What to Expect From a Developmental Edit

You've put months into this manuscript. Maybe years. And now you're sitting with a question you're almost afraid to ask out loud: does it work?

Not "is it good enough to share with friends" type of good. Actually good. Structurally sound, emotionally resonant, worth a reader's time. The kind of good that might get a yes from an agent.

That's what you're really hoping a developmental editor will tell you. You're also wondering: what if she says it isn't there yet?

The First Step Happens Before I Read a Single Word

When I get a manuscript, I don't start with the pages. I ask the writer to complete a Mini Blueprint and an Inside Outline first.

Then I wait.

What comes back tells me more than the manuscript ever could on its own. If she moves through the exercises with confidence, I can see she knows her story. If she struggles, I already know where the gaps are before I've read a single chapter. Either way, I go into the read with context I couldn't get any other way.

Once I have both documents, I read the manuscript straight through. I only get one chance to read it as a regular reader, without my editorial eye getting in the way, and I don't want to waste it. That first read is the closest I'll ever get to experiencing the story the way your future readers will.

The Inside Outline tells me what the writer thinks her story is doing: the goal, the stakes, the shape of the arc. When I finish reading, I compare what's on the page to what she told me was there. The gap between those two things, when there is one, is usually where we start.

What I'm Actually Looking For

As I read, I'm tracking the same handful of questions on every manuscript:

• Does the story start too early, or too late?
  
• Is there real conflict? Does the protagonist have a goal, and is there a force working against it?
  
• Does one scene lead to the next through cause and effect, or do events just happen with no connection between them? This is the fastest way to lose a reader. Without narrative drive, they feel lost even when they can't say why.
  
• Is anything at stake? Does the resolution land, or does the story problem go unresolved so the ending falls flat?
  
• Are there subplots, secondary characters, or points of view that aren't earning their place? Info dumps, extraneous description, writing that's pulling focus?
  

These aren't unusual problems. They're the common ones. Almost every manuscript I read has two or three of them, and naming them is the first step toward fixing them.

What Lands in Your Inbox

When the edit is done, you get a written report that breaks down what's working and what needs attention, organized by priority so you know where to focus first. The report includes specific suggestions on structure and solutions for every issue I identify.

For a Manuscript Evaluation, you also get a 60-minute Zoom call to walk through the report together and 30 days of email support after delivery.

For a Developmental Edit, you get all of that plus notes and feedback on each chapter, inline comments directly in your manuscript, and a 90-minute Zoom call instead of 60 minutes.

Both services give you a clear picture of where your story stands and a concrete path forward.

When the Feedback Is Hard to Hear

I delivered a report for a client who came to me asking for a manuscript evaluation, and the news wasn't what she expected. Her story wasn't on the page yet. It still needed to be shaped into one.

That was hard to hear when she had already put months into the manuscript. So I told her what I tell every writer in that position: read the report and the attached documents, your Mini Blueprint and Inside Outline with my comments, and let it sit for a couple of days. Then come back, read it again, take notes, write down your questions, and let's get on a call to talk through what I found and what comes next.

I also gave her specific steps she could take on her own, along with the option to keep working with me or find the right fit elsewhere. If she decided to continue working with me, that's where I put on the coach's hat. What she did with the report was her call. My job was to make sure she had what she needed to make it.

What a Developmental Edit Won't Do

A developmental edit won't rewrite your manuscript. What it will do is give you an honest picture of where your story stands and specific next steps so you can decide what to do next, whether that's revising on your own or working with a coach.

The work belongs to you, start to finish. The version of this that gives you the most satisfaction is the one where you look at the finished manuscript and know you built it, in your own voice and style, one piece at a time, with someone in your corner while you did.

Ready to Find Out What Your Manuscript Needs?

If you're getting ready to send your manuscript out for feedback, or you're not sure if it's ready yet, the best next step is a conversation. Take a look at my fiction book coaching and developmental editing services and let's figure out together what your story needs right now.
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Not sure a developmental edit is the right call yet? Start with book coach vs. editor: which do I need, or go back to how much a book coach costs if budget is what's holding you back.