This week on Substack: my favourite editing trick that you can do too!
Here’s the Best Editing Trick in the Book
How to reverse-outline your novel
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Abigail Fenton
@abifenton.bsky.social
Literary Agent at The Ampersand Agency Freelance developmental editor and book coach 🌐 www.abigailfenton.co.uk ✍🏻 https://substack.com/@abigailfentoneditorial
Struggling to get over the final hurdle? Here's why you might be getting full manuscript requests but no offers of rep:
Why You’re Getting Full Manuscript Requests – But No Offers of Rep
How to get your manuscript over the line
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
On Substack this week: why YOU should be in charge of your plot, and not a fairy godmother.
Don’t Mistake Wish Fulfilment for Plot
When coincidence and wish fulfilment cover for bad plotting
open.substack.com
I talk a lot about having the right question for your novel – both to get you to the end of writing it and to get readers to keep turning the pages. Here's what it looks like when your question isn't strong enough – and how to improve it.
If Your Novel's Question Fits Twenty Different Novels, It Isn't Strong Enough
But here's how to fix it
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Got lots of plot but it still feels like nothing is happening? I unpick why here:
This Is Why Nothing Happens in Your Novel
(Even When Lots Is Happening)
open.substack.com
Some thoughts from coaching calls/edits I have done recently – what it looks like when there are too many POVs in your novel (and how to fix it).
Here’s What it Looks Like When You Have Too Many POVs in Your Novel
And how to fix it
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Struggling to know if your manuscript is ready to query? Here are five specific problem areas you'll want to check to make sure you're good to go!
Your Manuscript Isn’t Ready to Query Yet – and Here’s Why
Five specific problem areas you’ll want to check before you query
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Building a successful twist starts earlier than you think... Read more on this week's Substack!
Write Your Novel in 2026 Part Six: How to Give Your Twist Maximum Impact
Why you can’t just plonk a twist on the end of your novel and hope for the best
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
How traditional publishing decides what to publish – and why that isn't necessarily the 'best' books. On my Substack now!
The Best Books Do Not Always Get Published
Here’s why – and how traditional publishing decides what to publish
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
This week on Substack: insight from my submissions inbox! Here are three common reasons I turn down manuscripts, and how you can fix your own work:
Secrets from My Submissions Inbox
The three most common reasons I turn down manuscripts – and how to fix the underlying problems
open.substack.com
If you're querying and want to know when to keep going and when to revise your manuscript – I can help!
When to Keep Querying and When to Revise
What agents’ responses can tell you about where your manuscript needs work
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Subplots should feel woven into your story, not just stuck on. Here’s how to identify a subplot that isn’t working yet, and make sure it supports and uplifts your overarching plot.
Write Your Novel in 2026 Part Five: Why Your Subplot Isn’t Working Yet
How to Make Sure Your Subplot Isn’t Just an Add-on
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
On editing: why getting big edit suggestions doesn’t mean your novel is wrong, and how to be receptive to changes (without having to make them all).
Editing Doesn’t Mean Your Novel is Wrong
But you are wrong if you think you don’t need to edit it
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Here's something I see come up again and again in submissions: a great plot, but a protagonist who isn't ready for it. Here's how to diagnose and fix it. abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/why-your-p...
Why Your Protagonist Isn’t Ready for Their Own Story Yet
The best plot in the world won’t work if your protagonist isn’t ready
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
If you're experiencing the Sticky Middle of a novel draft, here are some tips for diagnosing and fixing the problem.
Your Middle is Broken Because Your Beginning Doesn’t Work
How to diagnose a sticky middle – and how to fix it
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
World-building is not just for fantasy authors – here's how to make your novel's world come to life, without info-dumping!
World-building for Every Genre
It’s not just for fantasy
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
This week on Substack: how to weave in all the senses to make your writing as impactful as possible!
Using All Your Senses for Gripping Writing
It just makes sense
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
This week on Substack: quick tips to level up your novel draft, wherever you are in the writing process!
Five Quick Ways to Level Up Your Manuscript
Wherever you are in the writing process
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
On narrators who aren’t quite telling the whole story… (Warning: watch out for the spoiler alerts at the top!)
Unreliable Narrators
Or how to hoodwink your reader
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
What agents and editors mean when they say a book 'doesn't fit the market' – and how to make sure your book does:
What We Mean When We Talk About ‘Fitting the Market’
And how to do it
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
My latest post – on plotting for pantsers (not for panthers, as my autocorrect kept insisting): abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/plotting-f...
Plotting for Pantsers
How to plan a novel without tying yourself down
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
If you're in the query trenches, here is the secret to a query letter that makes me desperate to read your pages – and what the letters of the authors I've signed so far had in common.
Query Letters that Make Me Sit Up and Take Notice
And those that don’t
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
If your new year's resolution is to write a novel, I have a Substack series for you! Step by step I'll walk you through – whether you're yet to start or partway through and stuck, if you want to finish a novel this year then come and join us! abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/write-your...
Write Your Novel in 2026 Part One: What Story Are You Telling?
If you want to write a novel this year, let’s get it done!
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Ready to write a novel? This week on Substack I wrote about making the time for your writing. If 2026 is the year you want to write a novel, come and subscribe to get advice and help month by month to get you from your opening lines to writing ‘The End’!
What to Do When You Don’t Have Time to Write
And planning to write your novel in 2026!
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Coming to the end of your draft and need to craft a satisfying ending? My latest Substack will help! abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/what-to-do...
What to Do When You Don’t Know How to End Things
And a competition for paid subscribers
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Exactly what it says on the tin: why literary agents turn things down but can't give feedback (about which I will forever feel guilty) abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/why-i-turn...
Why I Turn Down Submissions
And why I don’t give feedback, by a literary agent
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
This week on Substack I wrote about what to do when you get stuck. If you're staring at a blinking cursor and don't know what your characters should do next, these tips will help! abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/what-to-do...
What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Write Next
On writer’s block, getting stuck, and finding a way forward
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
A new Substack series (of sorts!): What to Do When... This week it's What to Do When You Don't Know Where to Start, and are faced with an overwhelming blank page. abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/what-to-do...
What to Do When You Don’t Know Where to Start
And getting past the dreaded blank page!
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
Multiple timelines can add layers of narrative complexity and depth to your novel – here's how to handle them without getting in a tangle abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/how-to-mak...
How to Make a Dual-Timeline Novel Work
Adding layers, not confusion
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com
New Substack post! If your plots twists aren't hitting hard enough yet, here are some tips on making sure they have emotional heft behind them: abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/great-plot...
Great Plot, No Emotion
Why plot twists fall flat
abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com