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 the Cat!, your Hero’s Journey. You’ve probably analyzed your story six ways to Sunday, and you’ve got the spreadsheets and outlines and diagrams and graphs to prove it.

And all that analysis has leveled up your story significantly. You’ve solved major structural problems by applying your extensive knowledge of story theory.

But I also bet there are still some issues nagging at you. Issues that you still can’t crack, no matter how many times you map every act and arc in your story on a spreadsheet.

In fact, if you’re still spreadsheeting your story by this point, you’re probably starting to spin out a little. You’ve analyzed and analyzed and analyzed again, and now all that story structure that was supposed to make revising your story clear and straightforward has turned against you, leaving you overwhelmed and lost.

What if you could break through all that overwhelm and find your footing in your story again?

What if you could snap out of analysis paralysis and reconnect with your characters and the inspiration that compelled you to write in the first place?

And what if you could do all of that by asking just one deceptively simple question?

You can, I promise. And in this episode, I’ll show you how.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Get the question that unlocks everything in a printable format: alicesudlow.com/79
• Go deeper in character development: How to Flesh Out Flat Characters With Just 4 Questions
• Go deeper in my favorite story structure: The 6 Essential Elements of Every Novel, Act, and Scene

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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 on every page, you need to refine your scenes until each one is unputdownable.

And that refinement? It’s SUCH a joy. It’s my favorite thing to do and it will transform your entire story.

But in order to make every scene matter, you first need to make sure you have all the right scenes in all the right places.

The big-picture story structure can’t be kinda-sorta-maybe working. It needs to be locked in, watertight.

Otherwise, all those beautiful scenes won’t build to anything. They might be pretty on their own. But they won’t create compelling narrative drive, an irresistible build to the cathartic payoff your readers can’t get enough of.

So how do you do it? How do you get your macro storytelling crystal clear and refine every scene into its most powerful form?

In this episode, I want to share with you the story of how one writer did just that. You’ll hear how Cathryn leveraged multiple revision passes to transform her manuscript from a massive pile of words that made her cringe to a story she’s immeasurably proud of.

It’s also a tale of two editors—because Cathryn worked with both me and my colleague Kim to make her story shine on every level.

Most of all, it’s a story of mastering two storytelling skills—the micro and the macro—and all the story magic you can unlock when you do.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Read Cathryn’s stories » 
• Join Kim’s Novel Hotline Live »
• Work with Kim and me together »

Further listening:

• Ep. 76: Scene Workshop: Hook Your Readers in Chapter One with Cathryn deVries
• Ep. 42: The 6 Essential Elements of Every Novel, Act, and Scene
• Ep. 60: The Most Joyful Editing Feedback I Ever Give

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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 and again:

A manuscript evaluation.

(Or assessment, or diagnostic, or critique. A rose by any other name, etc.)

Typically, in a manuscript evaluation, an editor will offer to read your manuscript and tell you what’s working and what to focus on next to make it even better.

It sounds like the dream, right? Someone who will read the book you’ve spent months and months writing, tell you what they think of it, and give you a to-do list.

And manuscript evaluations sell like hotcakes because what they’re offering is exactly what writers want.

Or at least—

what writers think they want.

But when you don’t know what you really need, you risk wasting hundreds or thousands of dollars on a service that leaves you disappointed, stuck in the same spot, or even feeling false confidence that your story’s problems have all been solved when they’re not.

What if you don’t need someone else’s to-do list for your story? What if you have access to all the evaluation you need right now, without paying a single cent?

And if you don’t need someone else’s to-do list, what do you need instead?

In this episode, I’m giving you a crash course on manuscript evaluations. You’ll hear:

• What they are,
• When they work,
• Why they go wrong,
• And the rare occasion when I will agree to do one.

Here’s the thing: there are no regulations in the author services industry.

That means it’s up to YOU to vet every professional you work with.

I’m equipping you with everything you need to know to make the most of manuscript evaluations—or find the service you need instead.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• See what I do inside Story Clarity (instead of doing manuscript evaluations)
• Hear author John Green read from editor Julie Strauss-Gabel’s editorial letter for The Fault in Our Stars

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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 giving your absolute all to uncovering the deep meaning and purpose behind it, the profound arc of character transformation that's happening in even the smallest moments.

Yet in doing all that . . . you've lost the plot. You've crafted complex inner worlds for your characters, but all they're literally doing is staring off into space.

And you're worried that in the times when you most want to hook your readers—like your absolutely critical opening pages—you're boring them instead.

Bored readers put books down.

So what do you do? Throw in some discord and explosions to create external chaos? Cut the scene and start the story at a different point entirely?

Or is there a way to use what you know of your character's internal arc to find the perfect external action that will hook your readers and keep them turning pages?

This is exactly the challenge Cathryn deVries encountered in the first chapter of her novel. So we workshopped it together—and in this episode, you'll hear how we solved it, and how you can hook your readers, too.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Notes to Novel with Savannah Gilbo
• Read Cathryn’s scene: alicesudlow.com/76
• Read When a Slave Falls, Cathryn’s award-winning short story
• Read Lightning Hunter, a story set in the same world as the scene we workshopped
• Find Cathryn on her website, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn

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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 first time, run your hands over the soft, smooth paper, flip the pages and smell that delicious new book smell.

Does that sound amazing? Holding your book in your hands just one year from now?

Being done soon is so tempting. But just being done soon won’t lead to a book you’re proud of, a book you love, a book that accomplishes everything you know it can be.

Does it sound amazing to imagine holding your book in your hands six months from now . . . and still not feel creatively fulfilled?

To flip the pages and know that there’s more you could still fix?

To skim the lines and cringe just a little?

To picture the glorious story vivid in your imagination and wonder what your readers will miss because you couldn’t quite capture it on the page?

No, that doesn’t sound delightful? I didn’t think so.

The book world is filled with services promising to help you finish your book fast. If your dream is to hold your book in your hands this year, there are tons of people out there who can help you make that happen.

But after years of helping writers who seek to craft their very best books, the ones they’re truly proud of, I’ve found that speed is not what you need to get there.

In this episode, I’ll show you:

• What the true work of revising a novel really is,
• Why trying to speed through it will actually hold you back,
• And what to do instead—so that when you finish, the book you share with the world is one you’re immeasurably proud of.

It’s not the popular path. But it’s the only path I know to craft the books you’re truly capable of writing.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Edit your novel with me: alicesudlow.com/contact
• See if I’m the right editor for your book: alicesudlow.com/waitlist

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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, I didn’t plan to pause the podcast at all.

But a family emergency struck, and all my best-laid plans for summer 2024 changed in a matter of hours.

This summer, I learned what it takes to edit when your world is in crisis.

Happily, for me and my family, the crisis is over. But emergencies are bound to happen to everyone at some point.

And so in today’s episode, I’m sharing my best advice for you and your editing should a crisis come to you.

In it, you’ll hear:

• What in the world happened to the podcast (and me) this summer,
• 5 tips for editing when you’re in crisis mode,
• And what you’ll hear on Your Next Draft this fall.

I hope you don’t need these tips for a long time. But if you do find your world falling apart around you, I hope these tips help you find a way forward for your story and yourself.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• When the crisis hit, I couldn’t keep up with the podcast, but I did share updates with my email newsletter subscribers. Want to get all the episodes of Your Next Draft, plus editing tips that you won’t hear on the podcast? Subscribe to my newsletter: alicesudlow.com/sceneworksheet

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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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 way your readers will experience that plot is . . .

. . . one scene at a time.

Which means if you want your readers to fall in love with your novel, you need to captivate them with scenes they can’t put down.

How do you do it?

I’ll show you in this episode. I’m analyzing a scene from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to show you how and why it works—

—and how you can create the same magic with your own scenes.

You’ll learn:

• The timeless structure behind this modern scene
• How every single detail in the scene enhances that structure
• What Taylor Jenkins Reid shares through exposition—and what she leaves out
• How to draw inspiration from this scene to craft an exceptional scene of your own
• And more!

This episode is a sneak peek inside my upcoming Scene Mastery Workshop. In fact, this is the first scene we’ll study in the workshop. Then, we’ll dig into seven more scenes from other great novels.

So if you enjoy this episode, you’ll love the workshop.

Want to master editing scenes this summer? Click here to get all the details and apply »

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Apply to join the Scene Mastery Workshop: alicesudlow.com/workshop
• Ep. 27: Value Shifts: How to Craft Compelling Change in Every Story
• Ep. 42: The 6 Essential Elements of Every Novel, Act, and Scene

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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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 them.

When your readers are reading a novel and they can’t figure out how time is passing? Well, time matters to them, too—mostly because they’re confused.

In this episode, I’m sharing two ways to make time matter to your readers the way it matters to your characters.

That is, how to make time matter because it impacts your characters’ lives. (And not because your readers can’t get a grip on what’s happening in your story.)

You’ll learn:

• How to blend showing and telling (it’s a spectrum, not a binary)
• 2 techniques to convey time passing using showing and telling
• How to choose which calendars to use in your story
• And more!

Your readers want to understand why time matters to your characters. Show and tell them, and they’ll feel it passing just as your characters do.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Ep. 70: Why You Must Show Time Passing in Your Novel
• Ep. 71: 3 “Telling” Ways to Convey Time Passing in Your Novel

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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 lot of words to do it!). And in this episode, I’ll tell you exactly how it’s done.

You’ll learn:

• Why you need to both show and tell time passing in your story
• 2 ways your readers understand that time is passing
• 3 techniques to “tell” your readers time is passing
• And more!

This is one of those elements of storytelling that feels tiny, inconsequential, like your readers will catch on without you needing to think too hard about it.

But trust me, it makes a big difference. I’ve read so many manuscripts that are missing any indicators of time passing. And they make me as a reader feel completely lost.

Don’t lose your readers. Just tell them what time it is.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Ep. 70: Why You Must Show Time Passing in Your Novel

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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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, you are responsible for charting the passage of time. You are the filter who determines how time passes.

More than that, you are responsible for telling your readers how much time is going by.

It’s an essential part of storytelling, and yet it’s often overlooked. So in this episode, we’re talking about time.

You’ll learn:

• Why writers often forget to mention time passing
• 3 ways you can use time passing to enhance your story
• What happens when you don’t show how time is passing in your story
• 2 kinds of tension you can create using time
• And more!

I’ve read so many manuscripts where I lose track of time and have to ask the writer, “Wait, when does this happen?” Check out this episode and save yourself from this common oversight.

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Loving the show? Show your support with a monthly contribution »