After a couple bouts of the flu, I’m finally able to plow through my manuscript after getting it back from a development editor.
What’s a development editor? Well, they look at plot, characterization, tone, ect. After you’ve built a house, they’re the first line of inspection so to speak. They’re going to tell you what works and what doesn’t. If your manuscript is suffering from an identity crisis (like mine). They’ll tell you. If they’re a great development editor, they’ll also give you the tools to take your manuscript to the next level, even if it means telling you to take the thing apart and start over.
As a writer, you have to develop thick skin. You have to be able to step back and look at your manuscript through someone else’s eyes. If you’re not willing to do this, then maybe you should just stick your manuscript in a drawer and start something new.
While I am starting something new, I don’t think this story belongs in a drawer (Well, maybe it does for a little while). Sometimes the best/freshest ideas come when you’re not thinking about them.
L.M. Elm, Historical Novelist 