A Novel Ending

Nov 13 2024 42 ep. 22 mins 2
A Novel Ending Podcast artwork

Writing a novel is hard. Revising a novel can be an even bigger challenge. But don't fret! We have your back. Join us, authors Joanna Mercer and Kat Abbott, as we chat about the highs, lows, and trickeries of taking your first draft to a final, polished manuscript. We hope each episode gives you more tools, inspiration, and motivation to tackle your own revisions. If you love learning about the craft of writing, then this podcast is for you!

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Why It’s Good To Change Up When And Where You Write

Nov 13 2024 28 mins  
Throughout your writing career (and especially after big life moments), it’s important to step back and assess how, when, and where you write. In this episode, we share different ways we’ve shaken up our writing lifestyle to help us get unstuck, to maximize our productivity, and to just keep things fun and fresh. We also talk about goals and writing sprints, how they can be hel

Chat With Authors Mel And Teghan Hammond On Working And Revising With A Co-writer

May 01 2024 30 mins  
In this episode, Kat interviews sisters and co-writers of the YA novel Lucy, Uncensored. Mel and Teghan Hammond share the ups and downs of their co-writing process, their thoughts on having an outline, and discuss how their communication changed over the course of co-writing their book. They also offer helpful tips for any writers looking to co-write and list some important qualiti

Chat With Two Librarians On What Makes Great Page Turns In Picture Books

Apr 24 2024 37 mins  
Kat interviews librarians Amanda Bosky and Mary Ostrander about what makes for an engaging and page-turning children’s story - what captures the audience when a book is read out loud? Between the two of them, Amanda and Mary have read thousands of picture books, and by page spread three, if not sooner, they can tell if a story will be worth a share or not. Listen in as they discu

Chat With Author Liza Wiemer On Utilizing Sensitivity Readers

Apr 10 2024 39 mins  
Joanna interviews young adult and picture book writer Liza Wiemer on the importance of doing your homework before you even start writing a project, especially if your project is based off of a real-life event, not to mention real people! Liza shares the various strategies she uses to conduct research, from visiting sites to interviewing subject matter experts. Additionally, Liza ta

All About Copy Edits

Mar 27 2024 26 mins  
One of the final passes you (or an editor) will do on a manuscript is a copy edit. It’s important for your grammar, punctuation, and sentences to be correct, clear, and accessible for your readers. But what if you don’t know all the rules or even what to look out for? We chat about common mistakes we see, our favorite comma and punctuation rules, and more!For show notes, visit

Revising To Cut Or Increase Your Word Count

Mar 14 2024 33 mins  
Are you the kind of writer who drafts a lot of words, or the kind who drafts short? Particularly with debut novels, agents match genres to preferred word counts in order to gauge if a story is underedited or sparse. These expectations can be a great guideline for any author, helping point us in the right direction for revisions. If you’re staring at a bloated manuscript, or are s

Revising For Clarity: On Descriptions

Feb 21 2024 21 mins  
Clunky descriptions can confuse your reader, going on too long can bog down your scene, and too little can fail to immerse your reader into your character’s world. How then, do you find the right balance? In this continuation of our Revising for Clarity series, we chat about how to make sure your descriptions are clear and effective, and how you can use them to enhance your world

Revising For Clarity: On Order

Feb 06 2024 14 mins  
In the third episode of our series “Revising for Clarity” we look at the importance of order. Without a very careful and steady hand, messing with the linear way you relay information and tell a story can easily lead to confusion on a sentence, scene, and overall story level. Join us as we break down some mistakes we see when it comes to this topic, some tips on how to fix thos

Beware of These While Revising Part 2

Jan 24 2024 14 mins  
In the second episode of our Revising for Clarity series, we chat about fluff chapters–what they are, how to identify them in your manuscripts, and what you can try to give them more substance. We also talk about stage direction - when too much detracts from your scene versus when you might use it to your advantage - as well as why it’s a good idea to write to genre expectation

Beware of These While Revising Part 1

Jan 10 2024 29 mins  
In this first episode of our Revising For Clarity series, we discuss three things writers should be aware of as they go: author intrusion, your main POV not driving the story, and unneeded or confusing head hopping. In case you might be slipping into any of these habits, we also share anecdotes and examples to help you adjust for them in your next revision.For show notes, visit ano