Alyssa Matesic

It's like repainting a car that has no engine. It looks great, but it doesn’t actually drive.

That's why I like editing from "big to small."

First, focus on all the foundational story elements and ensure they're landing.

Some tough love I give my editing clients:

Pretty sentences won't fix a broken story.

When you first start revising your draft, there's no use making every sentence sparkle. Because those lines might be heavily revised, moved, or cut entirely!

If you're experiencing a creative block, I know a guaranteed way to overcome it:

Take a break.

But not just any kind of break. (No scrolling on your phone for two hours.)

Here are 3 tips for taking an intentional, creatively restorative break. 🧘‍♀️

Most Authors Don't Know This Bestseller Secret What's behind the blockbuster success of recent novels like People We Meet on Vacation and The Housemaid? It's not just the plot or the writing — it’s nonlin...

What's behind the success of novels like People We Meet on Vacation and The Housemaid?

It’s not just the prose, the characters, or the plot.

It’s how the authors manipulate time to keep readers hooked.

In this video, I reveal how you can apply this trick to your story. 📚

youtu.be/GSWj6xfC8wg

It certainly wasn't easy, but I'm so glad that I opened a new chapter in my life by writing a book.

How has writing a book changed your life?

"I proved I can achieve a difficult goal, let’s set another one."

When you do something this difficult once, you build the confidence to take on other difficult things — both inside and outside of writing.

You start thinking: What else could I do, now that I’ve done this?

You can query agents. You can self-publish. You can write another book. You can switch genres. You can build an audience around your stories or share your writing journey to inspire others.

Even if you choose not to show this book to another soul, you can say:

5️⃣ I’ve unlocked new possibilities

By writing a book, you’ve opened a dozen doors that didn’t
even exist before.

If you shared any part of your journey — on social media, in a writing group, or in a personal conversation — then you’ve likely inspired someone else already.

By spending hours deep in your book’s world, you unearthed parts of yourself you didn’t even know were there. You discovered ideas you didn’t even know you had. You put pieces of yourself on the page and saw them in a new light.

And I’m not so convinced you haven’t impacted anyone else.

4️⃣ I’ve impacted someone

Even if zero people have read your book yet, the first person your story impacts is you.

That’s not to say that you won’t run into roadblocks with your next projects — you certainly will — but you’ll come to each book from here on out more assured of yourself and your ability.

I didn’t keep up my writing schedule. I wrote sections that I ended up cutting completely. I struggled to make sure my tone was cohesive with my coauthor’s.

But that’s the thing: nothing teaches you how to write like actually writing.

It’s a muscle that only gets stronger if you train it.

3️⃣ I made mistakes and learned from them

Even though I’ve worked in the book industry my entire adult life, I made a million mistakes when writing my book.

It’s such a vulnerable thing to put your thoughts, ideas, and story into the world.

And that’s frankly why most people never do it. But I’m so glad I did.

Word by word, you built an entire world. If you’re writing fiction, you breathed life into characters who didn’t exist until you imagined them.

If you’re writing nonfiction, you turned raw thought into a cohesive narrative that can change people’s minds and hearts.

2️⃣ I created something out of nothing

It’s easy to forget how powerful it is to CREATE in a world that asks us to CONSUME constantly. And by writing a book, you created something from nothing.

And I think that simple decision to keep writing despite the doubt and discomfort builds a quiet strength.

It was a bunch of late nights alone with my laptop, rereading my words over and over again, doubting every single one of them, running up to wire on my self-imposed deadline.

Finishing a book requires an immense amount of perseverance, dedication, and effort.

1️⃣ It proved I can do hard things

Most people romanticize the process of writing, thinking it’ll be a series of dreamy creative sessions where you’re at a desk in a gorgeous location with the words just pouring out of you.

But that's not what happened to me.

When these thoughts creep in, I try to reflect on all the ways I’ve changed — for the better — since writing my book.

Even if no one reads it, the process alone was worth it.

Here are the five ways writing a book has changed my life in ways I never even imagined. ⤵️

I wrote my very first book last year, and now that the release date is approaching, I’m excited for sure, but also…nervous. 😬

Is anyone even going to read it?
Will people find it valuable?
Or did I just waste a ton of time?

Which part of the editing process do you enjoy the most?

And honestly...I'm not the best person to sort out nitty-gritty grammar issues! That's because all of us editors have distinct talents and skills.

I'm a developmental editor who comes in at the first phase. And I LOVE working at this big-picture level to help writers deliver a strong emotional experience for the reader.

✏️ Developmental Editing: Shaping big-picture story elements like plot, pacing, and character arcs.
✏️ Line Editing: Refining the flow and clarity of the writing.
✏️ Copy Editing: Correcting grammar, spelling, and consistency issues.
✏️ Proofreading: The final check before publication.

Before it hits the shelf, a manuscript will go through multiple levels of editing, each serving a unique purpose.

If needed, it will go through multiple rounds of the same type of edit.

You'll also often work with different editors who specialize in the given phase you're in.

But many people (and writers) don't understand ALL the phases of editing that a book goes through and underestimate how much work happens before the proofreading stage.

So, let's break the editing process down! ⬇️

One of my biggest peeves when I tell people I'm an editor:

"Oh, so you catch typos! Can you proofread my ___?"

Editing a book is so much more than correcting grammar and spelling (though that is absolutely important too).