Development and Structure: Serving the Story

I had written what was essentially a second draft and I knew it needed work. I would have liked another go at it myself, but I had committed to a sending my manuscript to a developmental editor, and to be professional, I honored that commitment. I wasn't ready. Not only was the work not ready for that type of deep edit, I wasn't ready for how much work I would need to do when I got back my comments. A 50% rewrite was recommended.

Is your heart sinking at the thought of that? Mine certainly did. But it wasn't all bad. There were many good points made about my story in general, the premise, the descriptions, and most of the characters. What my editor recommended was that I work from an outline to help me simplify my plot, while deepening character motivation. They had goals, but individual motivations that readers would want to devote 300 pages to, remained elusive. So out came the index cards and the tiny notebooks. I started over with a new premise and went scene by scene, one character at a time. I think I was able to hang on to about 20%.

Maybe, you're asking what I mean by "able". No one made me rewrite 80% of it. Aren't I the writer? I am, and that means the final story rests with me. If I have weak characters and a convoluted plot, it's on me. Sure I could disagree with my editor, but if she saw these issues, I knew others would as well, and as a serious writer I don't want to pass off sub-par work as my best effort. So I chose to serve the story. The story needed fewer characters, with stronger motivations, and it demanded a simpler plot.

No amount of polish could have fixed my flawed story. This is why it's always a good idea to get that developmental edit early on in your drafts. Maybe not the second, as I did. Another run through on my own might have helped, but skipping it and going straight to a copyedit would have given me an expensive, polished mess. If a full developmental edit is not within your budget, consider a manuscript critique instead. It won't give you the detailed in-text comments, but it will bring your attention to any glaring issues with the characters and plot, and offer suggestions on how to best serve the story.