A Novel Ending

Scenes should help propel your story forward, whether they advance the external or emotional plot. In this episode, we dive into why scenes should be cause-and-effect rather than a string of random plot points and why you should analyze your individual scenes to make sure they have a purpose in your overall plot.

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.

In this episode we share some examples of good types of subplots to include in your stories to make them more layered and how those subplots should help and/or add conflict to the main plot. We also chat about our plot pet peeves and what makes them oh so irksome.

Link to Janice Hardy's Fiction University.

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 plots can be everything from action packed to character driven to beautifully quiet or twisty, every story has them. In this episode, we go over a number of questions you should ask yourself while revising to ensure your plot is as tight as it can be.

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 romance author Maci Aurora (who also writes YA and NA contemporary under the pen name, CL Walters). With 11 books under her belt, Maci is no stranger to revising. In this episode, she shares her process for how she tackles revisions (post-its for the win!), discusses mistakes she’s made along the way, and offers great advice on how to make sure you’re getting solid critiques from your beta readers.

Note: The question of the day was inspired by characters from Maci’s book IN THE SHADOW OF A WISH (book 1 of the Fareview Fairytale series), not IN THE SHADOW OF A HOAX (book 2).

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

https://www.clwalters.net/
Instagram @cl.walters

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.

Both of us believe that receiving feedback on your manuscripts helps not only strengthen your stories, but your craft too. However, all of those comments and critiques can sometimes feel overwhelming. In this episode, we share our processes for how we digest and incorporate (or when we choose not to incorporate) feedback.

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.

This week we discuss tips to help you polish a final draft. Joanna also shares the steps she takes after copy edits to make sure she’s sending the cleanest possible story to print.

The book and app Joanna mentions are:
The Heart of Darkness, book 2 of The Remnant Chronicles series
Voice Dream app

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 continues the chat with MG writers Sophie Li, Elizabeth May, Christina Dwivedi, and Bayley Mae. In this episode, we discuss what to do when you’re stuck, how our revision process can evolve over the years, big mistakes we’ve made, and what our favorite revision tip is.

Connect with our guests!

Sophie Li
sophiexli.com
Instagram @sophie.x.li

Elizabeth May
elizabethannemay.com
Instagram @bookmandalas

Christina Dwivedi
christinadwivedi.weebly.com
Instagram @christina.fictionality

Bayley Mae
bayleymae.com
Instagram @bayley.mae

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.

In our first interview episode, Kat sits down with her MG writing group (Sophie Li, Elizabeth May, Christina Dwivedi, Bayley Mae) to talk about the different ways everyone approaches revisions and how to handle feedback from critiques.

Connect with our guests!

Sophie Li
sophiexli.com
Instagram @sophie.x.li

Elizabeth May
elizabethannemay.com
Instagram @bookmandalas

Christina Dwivedi
christinadwivedi.weebly.com
Instagram @christina.fictionality

Bayley Mae
bayleymae.com
Instagram @bayley.mae

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.

Should you revise while you draft? We share our thoughts on this topic, including when it might work and when it’s a bad idea. We also chat about what times of day we like to draft and what times we like to revise.

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.

As writers, we all get stuck from time to time. In this episode, we chat about different strategies we use to help us get unstuck and back in the writing chair.

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.