"How Do I Revise My Book?" Master List of Resources
WRITING EXCUSES, podcast
ABOUT THE EPISODE: Eric James Stone joins us for a discussion of revision, and what the final pass process looks like.
ABOUT THE EPISODE: And now for your questions about revision. Or rather, questions from the WXR attendees, who were aboard the Independence of the Seas with us (the answers to these questions are secreted away in the audio file…): During revision, when do you think it’s acceptable to throw the whole thing out?
Writing Excuses has lots of great and SHORT episodes. I like how this episode breaks down some of the last things you should be considering when finishing up your manuscript revisions.
STORY MAKERS PODCAST, podcast
ABOUT THE EPISODE: Best-selling author of three novels and two story collections, Ann Packer sat down with us to talk about writing for herself on her own schedule, about two different kinds of revision, about having a sense of the emotional shape of a book before she begins.
This podcast episode has a lot of perspectives on the DIFFERENT ways that people revise; whether you revise by yourself, in a community with beta readers, or with your editor or literary agents.
WATCH ME EDIT MY MEMOIR, video
I made a video breaking down my editing process for my current novel. This book has been a journey that started in 2014 and is still ongoing now. I think it’s always helpful to have writers/authors explain their processes.
THE EZRA KLEIN SHOW, podcast
ABOUT THE EPISODE: Revision like this is often necessary, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Making fundamental changes to the way we think, speak and act requires the kind of self-scrutiny, discomfort and sacrifice that many of us would rather avoid.
There are few public figures who model revision — of one’s work and one’s life — as openly and honestly as Kiese Laymon. Laymon has written the prizewinning memoir “Heavy” as well as essays for The New York Times, ESPN and the Oxford American. His nonfiction tackles sports, popular culture, the politics of literary publishing and, above all, his home state of Mississippi. On every page, you’ll find wit, but also heart-stopping vulnerability and a reckoning with tough love: for himself, his kin, his community and the complicated places where he has spent his life.
Laymon has mastered the art of revising his own words. But for him, revision is also a moral, even a spiritual, act — a crucial part of becoming a loving and responsible human being. He is the first to admit that he is a work in progress, that each period of his life is a draft that can be improved. In a way, Laymon thinks of his entire life as an act of revision. And he nurtures a radical hope that America can change for the better, too.
This conversation focuses on how Laymon thinks about revision. But it also considers how he navigates a publishing world that often puts pressure on minority-group artists to suppress their full identities to appeal to white audiences, the way his writing pushes the boundaries of conventional genre and canon, why Americans have such a hard time reassessing ourselves and what we can gain from trying to change.
THE STACKS, podcast
ABOUT THE EPISODE: The Stacks is thrilled to welcome Kiese Laymon to the show. If you're a longtime fan of the podcast, you've heard Kiese mentioned countless times from authors and readers alike. Kiese is an author (Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America), essayist, and professor at The University of Mississippi. Today we discuss living revision, writing sentences, crafting nonfiction and the depths of fiction. Then we get into Kiese's favorite books, you'll want to get your TBR ready!
ALEXA DONNE’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL, video
If you haven’t checked out the writing videos of longtime Authortuber, Alexa Donne, then you should! I watch her videos all the time and find much value in them.