Your Next Draft Alice Sudlow
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Your Next Draft is the fiction writer's guide to developmental editing. What do you do after your first draft? How do you flesh out flat characters, fill in plot holes, and hook your readers from the first page to the last? What does editing a novel even mean? Developmental editor and book coach Alice Sudlow answers all these questions and more. Each week, she shares the editing strategies she's using with her one-on-one clients so you can put them to use in your own novel. Tune in for tips, tools, and step-by-step guides for the novel editing process.
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3 “Telling” Ways to Convey Time Passing in Your Novel
Don’t lose your readers. Just tell them what time it is.The passage of time seems intuitive. It just happens, right? (Like, whether you want it to or not. Time and tide wait for no man, etc.)Here’s the thing, though. If you don’t tell your readers that time is passing in your novel . . .. . . they won’t know.It seems wild, I know. It feels like time passing should be obvious. But I promise you, it’s not.Luckily, conveying the passage of time to your readers is simple (and it doesn’t take a lo...
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Why You Must Show Time Passing in Your Novel
This is often overlooked, but it’s essential for great stories.How do you make time pass?Well, when you’re living your regular life in the real world, you don’t have to do anything.Time is constantly passing, no matter what you do. And when a timer goes off, or you look outside and see the sun’s gone down, or you feel your stomach growl with hunger, you notice time has passed.You hardly have to think about it. It’s just happening, all around you, all the time.In your novel, though—well, there...
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When Should You Practice, and When Should You Publish?
Write your best stories—and know when to let go and publish them.In order to write great books, you first have to learn how to write great books.But when it comes to writing, there’s always something more to learn.So how do you know when to practice your writing skills—and more importantly, when to publish the stories you’re creating?That’s what I’m talking about in this episode.In it, you’ll learn:2 benefits and 1 danger of spending focused time learning new writing skillsThe joy—and risk!—o...
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You Can't Skip Learning How to Write a Novel. Here's Why
Before you can master writing great stories, you have to learn to craft great stories. When I was fifteen, I got my learner’s permit and began learning how to drive a car.This made me very unhappy.See, I wanted to know how to drive a car. I didn’t want to learn to drive a car.Knowing how to drive a car was fun, freeing, and exciting. Learning to drive a car was dangerous, tedious, dangerous, difficult, and also dangerous.Writers, I find, feel the same way about writing great books.Writers wan...
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4 Tips for Your First Time Working With an Editor
Because working with an editor should be delightful, not scary.Let's be honest. When you start working with an editor for the first time, it can feel a little scary.You’re sharing your manuscript, the project you’ve worked so hard on, with a stranger on the internet. You’re inviting another person into a process that up until now has been entirely solo.And you’re entering an industry of professionals that’s probably entirely new to you. What should you expect? And what’s expected of you?In th...
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4 Tips to Find the Right Editor for Your Novel
What you need to know BEFORE you start working with an editor—and how to tell if they’re the right fit for your novel.Working with a developmental editor can be the most rewarding part of your editing process.But if you’ve never worked with an editor before, it can also be . . . intimidating. Confusing. Scary.After all, you’ve got to hand your manuscript that you’ve worked so hard on to a stranger on the internet and hope their feedback will be helpful and not soul-crushing.If you’ve ever won...
Customer Reviews
Extensive and actionable advice
I recommend this podcast to all my fellow writers.
When I was staring at my first draft, lost as how to begin the revision process, this podcast gave me a framework. The scene structure episodes were especially helpful. Now it’s my go-to resource for editing advice that’s equally digestible and actionable. And I just finished my next draft :)
Fantastic Podcast
I discovered this podcast searching on Google while stuck in my writing process. I write picture books, but the information here is so unbelievably helpful, succinct, and inspiring. Thank you for creating this!
Great insights for those still learning
I enjoy listening to Ms. Sudlow as she teaches writers from an editorial perspective. She builds a mental framework and a vocabulary to understand story theory. She explains how writers can use that knowledge when editing their own work, or when working with an editor. She clearly understands and enjoys the coaching and teaching aspects of her job, and high she uses to good effect in the podcasts. Finally, she obviously can’t be every writer’s editor. Instead, and likely by conscious choice, she models and illustrates the characteristics of an editor who can dramatically help a writer. Writers could do a lot worse than find an editor with a similar attitude and find of knowledge as Ms. Sudlow. Her podcasts are clear and packed with utility; they are energizing, and supportive in attitude. I’ll continue to listen and appreciate her insights and reminders, which can help me maintain a productive writing mindset.