Cherie Kephart

Monday-Friday
1:00-3:30 PM
Room 1-234

Getting Naked: Editing Stripped Down

Great editing asks us to be brave. To strip away what is performative, unnecessary, or hiding the deeper truth of the story. To get honest on the page. Vulnerable. Clear. Alive.

But revision doesn’t have to feel intimidating or mechanical. In fact, it can become one of the most creative, liberating, and transformative parts of the writing process.

In this dynamic workshop, we’ll move beyond simply fixing sentences and dive into the deeper art of re-seeing your work with fresh eyes and fearless curiosity. We’ll explore the important difference between writing and editing — learning when to freely create and when to thoughtfully refine. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of the editing process itself, including how editors approach a manuscript, what they look for, and how to begin seeing your own work through a more objective and informed lens.

Together, we’ll explore how to uncover the emotional core of a piece, sharpen voice, strengthen resonance, clarify structure, and let the story beneath the story emerge.

Through guided exercises, practical revision techniques, discussion, and optional critique, participants will learn how to approach editing not as punishment or perfectionism, but as an intuitive process of discovery and refinement. This session is designed to help writers reconnect with their work, deepen their storytelling, and rekindle joy in revision.

Perfect for writers of memoir, fiction, personal essays, and narrative nonfiction, especially those seeking clarity, momentum, and renewed inspiration for works-in-progress. Participants are encouraged to bring 3–5 double-spaced pages from a work-in-progress for optional read-and-critique

Bio

Cherie Kephart is a seasoned writing facilitator, developmental editor, and award-winning author. Raised in Venice, California, Cherie longed to travel and experience the way other people lived. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia on a water sanitation and health education project, Cherie returned to the United States with an African souvenir she didn’t expect: a mysterious illness. She fell severely ill and almost died, leaving her with several symptoms that went undiagnosed for many years. This inspired Cherie to write her memoir, A Few Minor Adjustments: A Memoir of Healing, taking the reader on a powerful but entertaining journey through her adventures and search for life-saving answers. Publisher’s Weekly called it, “a story of gut-wrenching perseverance and determination.” 

 Cherie’s other publications include, The Healing 100, Poetry of Peace, as well as essays, short stories, and poems in various literary journals and in more than twenty anthologies. She is a staff workshop facilitator at many writers’ conferences and retreats and is a two-time winner of the San Diego Memoir Showcase. Her newest book, The Upside of Falling: Connecting to the Art and Heart of Being a Writer, is out now. 

Connect with her at CherieKephart.com

Awards

2019 Soul & Spirit Spiritual Book Awards Winner for the Best Real-Life Spiritual Story  

2019 Soul & Spirit Spiritual Book Awards Highly Commended for the Best Healing Book

2018 Independent Publishers Book Award Silver Medal Winner for Best Autobiography / Memoir (Personal Struggle Health Issues)

2018 Connected Women of Influence Finalist for an Author of Influence Award

2017 San Diego Book Award Winner for Best Unpublished Memoir

2017 Bookvana Award Winner for Best Autobiography: Female Inspirational/Motivational book

2017 William Faulkner – Wisdom Competition – Semi-Finalist

2017 Southern California Book Festival – Honorable Mention

Winning Spots in the 2015 & 2017 San Diego Annual Memoir Showcases 

Heed the Creative Writing Advice of Kurt Vonnegut

“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

Message to My Fellow Writers

Writing is all about transformation. We know our characters are meant to change by the end of the story, and, if we’ve done our job well, our readers will change along the way. Most importantly, you as a writer will change too. By the time you are ready to publish, you will have learned so much that you would write your book differently—better. If you don’t think that at the end of the project, you weren’t paying attention.