Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
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Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
3 Non-Obvious Problems Hiding in Well-Developed Drafts
Your Next Draft
21 minutes
1 month ago
3 Non-Obvious Problems Hiding in Well-Developed Drafts
If the line writing is lovely, but the story still falls flat, check for these surprisingly hard-to-spot problems. You’ve written a draft of your novel. It’s a pretty good draft, actually. Maybe you’ve revised it—once, or twice, or five times. The line-by-line writing is evocative, and a lot of the scenes are exciting and fun. But. Come on, you knew there was a “but” coming. You can feel it in your gut. Your story is just not doing everything you want it to do. There’s something missing. Some...
Your Next Draft
Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured? Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists? Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards? Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties? Or is it something else? How can we ...
