What is development editing?

Let’s imagine novel writing is like growing a garden.

Now let’s imagine you have prepared a beautiful bit of land, sewn seeds, nurtured new life and you want other people to come and enjoy it too.

You stand back and decide the space is ready for visitors. You throw a welcome party and send out many invitations. On the big day, however, only a handful of close friends and family attend and although they compliment you, in time, no one returns to the garden, and no new visitors arrive either.

So, you hire a professional gardener to come and help you work out why the garden has not proved to be popular place. The gardener points out that unruly thorns ready to snag, paths that go no where, water features that don’t work and hidden holes in the ground.

Many authors will self-edit as they begin to draft and flesh out their manuscript, rewriting sections as they go. When it comes to structuring a novel, everyone is different in their approach. Some writers will have meticulously planned the story from beginning to end, some may make it up as they go along. Either way, sometimes it can be hard to see the snag points, the dead ends, the broken bits or holes in the plot.

A dedicated, thorough, experienced and educated editor can help you see where pruning is needed, paths can be rerouted,
Is the overall story good as it is? Does it make sense? Are there plot holes or inconsistencies? Is it paced well? Are the characters believable?

Just as no garden can thrive and be welcoming without careful tending, weeding and tidying, no novel should go to publication without a thorough edit.