A Novel Ending

What is this ever elusive thing called voice? We give our best definitions of what we think voice is, as well as tips on how you can revise to strengthen the voice in your story without making it too in your face. We also do a deep dive on dialogue. We chat about ways dialogue can enhance not only your characters, but the pacing of your scenes. Also, tune in for our thoughts on talking heads and what we really think about the advice that writers should listen to conversations in public.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

While some writers may not immediately think of culture as a part of your story’s setting, it plays a huge role in making your world unique and feel like it’s fully fleshed out. We chat about different aspects of culture, from religion to politics to magic and technology, and how each of these can strengthen your story.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Regardless if your setting is made up, based on a real place, or something in between, it should be richly layered and vivid while also being concise and smooth so as not to mess with your story’s pacing. In this episode, we share strategies to help you achieve all of this, as well as ways to make sure you’re describing the setting through the eyes of your character. We also chat about other aspects of setting that can get overlooked: landscape, weather, and the people/animals that populate your world.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Kat turns the mic on her co-host Joanna (who writes YA and women’s fiction under the pen name J Mercer). Joanna talks all about her newest YA release (In One Life and Out Another) and the challenges she faced with writing dual timelines. She shares the ups and downs of her ten-year revision journey with this story, as well as gives helpful advice for writers tackling their own dual timeline manuscripts.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Kat welcomes author-illustrator Sophie Li back to the podcast! In this interview, Sophie explains why she chose to change one of her manuscripts from YA to MG and another from 3rd person to 1st person, as well as offers practical insight into what those revisions entailed. She also gives advice for writers who may find themselves wanting to switch age category or POV in their work in progress.

Connect with our guest!
sophiexli.com
Instagram @sophie.x.li

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Joanna interviews YA and Adult fantasy writer, Sarah Zimm, on how to revise books with multiple POVs (point of views). Sarah discusses her tips for making revisions more manageable, the importance of giving characters an equal amount of “meaty” scenes, and why receiving and being open to feedback is key.

Connect with our guest!
https://www.authorsarahzimm.com/
Instagram @authorsarahzimm

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Characters getting lost in a scene and characters without agency are just a couple of the issues we chat about in this episode. Join us as we cover some of the most common character problems and how we go about fixing them during revisions.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

More often than not, the stories you write will have side characters. But when are side characters necessary and when can they be cut? And how do you make them multi-dimensional instead of flat? We answer these questions and more in this episode, and also discuss two unconventional side characters: weather and setting.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

We want our main characters to be dynamic, fleshed out, and compelling enough that readers are excited to follow their journey, but they don’t usually show up fully formed. That’s what revisions are for! In this episode, we chat about how we approach crafting our main characters in the first draft and what we pay attention to in revisions to make sure they jump off the page.

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.

Joanna interviews romotional (romantic + emotional) author Caitlin Moss on revising stories with non-linear plot structures. Caitlin offers some great advice on how to manage a character in a duel timeline, as well as how to know when it’s time to finish one book and move on to the next.

Connect with our guest!
https://www.caitlinmossauthor.com/
Instagram @caitlinmossauthor

For show notes, visit anovelending.com.

Joanna offers editorial services! To learn more, visit her editorial page.

Connect with Joanna on her website or Instagram @jmercerbooks.
Connect with Kat on her website or Instagram @katsawriter.