content accurately portrayed?
- How can you learn more?
• Are your heat level and language well matched? Does the eventual heat level build believably?
• Have you used the senses to engage the reader so they experience every touch and tingle as the protagonist?
• What else makes us feel?
- Using mood and tone to immerse your reader in the story.
• Tips for crisper, more rhythmic writing to ensure a brisk reading pace.
MAGGIE MORRIS
Maggie Morris, The Indie Editor (www.IndieEditor.ca), is a freelance fiction editor who works with both independent authors and Penguin Random House Canada. She has a Certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University, a BA in languages and literature from the University of Toronto, and is an active member of Editors Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association.
Maggie is a contributing author for Editors Canada’s third edition of the workbook: Edit Like a Pro: Structural Editing. Her most recent investment in her skills was the 2025 Editorial Freelancers Association course: Advanced Line Editing, taught by Amber Helt, that examined specific line-level conventions for romance, fantasy/romantasy, horror, mystery, historical, and contemporary fiction.
Maggie has taught many seminars on manuscript revision to both authors and editors, for organizations including the Toronto Reference Library, Toronto Romance Writers, Ottawa Romance Writers, the University of Guelph Writers Workshop, and Editors Canada.
Watch for upcoming dates for the seminar "Writing a Strong Second Draft of Your Novel."