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In this re-released conversation, developmental editor Joel Brigham returns to talk all things revision: how to approach your first editing pass, the most common pitfalls he sees in drafts, and how to know when a manuscript is truly ready to query. A great refresher as you set your summer writing goals. (Note: a recording glitch cut the original intro, which Beth explains at the top.)
What you'll learn in this episode
Joel revises in phases, and phase one is always structure. He looks for the "tent pole" story beats: the inciting incident, the midpoint turn, and the all-hope-is-lost moment, and checks whether they fall where reader expectations and pacing demand. He explains why pantsers tend to have the beats but in the wrong places, and how genre and age level dictate placement (the inciting incident around 8–12% for YA and adult, the romance meet-cute by the end of chapter one).
He then walks through a practical self-editing checklist writers can use before paying a professional:
Have you hit the major story beats, and are they in the right place?
Does every character, including the antagonist and secondary cast, have clear motivation and an arc?
Is your character driving the plot through choices and consequences, or just passively reacting? (Joel calls character agency the single biggest difference between a good book and one that isn't ready.)
Is there tension in every chapter, even small-scale?
Are the stakes clear and high?
Have you read your dialogue out loud?
Does the book open and close with a bang?
Is your word count appropriate for your genre and age level?
For kid lit, have you checked readability scores (Lexile, Flesch-Kincaid)?
Have you proofread to a pristine, professional standard?
And finally, do you feel proud of it? That feeling, Joel says, is often how you know you're close.
The episode digs into developing narrative voice, which Joel calls the hardest thing to teach. His advice: read widely, mimic authors you admire until your own voice emerges, write in different mediums, be authentic, seek feedback, and read your work aloud. He shares his own path from imitating Dave Barry and John Green to finding his own style.
On story structure red flags, Joel offers a memorable test borrowed from South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone: strong stories connect scenes with "but" or "therefore," not "and then." A string of "and thens" signals missing consequences and a passive protagonist.
He also tackles the saggy middle and rushed endings, with concrete fixes for each: introduce a new obstacle, separate inseparable characters, drop a backstory reveal, add a ticking clock, or shift the power dynamic to revive a sagging midpoint. For endings, make your all-hope-is-lost moment dark enough that you're forced to pace the resolution, and think of act three as its own four-chapter arc.
He closes with hard-won advice on polishing: focus on one element at a time, get other eyes on your pages, learn to weigh feedback wisely, rest between revision phases, and above all, be right, not fast. Don't impose artificial deadlines or query before a manuscript is ready. As Joel reminds listeners, finishing a draft already puts you in rare company, and persistence is what eventually turns into success.
Resources & links
Learn more about Joel and find episode notes at writerswithwrinkles.net.
Happy reading, writing, and listening!
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