Podcast: Terry Scheuer Has Concerns

Christy’s dad Terry joins us on the podcast, and he brought questions. Good ones. This episode ends up being something like a Writing 101 class, where we get to revisit some fundamental ideas about what makes literature “good,” what an editor actually does (and doesn’t do) to an author’s voice, and why writing a novel is a fundamentally different thing than telling a great story at a bar — even though both require you to hold someone’s attention.

Topics Covered

• How editors honor and preserve an author’s voice
• What even makes literature “good” — and who gets to decide
• The author’s “promise” to readers and why it matters
• Being creative within the confines of genre expectations
• Why writing a novel is not the same as telling a story at a bar

Shout Outs

• Terry Scheuer — our guest and champion question-asker
• Diana Ma — as always
• Nora Roberts — for being a masterclass in genre excellence
• Cormac McCarthy — for being Cormac McCarthy
• F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) — the classic that keeps coming up
• Susan Bell (The Artful Edit) — a fantastic book about the editing craft

Listen

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• iHeart Radio