The Writership Podcast Editing Tips For Fiction Authors

In this episode, Story Grid certified editor Leslie Watts takes a small detour from the usual format to discuss World Building, the way you craft the domain your characters inhabit. She offers several exercises to help improve your story by strengthening your world.

In this episode, Story Grid certified editor Leslie Watts takes a small detour from the usual format to discuss story settings, the place and time where your character gets into and hopefully out of trouble. She offered three exercises to help strengthen your setting and story.

We all have some idea of what a resolution is, but what are these scene- and story-enders meant to do? In this episode, Story Grid certified editor Leslie Watts explores scene and story resolutions in the context of C. Gabriel Wright's LBGTQ love story, “Someone.” The editorial mission encourages you to collect resolutions by reading and watching stories—and from your own life.

What are story and scene climaxes? Why do you need them? In this episode, Story Grid certified editor Leslie Watts discusses the decisions your characters make, as well as the actions they take, when faced with a dilemma. You'll hear Matt Bizzel's horror story, A Window Out: Or, the Accidental Death of Frank Ortiz and Leslie's analysis of the scene. The editorial mission encourages you to collect examples of these critical decisions and actions by reading and watching stories—and from your own life.

What are crisis questions? Why do our stories and scenes need them? In this episode, Story Grid certified editor Leslie Watts discusses the dilemmas your characters face on the way to scene and story resolutions in the context of the opening of Jerry Dawson's science fiction story, Meteor. The editorial mission encourages you to collect crisis questions by reading and watching stories—and from your own life.

What are progressive complications? Why do our stories and scenes need them? This week, Story Grid Certified editor Leslie Watts discusses the people, places, things, and events that stand between your characters and their goals within the context of the opening of Anna Ferguson's YA science fiction novel, The Empire of Saffron.

What are inciting incidents? Why do our stories and scenes need them? What are the elements of a solid inciting incident? This week, Story Grid Certified editor Leslie Watts discusses these story event catalysts in the context of the opening of Drew Horstman's fantasy novel, Nicholas Crumb. The editorial mission encourages you to collect inciting incidents by reading and watching stories—and from your own life.

You've written lots of scenes for your work in progress, but how do you know whether they work? In this episode, Story Grid Certified editor Leslie Watts shows you how to analyze your scenes by looking at the opening of AW Moyer's YA fantasy story, The Grim Book.

In this episode, Story Grid Certified Editor Leslie Watts discusses writing with abandon with Grant Faulkner, the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month. They talk about what it means to write with abandon, how to go about it, and why it's important. In lieu of an editorial mission, Grant shares the word sprint, an old NaNoWriMo practice to help you get your words down—just in time for Camp NaNoWriMo in July.

In this episode, Story Grid Certified Editors Leslie Watts and Anne Hawley discuss literal and essential action in the context of “Madeline,” a short horror story by Nathaniel Patterson.

In this episode, Story Grid certified editors Leslie Watts and Lori Puma critique “Night Fishing,” a coming of age short story by Kevin Glasgow. They discuss how to take your story from pretty good to WOW.

Leslie welcomes James Thorn, an author of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction and Story Grid Certified editor, to discuss how you can discover reader expectations related to your sales category.

Intrepid editors Leslie Watts and Anne Hawley talk about when you might want to use second person point of view in the context of David Austin's short story "All American."

In this episode, Leslie talks with poet and creative coach Mark McGuinness from the _21st Century Creative_ podcast about why it's important to put your writing first—both for you personally and for your creative career. The editorial mission asks you to write something you might not expect.

In this episode, Certified Story Grid editors Leslie Watts and Rebecca Monterusso critique “The Flight,” a science fiction short story by Scott Adam Gordon. They discuss the internal journey or change that characters experience as a result of external events in a story. Leslie and Rebecca then uncover which internal genres might be present in “The Flight.” This week's editorial mission offers questions to help you identify and craft the internal change at work in your stories.

In this episode, Certified Story Grid editor Leslie Watts and Writership's first officer, Liz Green, discuss the way things have changed around the podcast and answer some burning questions about the Story Grid, Leslie's approach to editing, and why you need to tell your story.

In this episode, Certified Story Grid editors Leslie Watts and Courtney Harrell critique the first chapter of _Seeker_, a science fiction novella within the Chaos Nova universe by Smith & Kaos. They discuss conflict within stories and scenes. Antagonistic forces and obstacles are necessary elements of stories because change within a character comes as the result of dealing with conflict. It is the vehicle through which they change over the course of the entire story, but also incrementally, scene by scene. Conflicts delay the resolution of every unit of story (scene, sequence, act, story). If the character achieves a goal for the unit of story without effort or worry, then tension drops and narrative drive wanes. Even if your story overall has great conflict, you'll tell a better story if each scene contains robust conflict as well. This week's editorial mission shows you how to analyze your scenes for conflict so you can make things as tough as possible for your characters.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie Watts and Rachelle Ramirez critique “How I Stumbled into the Golden Cage,” a short story by Jose Arroyo. They discuss genre and how stories that emphasize the protagonist's inner journey still need structure. Writers of literary stories can use the steps in the Kubler-Ross grief process to plan and revise the structure of their stories and may find it's a better fit than other systems suited to more active stories. Even if you've written a thriller or an action story, you can use the Kubler-Ross steps to follow your protagonist's inner journey alongside whatever structure you use for the external events of the story. One challenge writers face with character-driven stories is how to demonstrate the inner shifts the character experiences without over-relying on thoughts and telling. Leslie and Rachelle talk about ways to dramatize internal events to evoke certain emotions in your reader. This week's editorial mission encourages you to use the Kubler-Ross steps to check your protagonist's internal journey and be sure the important events are present and adequately dramatized.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie Watts and Valerie Francis analyze a scene from _Lock and Key_: the first book in The Essence Riven Trilogy by Emily Bowie. They discuss the crisis question, a moment in a scene when a question arises for the POV character. To keep the story moving, your scenes should turn, more specifically, it should become more or less likely that the protagonist will get what they want and need. When the turn happens within the scene, it's a natural time for the protagonist or POV character to decide how to respond to the change. This week's editorial mission will help you identify or add these questions and make them stronger to support your story.

In this episode, Certified Story Grid Editors Leslie Watts and Jay Peters critique the beginning of “What Lives Beneath,” a short story by A.V. Herzberg. The author's synopsis for the story suggests that the main genre could be Obsession Love Story or Horror. Leslie and Jay talk about how those genres can be translated into story values (in other words, the external change that happens from the beginning to the end of the story). Then they analyze the scene in the submission, including how the scene value changes from beginning to end. Then they discuss ways to strengthen the scene by bringing the value shift into closer alignment with the overall story. This week's editorial mission challenges you to compare the value shifts in your scene to see how they relate to your global story.

In this episode, fiction editor Leslie Watts and author C. Steven Manley critique “The Highwayman,” a fantasy short story by Jacob Oakley. They discuss genre and why it's important to choose one primary one. The same characters, setting, and circumstances can give rise to a wide range of stories. When you nail down your primary or global genre, you'll gain valuable information about the story you want to tell that will help you plan, draft, and revise your story.

In this episode, Leslie is joined by author and Story Grid editor Jarie Bolander. They critique the opening chapters of _The Home Front_, a women's society novel by Melinda McDonald. Shoe leather, that is description, backstory, and other information that your reader doesn't need, can weigh down your story. The editorial mission this week will help you to seek out and eliminate shoe leather and use exposition in a more powerful way. Leslie and Jarie also talk about what makes a society story great and how to start your story with a bang.

In this episode, Leslie is joined by Shawn Coyne, the author of T_he Story Grid: What Good Editors Know_. They discuss the five commandments of story in the context of chapter five of _Animal Farm_ by George Orwell and what makes this story a great one to analyze. The five commandments (the inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis question, climax, and resolution) provide the basic structure for your global story, but also your acts, sequences, and scenes, like nesting dolls. If you learn to execute the five commandments in your story, you'll become a better writer. This week's mission encourages you to look for the five commandments in one of your favorite stories, and then use them to plan or revise your own work-in-progress.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie Watts and Kim Kessler critique the first chapter of _Passage_, a fantasy/women's society novel by S. Thies. This week's author submitted her scene in first- and third-person point of view, providing an opportunity for us to ask, how can you improve your scenes no matter which POV you choose? The answer is MRUs, that is Motivation-Reaction Units. If you practice writing these stimulus-and-response sequences within your scenes, your character's reactions will make sense and be unique to them. And more importantly, your reader will get to experience the events of the story (as opposed to merely reading about them).

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie Watts and Anne Hawley critique the beginning of Sheila Lischwe's as yet untitled psychological thriller. They discuss inciting incidents: the submission as a possible inciting incident for the global psychological thriller and also within the scene. These pivotal story events pull the rug out from under your protagonist or POV character. This week's editorial mission will help you identify the elements of inciting incidents to make your scenes and stories stronger.

Fiction editor Leslie Watts is joined by Liz Green, Writership's first officer, to discuss the first chapter of _The Left-Handed Gunslinger_, a western fantasy novella by Shaun Gill. In this episode, they explore intentional sentence structure. You have a wide variety of tools to support your story, including the words and sentence structure you choose. The trick is to understand when to use different tools to provide the reading experience you're aiming for. This week's editorial mission will help you get granular so you can revise your sentences with intention. Special note: Clark Chamberlain is taking a well-deserved break from the podcast, so we'll invite guest hosts for the next couple of months.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _The Fifty-Two Week Chronicles_, a chick lit/romantic comedy novel by Joslyn Westbrook. They discuss flashbacks, getting specific, and obtaining feedback when you write about characters and situations that are different from your own.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _The Palace Thief_, a YA fantasy novel by AR Richardson. They discuss omniscient point of view and why you should give it a try if you haven't. This POV option is often considered old-fashioned, but it offers flexibility and options that you don't have with the other POVs. While it's probably the most challenging, you might find that it's the best vehicle for your story. Speaking of options, Leslie and Clark have a fun editorial mission with lots of choices to help you experiment with the elements of this writing tool.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark talk about self-editing. To get the most from hiring an editor, you'll want to tackle certain tasks before you turn it over. There are plenty of steps you can take to improve your story so that your editor can focus on deeper issues. Be sure to check out the show notes for resources, tips, and this week's editorial mission, and don't miss Clark's Healthy Author Challenge.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique the prologue and first chapter of _From the Flame_, a fantasy novel by Kristen Franklin. They discuss where to begin your story. If all the events of the protagonist's life were laid out in front of you, which is the most powerful moment to use for chapter one?

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie Watts and Anne Hawley critique the first chapter of _Esperanza_, a science fiction horror novel by Mike Ward. They discuss narrative drive. Different people use the term “narrative drive” to mean different things. What we discuss here is the amount of information the reader possesses relative to the character. The reader can have more, less, or the same information the characters in the scene have. In the opening scene of our submission today, the author gives the reader a key piece of information that the character doesn't have, and it changes the way we experience the scene and the question that compels us to find out what happens next.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Valerie Francis critique the first chapter of _The Arctic Compass_, a middle grade fantasy novel by Ryan Gannon. They discuss how to check your opening scene for tension and special considerations for middle grade fiction.

In this episode, fiction editor Leslie Watts and guest fiction editor Anne Hawley critique the opening pages of _The Bad Shepherd_, a crime story set in Los Angeles in the 1980s, by Dale M. Nelson. They discuss characters and how to make them relatable so your reader can connect with them. This week's editorial mission asks you to capture your character's essence in a sentence.

In this episode, fiction editor Leslie Watts and guest editor Valerie Francis critique the prologue of _Shadow Falls_, a thriller novel by Maxwell Perkins. They discuss the elements of scenes that work and how you can check your own scenes in early drafts.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique a scene from *Beneath the Crypt*, a middle grade fantasy novel by Alex Heath. They discuss how to evaluate and revise action scenes. When characters fight, chase each other, or engage in acts of derring-do, it can be hard to keep track of all the moving parts. Often, the clear image of how the action unfolds in our minds doesn't make it into the story. If you unpack what's happening in your action scene, you can make sure that it does everything you intend, and nothing you don't.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique “A Hero Least of All,” a literary short story by Tim LaFave. They discuss narrative identity and why it matters for your writing. Humans use story to make sense of their lives, and it's important to understand the stories we tell about ourselves and the how this impacts our writing. This week's editorial mission asks you to explore your story and see how you can use this insight for your writing journey and fiction.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark discuss point of view (POV) in their critique of “The Second Prayer: A Confession for the Dead,” a thriller short story by David L. Storm. The POV is the filter through which the reader experiences your story: Each option has advantages and disadvantages and can produce vastly different results. In this week's editorial mission, Leslie and Clark share a list of questions to ask when you choose the POV for your first draft and later when you revise your draft. Check out the show notes at Writership.org/episodes for the complete story and written critique.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark critique the beginning of _Osweyth_, an epic fantasy novel inspired by Cornish folklore by J M Hudson. They discuss narrative distance, omniscient point of view, and moving smoothly between vantage points. They also talked about the weather as a character in the story, lush prose, sentence and paragraph length, and commas. The editorial mission asks you to check your narrative distance, that is how close your reader is to the character or narrator.

In this episode, fiction editors Leslie and Clark celebrate 100 episodes. They depart from the regular format to answer your questions about writing and editing. They discuss passive voice, pantsing vs. plotting, head hopping, how long your story should be, and how to write character thoughts. This week's editorial mission is about finding your strengths and weaknesses.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _Let's Go Inwards_, a science fiction novel by Jake. They discuss revealing character. Unlike screenwriters, we can't rely on actors to show the audience who our characters are. But we have access to and can expose our characters' thoughts and motivations in other ways. This episode also includes suggestions for word choice and figurative language.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique “Vermillion Dusk & Crimson Dirt,” an as yet unpublished horror short story by Lane M.M. Whitens. They talk about storytelling vs. telling a story and framing stories. They also discuss _-LY_ adverbs, and facts relevant to the story. Leslie and Clark are taking questions for the 100th episode of the podcast. If you have a burning question about editing or storytelling, please visit [www.writership.com/ask](http://www.writership.com/ask).

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _The Pick Up_, a LGBT romance novel by Allison Temple. They discuss genre, obligatory scenes in romance stories, and romantic conflict.

In this episode, Leslie and guest host Jody T. Morse critique the prologue of _Forgotten December_, an as yet unpublished steampunk novel by Noah Deuker. They discuss the elements of an effective prologue and description of characters and setting.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _Wingless Bird_, an as yet unpublished science fiction novel by Tori. They discuss the elements of a strong beginning hook. This week's mission will help you revise your opening to pull the reader in right away.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _Edge of the Future_, a science fiction novel by Andria Stone. They discuss ways to reveal character, including thoughts, reactions to events, and reactions from other characters. One thing to consider (especially in science fiction or fantasy) is how to convey what's normal for the wider culture and within particular groups. This week's editorial mission will help you make your characters unique.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark talk about the internal genre for your journey as a writer. As writers, we face resistance in different forms (we hit a snag in our project, life throws us a curve ball). These unexpected events are opportunities to become derailed or renew our commitment to our work. Leslie and Clark explore what you can do to stay on track.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _Day 115_, a science fiction novel by J. M. Bedard. They discuss pacing, providing enough detail to make clear the setting and characters' vantage point, and questions that pull the reader into your story. Leslie's birthday giveaway ends on January 25, 2017. Check out the show notes at Writership.com/episode for details.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _The Snakes of Playa del Carmen_, a young adult thriller novel by Penelope Aaron. They discuss backstory (including its purposes and methods of delivery), foreshadowing, dialogue sentences, where to begin your story, and Leslie's birthday giveaway.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of _Kill Screen_, a published literary science fiction thriller by Benjamin Reeves. They discuss unreliable narrators and the ways characters are dishonest, methods of revealing facts to the reader, setting, and tension.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the beginning of _Edge_, an as yet unpublished atompunk novel, by Ethan Motter. They discuss the ordinary and special worlds of the story, mysteries and questions, world building, scene and summary, and dialogue tags with similes to reveal emotion.

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique “Let's Call This What It Is,” a literary short story by David Austin. They discuss plot- and character-driven stories (and the need for both elements), experimenting with the opening of your story and where to start it, brand names, and reviewing your year.