Hi Reader,
Exciting news: the Your Next Draft podcast is about to return!
We’re just a few weeks away from the first new episode. Mark your calendar and check your podcast player on Tuesday, January 7!
I’m so excited for Your Next Draft in 2025. I’ve spent the last few months editing the podcast itself, polishing the structure and purpose and planning new content so that every single second will be worth your listening time.
The changes are subtle, but high-impact. They’re all in service of making Your Next Draft your go-to podcast to help you revise an unputdownable story.
And the first episode back is a big one. In it, I’m sharing what I believe is the most important thing you can do to edit your manuscript from good to excellent.
It’s a shift that’s close to my heart—and I expect it will ruffle some feathers. So I’ve been crafting the script carefully, writing and revising it for several weeks.
And midway through my revision, I realized:
The process I’m using to edit this script is the exact same process I coach writers through when they’re revising their novels.
It’s simply the most efficient, effective, clear, and overwhelm-free process I’ve found to edit any piece of writing of any length.
Let’s walk through it, step by step:
1. Acknowledge that our goal is to revise a draft, not craft the perfect final product. Leave the perfectionism at the door. Assume there will be more drafts after this one.
This takes all the pressure off of this draft. It doesn’t have to be perfect! We’re just trying to solve a finite set of specific problems, and it’s okay if that process is messy. There will be so much space to fix more things in later drafts.
2. Review what’s on the page. Read what already exists. Figure out what ideas we’re working with.
Because my script is short, just seven pages, I read the whole thing. For manuscripts, which are long and unwieldy, I encourage writers to make an outline that we can review.
3. Identify the point. What’s the meaning behind this piece of writing? What are we trying to say to the reader?
Every piece of writing has a point, even a fictional story!
4. Write a new outline. Now that we know what our point is and what ideas we’re using to make that point, write an outline that uses those ideas to express that point in the clearest way possible.
Of course, this might mean adding or subtracting ideas, too. Our goal here is to make any changes necessary to communicate the point with crystal clarity.
5. Use the outline as the guide to write the new draft. In other words, make the manuscript match the outline.
For my podcast script, I chose to open a blank page and begin a completely fresh draft. I didn’t want to get stuck trying to wrestle old material into a new shape. I found it easier to start with a blank document and pull in old material whenever a specific paragraph was clearly relevant.
Bonus: Share the revised draft and get feedback. Reach out to a trusted reader—an editor, a book coach, a critique partner—and share the draft for feedback.
Once I finished my draft, I sent it to an editor friend. She read it and gave me invaluable feedback for its final polish.
And with that final polish, I had it: a rock-solid script for an episode I am so excited to share with you.
Longtime listeners of Your Next Draft might recognize that 👆editing process. It’s the process I outline here in this episode on how to edit your second draft of your novel.
That’s because the strategies I share on the podcast aren’t dry theory. They’re immediately actionable, drawn directly from the editing I’m actually doing day in and day out.
Through the podcast, you can gather the editing tools that will level up your writing and apply them on your own, no editor needed.
And when you’re ready to call in an editor friend to come alongside you and give you invaluable feedback, I’m here to support you.
I can’t wait for you to hear everything I have in store for you on Your Next Draft in 2025. I’ll meet you in your favorite podcast app on January 7!
Happy editing,
Alice