Your Next Draft

Hi Reader, In order to write great books, you first have to learn how to write great books. But when it comes to writing, there’s always something more to learn. So how do you know when to practice your writing skills—and more importantly, when to publish the stories you’re creating? That’s the topic of today’s brand-new episode of Your Next Draft. In it, you’ll learn: 2 benefits and 1 danger of spending focused time learning new writing skills The joy—and risk!—of publishing using the skills...

Hi Reader, When I was fifteen, I got my learner’s permit and began learning how to drive a car. This made me very unhappy. See, I wanted to know how to drive a car. I didn’t want to learn to drive a car. Knowing how to drive a car was fun, freeing, and exciting. Learning to drive a car was dangerous, tedious, dangerous, difficult, and also dangerous. Writers, I find, feel the same way about writing great books. Writers want to write great books. They don’t want to learn how to write great...

Hi Reader, Let's be honest. When you start working with an editor for the first time, it can feel a little scary. You’re sharing your manuscript, the project you’ve worked so hard on, with a stranger on the internet. You’re inviting another person into a process that up until now has been entirely solo. And you’re entering an industry of professionals that’s probably entirely new to you. What should you expect? And what’s expected of you? In today’s brand-new episode of Your Next Draft, I’m...

Hi Reader, Working with a developmental editor can be the most rewarding part of your editing process. But if you’ve never worked with an editor before, it can also be . . . intimidating. Confusing. Scary. After all, you’ve got to hand your manuscript that you’ve worked so hard on to a stranger on the internet and hope their feedback will be helpful and not soul-crushing. If you’ve ever wondered how to find the right editor for your book— —or maybe you’ve worked with an editor before, and it...