Your Next Draft
Supporting fiction writers doing the hard work of revising unputdownable novels. The novel editing process is the creative crucible where you discover the story you truly want to tell—and it can present some of the most challenging moments on your writing journey.
Developmental editor and book coach Alice Sudlow will be your companion through the mess and magic of revision. You’ll get inspired by interviews with authors, editors, and coaches sharing their revision processes; gain practical tips from Alice’s editing practice; and hear what real revision truly requires as Alice workshops scenes-in-progress with writers.
It’s all a quest to discover: How do you figure out what your story is truly about? How do you determine what form that story should take? And once you do, how do you shape the hundreds of thousands of words you've written into the story’s most refined and powerful form?
If you’ve written a draft—or three—but are still searching for your story’s untapped potential, this is the podcast for you. Together, let’s dig into the difficult and delightful work of editing your next draft.
Episodes
97 episodes
What Genre REALLY Measures (And Why Every Genre You Try Feels Wrong)
What do you do when your genre just refuses to work?When you’ve tried every content genre you know—Action, Crime, Horror, Thriller, Performance, Love, Society, and more—and every single one just does not fit your story?...
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Episode 96
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21:09
Where the Turning Point Goes (And How to Know If Yours Is in the Right Place)
If you’re second-guessing your pacing, give your turning point this two-part check.Where the heck is the turning point?If you’ve ever tried to spot the turning point in a story you love, you’ve probably asked some version...
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Episode 95
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16:41
Turning Point: How to Find and Write the Moment That Changes Everything
It's the hinge your entire story turns on—and one of the hardest story elements to identify and write.Can I be honest? I struggled with turning points for years.I knew they were essential. They’re the moment when everything change...
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Episode 94
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26:49
The Hidden Half of Your Protagonist's Goal (That Makes Story Structure Work)
If your structure is perfect on paper, but your story still falls flat, this might be what you're missing.Have you ever structured a story with all the right pieces, but something still feels flat?You check all the boxes on paper:...
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Episode 93
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19:45
When Should You Work With an Editor? (It's Earlier Than You Think)
What if you've already done enough to work with an editor—right now?You’ve been working on your novel for so long. Not just months—years, maybe even decades.And yet you have a long way still to go. The day when you have a...
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Episode 92
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17:10
How to Use Genre as a Revision Tool (with Savannah Gilbo)
Here’s what to DO with your genre once you know which one you’re writing.So you know your story’s genre.It’s an Action story with a Worldview internal genre. Or it’s a Love story with a Status internal genre. You’re, like, 32% sur...
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Episode 91
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1:18:38
The 12 Core Genres That Power Every Great Story
Genre isn’t what you think it is. Here’s how to use it better.Genre. Let me guess:It’s the bane of your existence. A convoluted soup of arbitrary descriptors that almost but not quite mean the same thing. Sci fi ...
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Episode 90
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21:58
How Great First Lines Make Readers Pay Attention (with Abigail K. Perry)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a fiction writer in possession of a brilliant story must craft a captivating opening line.No pressure, right?Your opening line is your story’s first impression. Agents, editors, and even...
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Episode 89
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47:01
Where Progressive Complications Go WRONG (and How to Fix Them)
Are your readers bored? Disappointed? Confused? Here's what that tells you about your story's middle.You’re stuck in the messy middle. Languishing in the doldrums of your story. The inciting incident is long past, the climax is so far ah...
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Episode 88
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29:34
Make Sense of Your Messy Middle With the Most Underrated Story Element
You don’t need more filler. You need better progressive complications.Your inciting incident hooks your readers and promises them a story they’ll love.And then comes the middle.The messy middle. The quiet doldrums ...
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Episode 87
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27:46
How Great First Chapters Make Readers Care (with Abigail K. Perry)
Your first chapter has a monumental task: to make potential readers care about your book right away and hook them to keep reading.Every sentence is a chance to earn your reader’s attention—or lose their fragile, baby-fresh interest befor...
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Episode 86
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1:12:52
Inciting Incident: How to Revise an Unputdownable Beginning
Your inciting incident sets the stage for everything that follows. Here's what to revise so it can carry the story.A great inciting incident does a lot of heavy lifting.→ It hooks your readers, pulling them into the story.→...
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Episode 85
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25:53
What If You Do Everything Right and the Book Launch Still Goes Wrong? with A.S. King
“It really broke my heart, actually. . . . For the rest of my life, it will break my heart.” A.S. King gets honest about what happened when the publishing industry failed her book.What happens after you edit your book?What happens...
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Episode 84
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50:33
Think You Need a Line Editor? Try This First
Do you need to hire a line editor? Or should you line edit your manuscript yourself?After all, you want to write an excellent novel. You know that great writing takes shape in revision, and you don’t want to skimp on any layers of editin...
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Episode 83
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27:44
How Surrealist Pantser A.S. King Revises Award-Winning Novels
“Revising is about making sure that you're saying what you want to say in the way you want to say it. . . . To me, revision is the sport. It's the impact. It's the reason we're writers.”Have you ever read a book and thought, Holy cow...
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Episode 82
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1:29:34
The Editor Life: 5 Days Behind the Scenes with Alice
Ever wondered what an editor actually does all day?What it looks like to spend all day supporting writers in their stories?Or what your editor’s doing in all that time when they’re not sharing their feedback with you?If tho...
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Episode 81
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46:54
How to Use Revision Tools Like the Story Authority You Already Are with Brannan Sirratt
When to use frameworks to solve your story problems—and when to trust yourself and lean on your own story authority. You’ve heard of Save the Cat! Story Grid. Blueprint for a Book.These are all frameworks designed to help you...
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Episode 80
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57:36
Ask This Question When You’re Overwhelmed by Your Story
Escape analysis paralysis with one powerful question. It’s deceptively simple—and yet it unlocks everything.If you’re like most of the writers I work with, you’re pretty savvy about story structure. You know your Story Grid, your Save th...
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Episode 79
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22:49
How Multiple Layers of Editing Combine to Perfect Your Story (with Cathryn deVries and Kim Kessler)
The best novels combine rock-solid story structure with scenes that are unputdownable on every page. Here’s how one writer and two editors polished a story at every level.If you want to move your reader in every moment, keep them hooked ...
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Episode 78
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1:32:05
What Is a Manuscript Evaluation? (And Do You Need One?)
It’s the most common developmental editing service you’ll see. Know what to look for and when (or if) you need one.If you google “developmental editor” and start looking through editors’ websites, you’ll see a common service appear again...
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Episode 77
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32:34
Scene Workshop: Hook Your Readers in Chapter One with Cathryn deVries
You get one shot to grab their attention. Don’t waste it with characters staring off into space.You've put all this work into uncovering your character's internal arc. You know them SO WELL.When you step into a scene, you're giv...
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Episode 76
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1:38:37
The Unskippable Process to Create Unputdownable Books
It’s unpopular, but essential if you’re aiming to craft your best work.Picture this: one year from now, you’re holding your book in your hands. You see the gorgeous cover art, feel the slight resistance when you open the cover for the f...
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Episode 75
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25:57
How to Edit Your Novel When Disaster Strikes
Your book is important. But sometimes, worthy interruptions will delay it for a while.For the last few months, this podcast feed has been quiet. It went dark with no notice in mid-June.I didn’t mean to disappear on you. In fact,...
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Episode 74
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17:28
How Taylor Jenkins Reid Crafts an Exceptional Opening Scene
Your reader experiences your story one scene at a time. Make every scene un-put-down-able.Great stories are made of great scenes.Sure, your novel has a clever plot with twists and turns from the first page to the last. But the w...
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Episode 73
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30:24
2 “Showing” and "Telling" Ways to Convey Time Passing in Your Novel
Show and tell your readers why time matters to your characters.Time matters.When you look up and it’s dark outside, time matters to you.When your characters look around and summer is turning into fall, time matters to th...
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Episode 72
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16:34