When a Manuscript Isn’t Ready for Development

Several times recently, colleagues have asked what to do when a manuscript isn’t in shape for a developmental edit. Maybe there are obvious issues that the author needs to correct that the don’t require a full edit—a lighthearted romance that weighs in at 200,000 words, an unfinished draft, a first draft.

Basically these editors want to know how to tell a potential client to come back later. The short answer is: say something like, “I recommend X [trimming 100,000 words, finishing the draft, revising the draft] before you pay for editing. Here is RESOURCE and RESOURCE.”

Providing a little bit of help is good karma, plus it encourages the author to return to you later, as you are someone who is obviously easy to work with.

The long answer is, my goodness, don’t turn away a potential paying client merely because their manuscript isn’t ready for a developmental edit! Consider other alternatives, like providing discovery draft feedback or manuscript evaluation.

The Getting-Ready-for-an-Editor Process

What we might call the “getting ready for an editor process” may seem obvious to you, and if you’re a writer, it may be how you work: you write and revise your novel, trying to apply the skills you’ve learned over the years—plotting, character development, world-building—until you can’t see how to make the story any better without help. Only when you’ve done all you know how to do would you think about hiring an editor.

I can tell when I’ve reached this stage because my revision process is starting to consist of adding in commas and taking them out again.

As an editor I’ve come to learn that this process is not how all writers work. In fact, it is apparently not even all that common. Often writers will get a draft written and think that now’s the time for an editor to help them make sure they’re on the right track. And they’re not necessarily wrong about this! Getting an editorial eye early on can prevent an author from getting stuck in endless revisions that don’t improve the story. (More on this aspect in a moment.)

Alternatives to Traditional Developmental Editing

When a manuscript isn’t ready for editing – and by “ready for editing” I mean if the author has sent along an early draft and it has obvious beginner problems such as no clear conflict and not much of a plot, then a full developmental edit is overkill. What the author needs is some guidance regarding how to write a story, not how to revise one.

If I know this ahead of time, I can offer options. I can provide a discovery draft review (where I point out promising elements of the manuscript and suggest possible directions the story could take) or a manuscript evaluation/assessment (a revision letter outlining the main problems with the ms with suggestions regarding how to fix it, but with no line edits/ms queries). Manuscript evaluation works best for completed drafts that have big problems like no clear conflict and nonexistent character development. Discovery draft review works best for incomplete manuscripts where the AU is stuck, or complete manuscripts where the material is underdeveloped (or the AU has accreted so much material it’s hard to find the story).

Both of these approaches are less time-intensive then full developmental editing, so it costs less than a full DE, which the ms/author isn’t ready for anyway.

Looking at the ms before providing a projects quote helps me determine what services to offer and how to ensure that the author and I have the same expectations of the edit. In other words, it doesn’t really matter what shape the ms is in as long as I see it before I finalize my project quote.

Sometimes the shape of the ms is so pitiful that I will provide a list of resources and a suggestion to come back when they’ve figured out what story they’re trying to tell but this is rare. I can usually do something.

Coaching for the Author’s Process

Authors with unfinished drafts often need help moving forward but editors often don’t know quite what to do with an incomplete ms.

I work with a lot of nonfiction authors who want to write fiction. They will often come to me very early in the process needing help working out their ideas. They’re used to planning their mss ahead of time, since that’s common in nonfiction, and they want help in figuring out how to make the plot work or how to amp up the conflict, etc.

So, I’m not going to do full development with those people, because they don’t have a full ms for me to work with. I typically work out some sort of coaching arrangement, which I usually charge in hourly increments, and I’ll respond to outlines, chapters as they are written, hop on the phone for brainstorming, etc.

We work out the details in advance and I do a lot of boundary-setting so everyone knows what to expect.

For these reasons, I don’t ever use language limiting when in their process that writers can reach out to me. Once they have, I work with them to figure out what they need at this point and whether I’m the right editor to help them.

Much of the time I’m not, not least because I charge a lot and for indie authors this doesn’t always make economic sense. Other times, the author is writing in a genre I don’t know enough about (horror) or has subject matter I don’t edit (graphic violence). But I do make referrals to other editors (many colleagues have made referrals to me over the years and this is how I keep those good vibes going).