ON YOUR FIRST NOVEL? THEN WORK WITH A DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR
The following piece is taken from my book:
How to Get Better Reviews for Your First Novel: 11 Convos on the Basics of Fiction Writing
SO, WHO EXACTLY ARE DEVELOPMENTAL EDITORS, AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
A developmental editor is a professional who knows when a story is working and when it is not. Developmental editors are literary experts with many years of experience as analytical readers of fiction. The sweetest part is that developmental editors know how to guide you in making your stories the best they can possibly be. When a manuscript is accepted by a traditional publishing house, the first editor that would be assigned to work with its author would be a D.E. This individual’s job would be to help that author push their writing—to improve on it until it becomes good enough to be made into a novel destined to SELL and rack up very favorable reviews.
Do you want to guess which category of writers rarely use developmental editors? The ones that self-publish. Sadly, many in this group are not aware of this type of editing. As a result, there are thousands of badly written self-published novels out there. Lack of developmental editing is one of the reasons some continue to conclude that the word ‘self-published’ is synonymous with mediocrity. It is, of course, an unfair analogy since there have been several self-published novels that were so good, big publishing houses have snatched them up and contracted their authors. Two such novels are The Martian by Andy Weir and Legally Blond by Amanda Brown. Both became movies.
Should you work with a D.E., your manuscript turned into a novel, is likely to be assessed as a well-thought-out book and stands to receive favorable reviews. At this point, however, you may be thinking, ‘But I already have a beta reader. Why should I work with whatever a developmental editor is? What’s the big difference?’ (NOTE: A beta reader may be someone—a friend or a neighbor—you’ll probably ask to read your novel’s manuscript and suggest improvements before you publish.)
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BETA READERS & DEVELOPMENTAL EDITORS
Some beta readers are not very reliable at being objective critics of manuscripts. Developmental editors are. A beta reader, at worst, might be that good friend or colleague who has only a limited understanding of what good writing is. A developmental editor, on the other hand, is an expert at analyzing manuscripts and guiding writers, through conferencing with them, to fix their work; the D.E. knows they must deliver for the editing fee charged. A beta reader can sometimes lose objectivity and guide you to write their story instead of helping you perfect your story. Not so with developmental editors. When you work with one, that D.E. will be helping you to tell your stories the best way you can. And then there are the beta readers who will return your manuscript with no changes recommended and a ton of praises for it. The D.E. you work with, however, will isolate the flaws in your story and send you notes that will help you to come up with fixes. Beginning writers, planning to self-publish, need to be wary of non-literary beta readers who may just be people who read bad books and love them. Mind you! I’m not saying a flat-out ‘no’ to beta readers, I’m just saying that when you rely exclusively on them, you place yourself on a slippery slope at the bottom of which, one-star reviews await.
INCULCATING THE MINDSET OF A D.E.
As a self-publishing novelist, you need to think like a one-person traditional publisher. You need to regard your manuscript as if it’s one you have just accepted from someone else whose writing ability you’re doubtful about. You must endeavor to put your own manuscript through a rigorous editing process as a traditional publisher would: Get it edited for development, get it copy-edited, and finally, get it proofread. But since this conversation deals primarily with developmental editing, I’ll take you on a tour of what happens to a manuscript in that specific department.
With your manuscript in the hands of a developmental editor, that individual looks at your beginning to see if it arrests and intrigues; the dramatic development in it would be examined as well as the pace of it. The D.E. reads to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, to feel the echoes of life in your fiction. After critically reading your work, that D.E. will provide you notes that will help you rethink and rewrite things to help you push your story to its most effective draft.
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH A D.E.
After the manuscript of my first novel, APATA: The Story of a Reluctant Criminal was accepted by Heinemann Educational Books of London, my developmental editor read the manuscript and questioned things that gave him pause. There were times when he won me over on a point and caused me to either rewrite something or delete it altogether, and so we progressed. A developmental editor will know when you are overwriting or underwriting at any point in your story. I recall being cautioned about a passage where I described a South American location in gushing, poetic prose as if from a John Steinbeck novel. ‘Harold,’ my D.E. wrote, ‘it is obvious you love that location. Restrain yourself, however, with your description of it. It’s too much!’ There was also another point in my novel where I warned, at length, that policemen are in danger of being contaminated by the evil vibrations they battle. ‘Harold, he wrote, ‘don’t distract yourself and readers with metaphysical discourses and in the process, lose the thread of your story.’
My D.E. made critical comments and asked questions. Through his input, I was able to fine-tune aspects of the plot, character-motivation, settings, descriptions, etc. He kept me on my toes, and honest about myself and the story I was telling. Through our interactions, my manuscript became the best it could have been. It was a bitter-sweet experience—at times more bitter than sweet. I persevered, however, and in the end, I became a better writer and an avid believer in the developmental-editing process.
Every writer who is serious about their manuscript NEEDS to work with a developmental editor. William Maxwell Perkins (20 September 1884 to 17 June 1947) was the developmental editor who discovered and guided the literary talents of Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, among other writers. Wolfe wrote Look Homeward Angel; Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, and Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. (I’m sure you know the latter works. If not, get to know them. Why? When one reads critically acclaimed novels, one is exposed to effectively crafted fiction. This, in turn, rubs off on one. It is true that the more a writer reads the better a writer writes.)
THE REQUIRED MINDSET TO WORK WITH A D.E.
Good writers are always open to frank criticism. As writers, we need to be constantly mindful of our egos getting in the way of smooth relationships with developmental editors. Be aware: a D.E. will never tell you what to write to make anything in your manuscript better. You are the writer! Your D.E. will express a reservation about something. If you agree with them, you fix it; if you disagree, the astute developmental editor will give you the benefit of the doubt. As a writer, you will need to see your developmental editor as a mind-partner—that person who will be pushing you to see possibilities unthought-of in your own story. Good developmental editors help nudge writers to enhance their stories. Developmental editors also help at those times when something isn’t working but we don’t know exactly why.
(There was once a bestselling author whose soon-to-be-published novel was being promoted as a literary blockbuster to hit the shelves. What the unsuspecting public was unaware of, however, was that while the book was being hyped, the D.E. was still working with the writer—pushing him to the depths of his talent to make his manuscript the best it could have been.)
All fiction manuscripts benefit from developmental editing. The first-time fiction writer needs to see fiction writing in the same vein as filmmaking: a collaborative art. Make your fiction writing a joint creative project by working with a developmental editor; it does not take anything away from you since, as I said, a developmental editor NEVER tells you what to write. They might tell you where something needs to be stronger and leave you to add that strength. They might tell you that Character ‘A’ is not believable, why they feel that way, and leave you to imbue that character with authenticity.
How to Get Better Reviews for Your First Novel: 11 Convos on the Basics of Fiction Writing
SO, WHO EXACTLY ARE DEVELOPMENTAL EDITORS, AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
A developmental editor is a professional who knows when a story is working and when it is not. Developmental editors are literary experts with many years of experience as analytical readers of fiction. The sweetest part is that developmental editors know how to guide you in making your stories the best they can possibly be. When a manuscript is accepted by a traditional publishing house, the first editor that would be assigned to work with its author would be a D.E. This individual’s job would be to help that author push their writing—to improve on it until it becomes good enough to be made into a novel destined to SELL and rack up very favorable reviews.
Do you want to guess which category of writers rarely use developmental editors? The ones that self-publish. Sadly, many in this group are not aware of this type of editing. As a result, there are thousands of badly written self-published novels out there. Lack of developmental editing is one of the reasons some continue to conclude that the word ‘self-published’ is synonymous with mediocrity. It is, of course, an unfair analogy since there have been several self-published novels that were so good, big publishing houses have snatched them up and contracted their authors. Two such novels are The Martian by Andy Weir and Legally Blond by Amanda Brown. Both became movies.
Should you work with a D.E., your manuscript turned into a novel, is likely to be assessed as a well-thought-out book and stands to receive favorable reviews. At this point, however, you may be thinking, ‘But I already have a beta reader. Why should I work with whatever a developmental editor is? What’s the big difference?’ (NOTE: A beta reader may be someone—a friend or a neighbor—you’ll probably ask to read your novel’s manuscript and suggest improvements before you publish.)
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BETA READERS & DEVELOPMENTAL EDITORS
Some beta readers are not very reliable at being objective critics of manuscripts. Developmental editors are. A beta reader, at worst, might be that good friend or colleague who has only a limited understanding of what good writing is. A developmental editor, on the other hand, is an expert at analyzing manuscripts and guiding writers, through conferencing with them, to fix their work; the D.E. knows they must deliver for the editing fee charged. A beta reader can sometimes lose objectivity and guide you to write their story instead of helping you perfect your story. Not so with developmental editors. When you work with one, that D.E. will be helping you to tell your stories the best way you can. And then there are the beta readers who will return your manuscript with no changes recommended and a ton of praises for it. The D.E. you work with, however, will isolate the flaws in your story and send you notes that will help you to come up with fixes. Beginning writers, planning to self-publish, need to be wary of non-literary beta readers who may just be people who read bad books and love them. Mind you! I’m not saying a flat-out ‘no’ to beta readers, I’m just saying that when you rely exclusively on them, you place yourself on a slippery slope at the bottom of which, one-star reviews await.
INCULCATING THE MINDSET OF A D.E.
As a self-publishing novelist, you need to think like a one-person traditional publisher. You need to regard your manuscript as if it’s one you have just accepted from someone else whose writing ability you’re doubtful about. You must endeavor to put your own manuscript through a rigorous editing process as a traditional publisher would: Get it edited for development, get it copy-edited, and finally, get it proofread. But since this conversation deals primarily with developmental editing, I’ll take you on a tour of what happens to a manuscript in that specific department.
With your manuscript in the hands of a developmental editor, that individual looks at your beginning to see if it arrests and intrigues; the dramatic development in it would be examined as well as the pace of it. The D.E. reads to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, to feel the echoes of life in your fiction. After critically reading your work, that D.E. will provide you notes that will help you rethink and rewrite things to help you push your story to its most effective draft.
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH A D.E.
After the manuscript of my first novel, APATA: The Story of a Reluctant Criminal was accepted by Heinemann Educational Books of London, my developmental editor read the manuscript and questioned things that gave him pause. There were times when he won me over on a point and caused me to either rewrite something or delete it altogether, and so we progressed. A developmental editor will know when you are overwriting or underwriting at any point in your story. I recall being cautioned about a passage where I described a South American location in gushing, poetic prose as if from a John Steinbeck novel. ‘Harold,’ my D.E. wrote, ‘it is obvious you love that location. Restrain yourself, however, with your description of it. It’s too much!’ There was also another point in my novel where I warned, at length, that policemen are in danger of being contaminated by the evil vibrations they battle. ‘Harold, he wrote, ‘don’t distract yourself and readers with metaphysical discourses and in the process, lose the thread of your story.’
My D.E. made critical comments and asked questions. Through his input, I was able to fine-tune aspects of the plot, character-motivation, settings, descriptions, etc. He kept me on my toes, and honest about myself and the story I was telling. Through our interactions, my manuscript became the best it could have been. It was a bitter-sweet experience—at times more bitter than sweet. I persevered, however, and in the end, I became a better writer and an avid believer in the developmental-editing process.
Every writer who is serious about their manuscript NEEDS to work with a developmental editor. William Maxwell Perkins (20 September 1884 to 17 June 1947) was the developmental editor who discovered and guided the literary talents of Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, among other writers. Wolfe wrote Look Homeward Angel; Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, and Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. (I’m sure you know the latter works. If not, get to know them. Why? When one reads critically acclaimed novels, one is exposed to effectively crafted fiction. This, in turn, rubs off on one. It is true that the more a writer reads the better a writer writes.)
THE REQUIRED MINDSET TO WORK WITH A D.E.
Good writers are always open to frank criticism. As writers, we need to be constantly mindful of our egos getting in the way of smooth relationships with developmental editors. Be aware: a D.E. will never tell you what to write to make anything in your manuscript better. You are the writer! Your D.E. will express a reservation about something. If you agree with them, you fix it; if you disagree, the astute developmental editor will give you the benefit of the doubt. As a writer, you will need to see your developmental editor as a mind-partner—that person who will be pushing you to see possibilities unthought-of in your own story. Good developmental editors help nudge writers to enhance their stories. Developmental editors also help at those times when something isn’t working but we don’t know exactly why.
(There was once a bestselling author whose soon-to-be-published novel was being promoted as a literary blockbuster to hit the shelves. What the unsuspecting public was unaware of, however, was that while the book was being hyped, the D.E. was still working with the writer—pushing him to the depths of his talent to make his manuscript the best it could have been.)
All fiction manuscripts benefit from developmental editing. The first-time fiction writer needs to see fiction writing in the same vein as filmmaking: a collaborative art. Make your fiction writing a joint creative project by working with a developmental editor; it does not take anything away from you since, as I said, a developmental editor NEVER tells you what to write. They might tell you where something needs to be stronger and leave you to add that strength. They might tell you that Character ‘A’ is not believable, why they feel that way, and leave you to imbue that character with authenticity.
No comments have been added yet.
