This skater didn't win an Olympic medal, and I'm obsessed with him.

I watched Cha Jun-Hwan’s figure skating routine last week in the Olympic men’s short program competition. I never finished watching that competition—I was busy rewinding Jun-Hwan’s routine to watch him over and over again.

I filmed my TV screen on my phone and watched it again while I sat in the courthouse on jury duty. I gushed about it to friends and family. I’ve been listening to the song he skated to on loop for a week.

Jun-Hwan didn’t win a medal. He placed fourth, just off the podium. But his skate has stuck in my mind like no other skater’s has throughout this entire Olympics.

There is no Olympic gold medal for literature.

Still, most writers I work with are chasing their own version of Olympic gold. You’re reaching for lofty achievements: to sign an agent, to get a book deal, to land on the endcaps of Barnes and Noble, maybe even to rise up in the bestseller lists.

Which, on the one hand, is fantastic. As I’m sure every Olympic athlete knows, it’s so incredibly satisfying and rewarding to push the limits of your potential, to set a high bar and then become the person who can surpass it.

But on the other hand, it’s a hidden trap. Because the achievements we compete for are merely proxies for what we actually want. The agents, the deals, the bookstores, the lists are simply stand-ins for excellence and validation and engagement with readers who love what we write.

Which means that it’s possible to win the agents and the deals without reaching excellence and connecting with readers. And it’s possible to lose the agents and the accolades, and still attain the excellence and engagement we most want.

So in this episode, I’m raving about Cha Jun-Hwan.

Not because he medaled, or he was expected to medal but didn’t, or he was part of any figure skating drama. He was simply there, skating a great skate—one that lives on in my mind and on my phone and in my Youtube history.

And I’m unpacking why.

What magic did his skate hold that surpassed any other?

What am I measuring besides Olympic gold?

And how can writers weave that magic, too?

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Watch Cha Jun-Hwan’s short program

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When will you be truly satisfied with your novel? How will you know when you’ve succeeded?

How will you know when you’re done?

Will it be when you LOVE your book? When you stop cringing as you read it? When you can’t think of a single change left to make?

When beta readers rave about it? When they tell you the romantic scenes made them swoon and the funny scenes made them laugh, the scary scenes gave them nightmares and the sad scenes made them cry?

When a reader tells you your book impacted them profoundly? That it changed the way they think about something that matters?

Or will it be when an agent requests your full manuscript, then returns with an offer of representation? When an editor offers you a book deal? When your book is published and you see it on bookstore shelves?

One of the most difficult editing decisions you’ll face is determining when your book is done. When you have finished, when it’s ready to share with the world, when this project you’ve poured so much of your heart into is complete.

In this episode, I’ll help you uncover the factors that matter most to you.

You’ll learn:

• How most writers I talk to define “success”
• What agents are REALLY looking for
• Why you want and NEED external validation—and when external validation becomes harmful, not helpful
• What you TRULY want for your book
• And more!

Calling your book “done” will always be a challenging decision. After all, art is never finished, only abandoned.

But when you know what you value most, you can chase it with clarity and determination, and celebrate when you reach it.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Interested in working with me? Fill out the form at: alicesudlow.com/contact
• Share how you’ll know you’re done: alicesudlow.com/101

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What if editing isn’t drudgery, but the most delightful part of your writing process?

So you’re revising yet another draft. You’re hoping against hope that this draft will be your final draft. Which, coincidentally, is also what you hoped for the last draft, and the one before that.

Editing is a slog you’re trudging through. You dream of the day when you can escape this drudgery and return to the free-flowing fun of writing the first draft of your next book.

But what if editing isn’t an obstacle you have to grit your teeth and bear?

What if it’s where the magic happens?

It would release the pressure to make this draft your last draft. It would make the process itself more fun, a reward in and of itself. And paradoxically, when you’re working from pleasure rather than pressure, your editing work could become more efficient, because you give the process the space it needs.

So I asked six authors, editors, and book coaches the same question:

What do you love about editing?

The answers they shared vary widely. They’re a whole host of things: everything from puzzle-solving and understanding the mechanics that makes something work to personal development, community building, and meaning-making.

In this episode, I’m sharing all their answers with you, in hopes of sparking a little of your own editing joy.

Listen for what resonates with you. You might discover one new thing to love—or a whole new perspective on revision.

And if you already love editing, well, I think you’ll find this episode an absolute delight.

Plus, I want to know what you love about editing! Record a 1-minute voicemail sharing what you love about editing, and I might feature it in a future podcast episode.

Tell me what you love about editing here »

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Savannah Gilbo: 91. How to Use Genre as a Revision Tool
• A.S. King: 82. How Surrealist Pantser A.S. King Revises Award-Winning Novels
• Cathryn deVries: 76. Scene Workshop: Hook Your Readers in Chapter One
• Brannan Sirratt: 80. How to Use Revision Tools Like the Story Authority You Already Are
• Abigail K. Perry: 86. How Great First Chapters Make Readers Care
• Abigail K. Perry: 89. How Great First Lines Make Readers Pay Attention
• Kim Kessler & Cathryn deVries: 78. How Multiple Layers of Editing Combine to Perfect Your Story

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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 measure that a book is good? What is the pinnacle we’re trying to reach, and how will we tell when we achieve it?

This is a big, big question, and feels in some ways impossible to answer. But I’m going to try. Because if we want to craft excellent novels, we need to know what we’re aiming for so we can recognize when we reach it and spot when we’re going off course.

Come journey with me to discover what excellent stories truly do. We’re going to get lightly philosophical so you can shape your stories to excellence too.

You’ll hear:

• My current working definition of an excellent novel
• Why I am not actually the arbiter of excellence (even though I have really good taste)
• Why excellent books don’t always receive industry validation . . . and whether all books the industry promotes are excellent (spoiler: no)
• What readers WANT from stories
• Why stories have been essential to human survival since the beginning of storytelling
• 5 questions to ask yourself to define YOUR OWN standard of excellence

Once you’ve heard how I’m defining excellence, I’d love to hear your definition! Head to the comments on the blog post and let me know what makes a story excellent to you.

Share your standard of excellence in the comments »

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Ep. 65: Why Some Writers Resist Measuring Their Craft (And Why They Shouldn’t)
• Ep. 84: What If You Do Everything Right and the Book Launch Still Goes Wrong? with A.S. King
• Ep. 36: Your Story Has Deep Meaning. Do You Know What It Is?

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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If you get feedback that grinds you to a halt, there's a problem. But YOU are not the problem—the feedback is.

Recently, a writer came to me with feedback she was struggling to implement. She’d written a draft of her story, but she knew it needed revision. So she’d gotten a manuscript evaluation from another editor. And the feedback she got in that evaluation really threw her off.

When this writer and I talked, she was so confused. She knew what her vision was for her story, and why she’d made the story structure choices she’d made.

But the feedback she’d gotten called some of those foundational structure choices into question. It would be a really big overhaul—a different core conflict and a different genre.

The writer was quick to assure me that she was willing to do that work. She was not afraid of a page one rewrite. She was not afraid of getting tough critique. She wanted honest feedback from experts, and she was determined to do whatever it took to revise her manuscript into a story that works.

And yet, she was stuck. She had started mapping what it would look like to implement the feedback she’d gotten. And she had this nagging feeling that it would mean walking away from something about her story that mattered to her.

So what was she to do?

What do you do when feedback gets you stuck? When it seems to make things worse, not better? When you can’t figure out how to implement it, no matter how hard you try?

In this episode, I’m sharing what to do with feedback when it doesn’t get you traction, but grinds you to a halt.

You’ll hear:

• What the problem ACTUALLY is (hint: YOU are not the problem!)
• Why feedback can be true and unhelpful
• What to do when the feedback just doesn’t work
• How to get feedback that gets you traction again
• And more!

If you have ever gotten feedback that you just can’t make work, this is what I want you to hear.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Get feedback that gets you traction again: alicesudlow.com/nrs

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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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. Something not quite right. The ending isn’t paying off the way you want it to. Even though you structured your story with care, crafted the plot and cross-checked it with every story outline you know, something is still falling flat.

You’ve taken it as far as you know to go. So why isn’t it working? And what can it possibly still need, when you’ve done everything you know to do?

I have met so many writers at this exact moment. And I’ve noticed common patterns cropping up again and again—three incredibly common, surprisingly subtle pitfalls stories tend to fall into without their writers even realizing.

I can’t guarantee that your story has any of these problems. But what I can tell you is, if your story isn’t landing the way you want it to yet, these three pitfalls are the first things to check. And the best part is, when you solve even one of them, that solution will cascade down to make so many more things work even better in your story.

So if you’ve taken your story as far as you can, and you’re not sure what to do with it, here’s where to go next.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Get my feedback and find your story’s Next Right Step: alicesudlow.com/nrs

Go deeper with these episodes:

• The Hidden Half of Your Protagonist's Goal (That Makes Story Structure Work)
• How to Figure Out What Your Character REALLY Wants
• The 12 Core Genres That Power Every Great Story
• How to Use Genre as a Revision Tool (with Savannah Gilbo)
• One Insidious Cause of Disappointing Endings (and How to Fix It)

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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What do you do when your genre just refuses to work?

When you’ve tried every content genre you know—Action, Crime, Horror, Thriller, Performance, Love, Society, and more—and every single one just does not fit your story?

Sure, some parts of several of those genres fit your story. Those parts even seem essential.

Some parts feel like a stretch, but you can make them work if you squint.

And some parts don’t fit at all.

If you’re honest, it’s like your story is secretly three genres in a trenchcoat trying to sneak past some gatekeeper rubric.

In other words: your genre feels like an utter mess. A confusing mish-mash. Like somewhere, somehow, your story took a wrong turn, and now it’s doing a bunch of things poorly and nothing really well. It simply refuses to check all the right genre boxes at the same time.

And when you try to just pick the best-fitting genre and make it work, it feels like you’re ham-fistedly shoving your beautiful, unique, personal creation into a standardized mold it truly doesn’t fit.

When genre feels like all of that, what do you do?

That’s what I’m exploring in this episode. I’m taking genre deeper than conventions and obligatory moments to show you what it’s really measuring.

You’ll hear:

• A key reason why your story’s genre is so hard to spot (hint: you’re not the problem, and your story isn’t either)
• How the content genres map onto real life—and how I can take one bike ride with my brother and spin it into four different genres
• How knowing your story’s genre helps your readers follow the plot—and derive meaning from your story
• And more!

Plus, I’m taking you on vacation with me. I just got back from the beach, where my brother and I rode bikes along the marsh. And in this episode, I’m bringing you along for the ride.

What genre was our bike ride? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Your primer on content genres: The 12 Core Genres That Power Every Great Story
• Get the free Content Genre Overview with resources for every genre
• See photos from my bike ride with Thomas
• Listen to peaceful marsh sounds

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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If you’re second-guessing your pacing, give your turning point this two-part check.

Where the heck is the turning point?

If you’ve ever tried to spot the turning point in a story you love, you’ve probably asked some version of this question.

I always feel like I’m playing that old children’s video game: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

(In my imagination, the turning point is captured in shadowy profile, wearing a red hat with a wide brim.) (this is also called, tell me you’re a 90s baby without telling me you’re a 90s baby.)

Anyway. When you’re analyzing someone else’s story, it feels like a hunt for something you just can’t spot.

When you’re analyzing your own story, it feels like second-guessing your pacing.

Did you put the turning point in the right spot? Is it happening too early? Too late? Will the reader get bored waiting for it to happen? Or have you rushed something critical?

If any of those questions sound familiar, you won’t want to miss this episode.

It’s all about where in the story the turning point is located—and yes, this question is complicated enough to require an entire episode to unpack.

You’ll hear:

• 2 guiding principles I use for the location of every turning point
• Where the turning point is located in a novel, novella, and scene—and why those can be different places
• What happens when you move the turning point earlier or later
• Whether the turning point and the midpoint are ever the same point
• And more!

You know what the turning point is—the moment that makes it clear the protagonist cannot achieve their goal in the way they wanted to.

You know what it does—it forces the protagonist into a crisis choice.

And now, you’ll know where to look for it—and where to put it in your own stories.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Ep. 94: Turning Point: How to Find and Write the Moment That Changes Everything

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FREE: Join Me at Escape the Plot Forest

If you're enjoying the episodes on the 6 Elements of Story, you won't want to miss the Escape the Plot Forest summit from October 18 to 22.

4 days + 40 story experts + $0

And on Saturday, October 18, I'll be digging deeper into the 6 Elements of Story, including some tips that haven't made it to the podcast yet.

Grab your free ticket at alicesudlow.com/plot.

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"I love Alice and Your Next Draft." If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers through the mess—and joy—of the editing process. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap the stars to rate, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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