THE EDITOR’S BLOG
Learn to edit your novel
with expert articles, audio guides, worksheets, and free resources.
How to Use Genre as a Revision Tool (with Savannah Gilbo)
You’ve named your genre, but the pieces still don’t fit together. Here’s how to turn genre from a source of confusion into a tool that makes revision click.
The 12 Core Genres That Power Every Great Story
Your genre is one of the foundational, defining decisions you’ll make about your story. Let’s explore genre as a revision tool that works for you.
How Great First Lines Make Readers Pay Attention (with Abigail K. Perry)
Your novel’s first line is more than a pretty sentence—it’s a promise. Agents, editors, and readers all form instant judgments based on what you write first. In this article, we're unpacking how to craft a compelling opening that captures attention and sets your story...
Where Progressive Complications Go WRONG (and How to Fix Them)
Bored readers. Disconnected scenes. Endless filler. If your messy middle feels like a black hole of momentum, you’ve probably fallen into a progressive complication trap.
Make Sense of Your Messy Middle With the Most Underrated Story Element
Don’t pack the messy middle of your story with filler. Escalate the tension with propulsive progressive complications.
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. Find out how with editor Abigail K. Perry.
Inciting Incident: How to Revise an Unputdownable Beginning
A great inciting incident hooks your readers and sets up everything to come, laying the foundation for a brilliant surprising, yet inevitable climax that your readers will love. Here’s how to revise it to excellence.
What If You Do Everything Right and the Book Launch Still Goes Wrong? with A.S. King
“It really broke my heart… and it probably always will.” A.S. King gets honest about what happened when the publishing industry failed her book.
Think You Need a Line Editor? Try This First
Do you need to hire a line editor? Let’s talk about what line editing is, what line editors do, and what your book and your editing process truly need.