Good
storytelling can accomplish many things:
- Brings fresh insights about
what motivates people.
- Causes us to consider the
changes life brings and how we feel about them or how we might respond or
react to them.
- Causes us to look at lies,
truth, and motive in, perhaps, a new way.
- Gives us windows to peer into that reveal more about humanity and human
nature than we’ve previously known or considered.
- Allows us to vicariously
experience inner and outer sensations, to use our senses while sitting
still.
- Lets our imaginations play
and feel good about doing so.
- Lets us witness restorations—including
of love, balance, justice.
- Makes us laugh out loud.
- Its use of words and phrases
can cause us to pause and reflect or use a highlighter to mark a passage
that speaks to us.
- We can wear our “who-done-it” cap and try to solve the mystery.
- Lets us observe
contradictions and conflicts with our feet safely tucked under us and a soothing
mug of steaming tea nearby.
- Takes us into beauty, as well
as into its opposite.
- Relates our own life
experiences to those of the characters or to imagine ourselves as the characters
in unfamiliar circumstances or realms.
A good
story can do these and more, but it must be told well. This involves not just
the words and how they are sequenced, but the technical matters such as correct
punctuation, proper paragraphing, scene breaks, plot and character development,
flow, dialogue that also includes actions so that characters are not just
talking heads.
It must
answer questions for readers that the plot has presented, and must wrap up the story
in a way that satisfies even if all indications are that a sequel will be
needed (or, hopefully, desired by readers).
It must
have enough description but not so much that it detracts from the experience
and flow.
It must
have balance between narrative, dialogue (when appropriate to the story), and
action.
It must
stay real, which even science fiction
and fantasy must adhere to within their created worlds.
Whether a
story is fiction, non-fiction, or a memoir, a good story told well takes us
into a world we wish to visit, even if not to live in, so we have experiences,
gain knowledge or wisdom, or are entertained in a way that is pleasing,
enjoyable, or meaningful for us. This is what you want to give to your readers,
as well as to yourself as a writer.
What Kind of Editing Will You
Need?
Sometimes
you need more than basic editing, which is called Developmental Editing, to
assist you with plot and character development, as well as other creative and
technical matters. I particularly enjoy this service when the writer’s story has
“good bones.” Know this: most new-writer manuscripts need this service,
especially first drafts; and when I see in the sample chapters sent to me that
Developmental Evaluation (a critique) is needed instead, because the manuscript
needs substantial revision, I advise
clients to go for that service, unless they really want me to do an overhaul
for them, which I can, though it’s labor-intensive.
Developmental
Evaluation is also beneficial for non-fiction and memoirs, which sometimes need
structure re-organization: the story is not told in the best order for the most
impact or is confusing to read. It doesn’t help if your story makes sense to
you but not to readers. Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes.
Timing: New writers typically don’t know
to anticipate that time may or will be involved to get their manuscript into final
form, meaning into proper shape to self-publish or submit to an agent or
publisher. This timing all depends on how much work their manuscript needs. Manuscripts
generally need more than one revision. Even best-sellers go through multiple
revisions.
The entire
process of manuscript to retail product is an involved but fascinating one. You
can learn a lot about what it takes from start to finish for an idea to become
a book, and benefit greatly from what you learn, especially if you intend to
keep writing.
Have a
question? Contact me at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/
and I’ll blog about it.
I wish
you the best with your writing and process.
Joyce
Shafer
Services
for Writers
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