19.07: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Intention
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2024
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For our second episode in this three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo novel—or any other larger project you have—we are diving into intentions with Tor editor Ali Fisher. We asked her how she helps writers figure out what their books are about, and how she helps set intentions for revisions.
Ali talks with us about how its important to be kind to yourself -- and your writing-- during the revision process. She also gives us advice for how you, as a writer, can lean into what you do well.
Homework:
From editor Ali Fisher: write down what you like best about your book. Find a spot in your book where you can incorporate that element where it isn't now.
Thing of the Week:
I Will Not Die Alone by Dera White, illustrated by Joe Bennett
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, and Ali Fisher. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
Join Our Writing Community!
Sign up for our newsletter:
Our Sponsors:
* Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donations
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends. |
| 0:05.6 | If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit |
| 0:08.9 | www.patreon.com slash writing excuses. |
| 0:15.0 | Season 19 episode 7 |
| 0:20.0 | This is writing excuses. |
| 0:22.0 | A mini series on revision with Ali Fisher editing for intention. |
| 0:27.0 | I'm Mary Robinette. |
| 0:28.0 | I'm Don Juan. |
| 0:29.0 | And I'm Ali. |
| 0:31.0 | And we are delighted to have Alley Fisher back with us for this episode where we're going to be talking about intention. |
| 0:39.0 | And this is like how you're approaching the editing editing when you're not thinking about the links, but |
| 0:45.2 | thinking about really focusing to make the book more of the book that you want it to be. |
| 0:51.6 | There's a thing that Edgar |
| 0:54.0 | L. Po said that I referenced in our last episode |
| 0:56.0 | about writing and editing for unity of effect. |
| 1:00.0 | And that is, in his view, what is the emotion that you want to leave the reader with and that's a |
| 1:06.8 | something that I share as well and I think I have certainly heard both of you talk about that quite a bit, like thinking about what effect you want to have on the reader with the book. |
| 1:19.0 | So what are some of the questions that you ask your authors when you're trying to get them to focus their book. |
| 1:25.0 | Absolutely. |
| 1:26.0 | When I'm approaching a manuscript, so much of what I'm doing in the initial past |
| 1:31.6 | is trying to make sure I understand very clearly what the author was |
| 1:36.0 | intending to accomplish, right? What was the unity effect that they were going for? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.