Two weeks ago, I dove head first into my developmental edit for Chaos Wolf. It has been enlightening, to say the least.
I won’t subject your eyes to the sea of red I’m wading through. There are many comments that I’m in the process of absorbing. I’ve come to the conclusion that when I’m on, I am on. But when I am off, I am definitely off. I’m about equal parts on and off at the moment. I’m at about the half-way point. Right now I’m fixing the small things. There are comments that I have skipped over because I’m going to have to put a lot of thought into how to fix it, and I don’t want to vapor lock when I could be making progress.
In a case of synchronicity, I listened to a podcast earlier this week about developmental editors, and are they really necessary. In his opinion, they are not. A good “first reader” should be able to provide the same input and not cost you a thing.
I arched an eyebrow. Then I deleted that podcast from my phone. I have given my story to beta readers and first readers. While they have given me invaluable advice, they have not given me the in-depth information that my developmental editor has. And I can’t ask them to. They have helped point out problem areas. I do not expect them to go over the document with a fine-toothed comb, strengthening language the way this edit has done.
Perhaps with his writing process, he can do this. With my writing process, I cannot. I would not hesitate in recommending a developmental editor, such as Michelle Dunbar.