Terrified of reading your work in public? You should be. You’re a writer, not an actor!
Unless of course you’re both. In which case you can stop reading now and do something else.
There are many intimidating moments in a writer’s life. Getting the first feedback on your novel, hearing back from agents or editors. Reading reviews. The horror!
Or having to stand up in public and read out your work. More horror!
While author events are more associated with the mainstream publishing industry, indie authors too can read their work to a live audience.
Some authors thrive in the spotlight, enjoying the opportunity to interact with readers or potential readers.
But for other authors, standing in front of an audience represents death by a thousand cuts.
It’s true that actors and musicians can be introverted in their private lives, then miraculously switch on for an audience. Prince would be an example of this – extroverted on stage, introverted and quiet-spoken in private.
It’s easier of course when you’ve had a lot of experience performing, or even some training.
Writers tend not to have any training in acting or performing.
Is it worth taking acting classes ahead of a reading? Possibly.
However, there are other ways to approach a reading. The obvious one would be to avoid reading in public altogether! But not so fast… You might want to scurry back into your author’s burrow, but that doesn’t get your work out to the public.
Plus, if you attend an author’s event as a writer, the audience has made the effort to turn up. So you might as well make the effort to entertain them – and no, I don’t mean by falling off the stage or giving the worst reading in the history of worst readings!
If you’ve been avoiding reading events, it’s time to develop some decent reading chops. No more sorry excuses. No more turning up to read, and quietly droning into the microphone until you finally get the damn thing over and sit down… hoping you didn’t humiliate yourself too much.
There is an answer to this problem and it comes in two words:
Anthony Hopkins
Yes, you’re going to get some important tips from a master of acting. And you don’t need to become a master of acting yourself to benefit from this advice.
In interviews, Anthony Hopkins has revealed he memorises his lines 250 times. He’s absorbing the text, ensuring that he really really knows it well. He describes 250 as a magical silly number. Yet something happens when he goes over the text so many times. By knowing the text so well, he has all the information he needs and his brain can relax.
He goes on to say in one interview that once you’re relaxed, you can go on the stage and improvise within that text. He describes ‘becoming so free you get into the zone‘. Once he’s memorised the script, he puts it aside. He also advises putting ego aside if possible, and managing emotions and remembering that less is more in a performance.
I’ve added some links below to interviews he’s given if you want to explore this some more. But the bottom line is that his advice can also apply to reading your own novel to an audience.
How to prepare for your readings in advance
This is very important. You should not start preparing just before a reading. Instead, you should start before your novel is even published. Going through the final draft, begin selecting passages you’d want to read to an audience. Most likely your opening pages, but you might have one or two other passages you also want to read.
It’s worth remembering that these passages should act as a hook to reel in potential readers in the audience.
Your reading is partly a marketing effort and it’s always worth remembering that.
Begin memorising the final draft of these passages. Follow Hopkins’ example and do it over and over it again, many times.
In the case of Hopkins, he’s absorbing the words to the point where the words are second nature, and this likely helps bring his facial expressions, body language and internal emotion into line with what he’s saying.
An author doesn’t need to memorise to the point where they go on a stage and recite without the novel in front of them. In the case of a reading, it’s about absorbing the language until the words become second nature.
You will be less likely to trip over words, lose your place on the page, and you will also likely become more immersed in the story. This in turn can help with feeling self-conscious.
It can also ward off the kind of physical tension that can kick in and restrict your voice. Nerves and reading in a formal setting can lead to tension in the throat. This in turn can lead to a tendency to drone.
But if you really know your material and can relax, you should find it easier to modulate tone and emotion in your voice.
There’s a difference between reading text that you’re just scanning from a page, and reciting something you know so well that you get swept up in it and your voice can better modulate emotion.
Rhythm, pauses, emphasis
Once you’ve really memorised the passages you’ve chosen, to the point where you could recite them in your sleep, play with pauses, word emphasis, speeding up and slowing down speech.
In a video essay on Anthony Hopkins, relating to a particular scene from Westworld, there’s an analysis of speed and pauses in his speech. I’ve linked to this video essay at the end of this blog post, so you can check it out for yourself.
You too can experiment with how to break down your text and where to emphasise a word, include a pause or even a gesture, etc. And you can use highlighters or underlines to help you remember, if necessary. Look also for rhythm. Try tapping it out where it’s important in a text, then use it as a guide to how you might read that line.
Costume
Of course the reading itself is only part of the deal. What do you look like? Are you like most writers – ie, do you look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards?
You might be tempted to buy new clothes for your reading. (Let’s face it, any excuse to buy new clothes is an opportunity not to be passed up.)
And there’s nothing wrong with splashing out on that eighteenth century dress in red silk brocade for your historical bodice ripper reading. In fact, the audience will never forget the effort you made.
Never.
They will remember it for years to come.
But remember that if you’re wearing uncomfortable new clothes or clothes that leave you feeling self-conscious, you are making things harder for yourself.
You can wear something different, including period costume, but make sure you walk around in those clothes (and shoes) a bit before you do your reading.
Wear them to the point where you hardly notice the way they fit on your body. Make sure they’re also comfortable enough for the reading.
It’s like costume rehearsals. The more comfortable you feel in your clothes, the less awkward you’ll feel on the stage. Own your costume, even if it’s just your usual jeans and sweater.
And another thing…
Own the stage
When you arrive at the venue, see if you can visit the stage and walk around it a bit. Get a feel for the space. Don’t be afraid of it.
Also, don’t huddle tightly into a small space behind the microphone or lectern when you’re performing. And stand up straight – body posture impacts emotions and your ability to project your voice.
Video and audio readings
Of course, you don’t have to turn up in person to do a reading. You could make a video – again, make sure you really know your text beforehand. If you’re camera shy, you could go straight to audio or use images that match your story to accompany your voice. This allows you to get more creative.
You can also post readings to social media – be aware that if you have Twitter verification, you can post much longer videos. The algorithms like video content.
Still terrified of reading your work in public?
While reading in public for the first time can be a frightening experience, it’s not unusual to get a post-reading thrill. You might even wish you could go up and do it again. It all depends on how it went.
And how your reading pans out will depend on the amount of preparation you put in.
Don’t leave things to the last minute and wing it.
Don’t see it as a painful rite of passage you have to go through for each book.
Learn your text, prepare, and give it your best shot. This is your chance to win over the audience – especially if you’re appearing alongside other writers.
Some of the audience will be there to see and hear someone else.
Make sure that when they leave, it’s YOU they’ll remember and talk about.
And if you’re interested in getting feedback on your novel, feel free to check out my services page. You can also contact me if you have a particular custom service in mind.
I recently read a domestic noir thriller in which a woman found herself with a new neighbour. The neighbour from hell. A woman out for revenge who wreaks havoc on the main character and her group of friends. I’m not going to name the book or the author because this blog is not meant to target them. Instead, I wanted to examine some of the issues in the novel that should have been picked up by a developmental editor. Because this is one example of what happens when publishers drop the ball and don’t do their job.
Since this novel had a mainstream publishing house, I’m assuming she had some level of editorial feedback regarding the story. But I also know, from reading a recent summary of a writing event, that editors and agents are finding themselves stretched. Inevitably, this will impact what happens to the books they promote.
The book in question has a good premise. It was also obvious to me that it might be the kind of book that would appeal to the likes of reading groups. This would definitely be in the author’s favour.
The problems were located in a number of areas:
rotating points of view that were not always clearly marked, leaving me a bit confused as to who I was following, and on consulting Goodreads I found out I wasn’t the only one
a main character who clearly felt she was drugged at some point, but never attempted to get herself tested
a main character who felt someone was breaking into her house regularly, yet she never got the locks changed
likewise, the MC did not attempt to leave any kind of surveillance device to catch the intruder on camera
when she finally gets a pair of bolts for her door, she finds she doesn’t have the right drill bit, so the bolts are not put on. Her house is still open to the intruder (who makes use of this) because there is no other attempt to keep the neighbour out
the MC’s best friend visits and is spooked by the antagonist, feels she’s seen the woman before, and promises to investigate when she returns to London. Then she never contacts the MC again. The MC texts her over and over, but doesn’t bother to call her work place to see if she’s okay, or even travel to London to find out. The woman is dead, but it’s a while before it’s revealed
the MC worked out the antagonist’s game (though not the motives), yet doesn’t turn the tables on her. Had she done so, it could have led to a pivot against the antagonist, where the MC briefly gains the upper hand and the antagonist is forced to up their game. This in turn would push up the stakes
once the MC realises the antagonist has killed her friend, and tried to kill someone else, she still takes pity on the antagonist at a key moment, thinking she’s just lonely, at which point the antagonist knocks her over the head and almost burns her to death. I had pretty much lost all sympathy for the protagonist at this point and thought she deserved whatever fate was coming to her
the MC’s character arc was extremely unsatisfying
the ending is also extremely unsatisfying
the MC’s friends are also (for reasons that are not entirely clear) targets for revenge, but since they don’t consult with each other, the shaky plot wagon rolls on
In fact, there were more problems than those listed above. The main character was extremely passive and even ended up thinking she somehow deserved the neighbour’s revenge. This was clearly not true. Meanwhile the neighbour’s motives were a complete let down.
Many reviewers on Goodreads were in agreement. They also pointed out that the book was longer than it needed to be, there were boring bits, and none of the characters were likeable.
I did indeed feel that there was no one to like, other than the dog.
Yet the publisher had majorly hyped the book on the cover, making claims it could not live up to. Something that some of the reviewers also pointed out.
A decent developmental editor could have flagged these issues, encouraging the writer to develop a better motive for revenge on the part of the antagonist, cut out the unnecessary scenes and chapters, better flag up who the viewpoint character is at any one time, and address the passivity and general cluelessness of the MC.
None of this would have meant completely changing the book either. It would have led to a tighter plot, with faster pacing, and a more credible protagonist and antagonist.
No one in their right mind would notice their house was regularly being entered without changing the locks. Especially if they know the neighbour once had their keys.
The novel’s plot rested on a lack of psychological credibility and character cluelessness. The antagonist is not an especially clever person, so it was hard to see how she managed to know so much about what everyone was getting up to – which she could later reveal out of revenge.
The plot rested on weak decisions, massive holes, and a rotating viewpoint that possibly helped divert attention from the problems at times. There were genuinely gripping points in the book, which is why it was ultimately a let down. None of it was necessary. This was a debut novel and the writer would have benefited from a developmental editor who could have walked them through the weaknesses so they could have eliminated them one by one.
Having said that, some readers have given the novel four or five stars. But it was the one to three star reviewers who really summed up my own observations.
As to the exact nature of the edit that would have improved things – even a manuscript critique would have listed the issues and pointed out what to do about them. A developmental edit would have included margin comments next to the relevant parts of the novel.
The writer’s book was certainly good enough to get a publisher. But the publisher didn’t do the necessary work. And that wasn’t fair to the author, the book or its readers. But if editors are stretched, it’s not surprising that this can happen.
Are you an author looking for feedback on your novel? Are you concerned about plot holes, lack of character credibility, confusing viewpoints, or a weak ending? You can check out my services page below. I offer opening chapters edits for those who want a chunk of their novel edited for an affordable price. Otherwise, you can opt for a manuscript critique or a full developmental edit.
Have you ever wondered if there are ways for you to check basic issues in your manuscript before you send your novel to an editor? While it’s impossible to see your manuscript in a fresh light (because you know too much about it), you can use a developmental self-editing checklist for authors. This means that you can ensure you’re aware of common issues and you can scan your work to correct them.
Because the more you fix some of the more basic problems, the more a developmental editor can focus on the more complex issues.
Too many basic problems in a novel will ensure the editor likely thinks you’re not yet ready for some of the more in-depth and detailed feedback.
So, let’s take this from the top and start with structure.
Structure
Here are the things you need to take note of:
Your word count
Whether your novel has chapters
If so, a breakdown of each chapter’s word count
The number of parts or sections in your book – for example, you might split your book into three parts
Now, either check or bear in mind (if you already know) the normal accepted word count ranges for your genre.
For example, fantasy novels can be very long.
If you’re publishing yourself, you don’t have to worry so much. But if your novel has a long word count it’s possible that it’s currently in an overwritten stage of development.
That’s fine because the most important thing to do earlier in the writing process is to get your story down and then worry about the editing and cutting later. Some people’s first and early drafts are bare bones which need fleshing out, and others are full of detail that will later need to be cut back. Either of these situations is absolutely normal and nothing to worry about.
In terms of overlong word counts, part of the editing process is to condense and refine your story until you have a stronger narrative.
Once you have a list of each chapter’s word count you can start to look for any that are unusually long. I’ve sometimes sent clients a bar graph to illustrate this. While it’s fine to have varying chapter lengths and longer chapters, beware of any that look on a bar graph like a skyscraper next to a bunch of single or double storey buildings!
On your chapter word count list, highlight the very longest chapters and at some point go back and look at them. Some might have a slower pace, some might be better split into two, etc. But be mindful of where they are in the overall structure of the novel. That brings me to word count and structure.
Word count and structure
If you convert your chapter word counts into a bar graph, you might notice various patterns. There’s no one pattern you should be looking for. But very long chapters that far exceed others are a potential red flag. There are other potential red flags too.
The classical three act structure or a modern four act structure (which simply chops the long middle act in half) need to be considered when checking the interaction between word count and structure.
This is because you want your novel to be well paced and not flat in sections.
If you find your chapter word counts are getting too long towards the end, that could be a red flag that your pacing is slowing at the exact point where it should be speeding up. Your final 25% of your novel includes the climax. The climax might not start at 75%, but the overall dramatic arc should rise as you move towards the end. One way to ensure that your pacing is good here is to shorten your chapters.
A set of very long final chapters after shorter chapters can leave the reader feeling exhausted and wondering when the story is going to end. It will feel as if the pace has slowed down.
Likewise, in the middle of your novel, be very careful you don’t have a great long chapter that could be slow in pace. Otherwise the centre of your novel could look like a collapsed tent.
You can’t afford to lose readers at this stage. But some will bail if your novel is dragging too much.
If you do have a longer chapter there, make sure it moves well and has strong midpoint content that moves the characters into the point of no return, where they cannot return to their previous lives and have to keep on fighting forward.
I recommend KM Weiland’s book on structure to get an understanding of the important structural points of a novel. It’s called Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story.
This is fine and pretty standard, but it might be worth checking to see if the word count of your parts or sections indicate a choppy structure. Maybe you have too many short sections and then very long ones. This is not to say it can’t work, but it’s worth examining to see if there is an issue (or not).
If you don’t use chapters and only section your novel, you may well find your sections are different lengths and are more frequent.
Narrative voice
The next thing to look at is point of view and tense, etc.
Are you writing in the present tense? Some people hate it! It’s also the first tense we learn as children. For example:
I go to school. I sit on a stool.
It’s very basic when we first learn it. There tends to be a subject-verb-object pattern.
There are very good first person novels around, but one problem that can occur with less experienced writers is they fall into old patterns of starting sentences with the subject. This can become bland and repetitive.
The trick is to keep at it until you loosen up your first person into more complicated sentence structures. It can be done, but you’re working against early educational conditioning.
If you’re writing in past tense, it’s more invisible and you’re less likely to get blowback.
It’s also much easier to pull off because past tense is the standard literary tense. You will have absorbed a lot of past tense narration in your life so that it might feel second nature to write that way.
Then there’s first versus third person. (For second person, you can read Iain Banks’ novel Complicity which is partly written in second person.)
I once attended a writing group many years ago where one person complained about first person writing, only to be followed by another complaining about third person.
My take away is that you can’t please everyone, so just write what you feel is best for your story.
Some people think third is less intimate. But this is not true. I can’t recall where I heard this, but I tend to agree with the person who said that first person narrators can lie to the reader, whereas third person narrators can only lie to themselves. This is because the first person narrator controls the flow of information and we’re stuck in their head. They can be a very unreliable narrator. Third person narration allows the reader to get a wider shot. They can see the gap between what the character believes to be true and what is true.
But third person narration can be very intimate – this requires going into deep third and integrating their internal dialogue with the main narrative. And also ensuring you remove filter words like ‘he thought’ and ‘she wondered’ where possible.
Head hopping
One issue that comes up a lot with viewpoint is head hopping. Some authors are jumping from one character’s head to another in the same scene.
Often the only switch is a new paragraph, but that is not a conventional way to change viewpoints.
Starting a new section after a line break would be the normal way to switch viewpoints. However, you cannot go back and forth between viewpoints in a single scene without fragmenting your narrative, disrupting the flow of the story, and giving your readers whiplash.
Choose the best point of view for any scene, or any section of a scene. Don’t jump into any other heads without having a line break first. Minimise the number of times you do this in one scene. Preferably only once or twice, but it can depend on the length of the scene.
Head hopping is very common and it’s worth doing a sweep of your manuscript to see if you’re accidentally switching viewpoints.
You can save your editor time and let them focus on higher level issues instead. An editor can also pick up the more subtle viewpoint issues easier when the more obvious ones are removed.
Characters and character hierarchy
Some novels have few characters and others have huge casts. Either way can work, but the more characters you have, the more time you need to flesh them out. Fantasy or historical novels with large casts can work if there is plenty of time to build the characters during the course of the story.
Large casts in shorter novels can leave the reader confused and trying to remember who is who.
It’s worth thinking about your characters in terms of a hierarchy.
Who is the most important character in your book? Maybe there’s two (particularly in romance). Maybe there’s more.
But you need to establish a hierarchy where the most important characters get the most time.
The secondary characters don’t get as much time, and neither do their subplots. Minor characters should be unnamed where possible – some will be named, but there’s no point naming walk-on parts like waiters, etc, who will never appear again, or who are not important enough for the reader to remember.
Naming a character can be an indication that the reader needs to remember this person.
Obviously, this doesn’t apply to the major and secondary characters so much. But when you don’t need to name someone, don’t bother unless you have a small cast of characters. With a large cast, you can’t afford to throw in any unnecessary names.
Returning to the hierarchy – think of it as a pyramid. Few people at the top, who represent the main character or characters. More in the middle who will be the secondary characters – except for novels with small casts. Potentially a larger group of background characters at the bottom, but in reality you might not have many of those. Especially if you have a shorter cast list.
On to this hierarchy you should superimpose a reverse pyramid. The people at the top get the most time. The people at the bottom get the least.
Character names that are too similar
I know it’s tempting to have character names that are similar, or maybe you haven’t thought about the similarity of some of your names. If your novel is very long with a big cast, you will find it more difficult to use names that start with a different letter of the alphabet.
Why does it matter?
Well, the human eye doesn’t read every letter in a text. It reads for shapes. This is why it’s easy to make spelling errors and not notice when you read it back. Your brain fills in the missing letters without you realising.
If two words look too similar, it can be confusing. Too similar will mean:
Starting with the same letter
Being around the same length
Examples would include Anna versus Anya. But you could have Anna and Alexandra because they have a different length and shape to the human eye.
You can make a list of your characters and check for names that are too similar. Compounding factors include:
The two characters appearing in the same scene which will be more confusing to the reader
The two characters being the same sex
Plots and plot hierarchy
This is similar to the issues with character. You can’t afford to have too many plots running because it gets confusing.
If you have a longer novel, you have more room to explore subplots.
If your novel is shorter, you are limited and need to stay more focused.
Your main plots should relate to your main characters. If they relate to secondary or minor characters then you could have the wrong central characters.
Opening hooks
The opening chapter(s) of your novel are your chance to hook your reader. Many book buyers will browse the opening chapters or a Kindle sample before they decide to purchase. You can’t afford to lose them by having a slow warmup at the outset.
It’s fine to have a slow warmup when you’re working through early drafts. In fact, it’s common, because you’re getting to know your world and characters.
Later you need to find the best point to start and ensure things move well in a way that hooks your reader and draws them in.
Copywriter Eugene Schwarz once said that the purpose of a first line is to get the reader to read the second line. And the point of the second line is to get the reader to read the third, and so on.
While you don’t need to start with the best first line in history, you do want something that will make the reader carry on to the second and third, and so on. This doesn’t just mean decent writing, but intriguing character(s) and an interesting situation.
What makes a good opening hook actually depends on the plot and genre. But since there are so many books out there to read, you simply cannot afford to take too long to get into your story. It’s also worth remembering that the human attention span is shorter than it used to be.
Resolution
Once your story is finished, you don’t need to spend much time wrapping things up. For example, you might be tempted to show your characters in the future and what happened to them.
The downside of this is you are dragging out your ending with scenes that have no conflict, drama, high stakes, etc, so there won’t be the same momentum. These kinds of scenes can’t compete with the climax.
It’s perfectly fine to let your readers imagine the lives of the characters in the future.
A shorter resolution will hit a better note.
Again, I recommend KM Weiland’s book on structure listed below. She talks about the importance of a short resolution.
Writing out full scenes of dialogue is generally not a good idea. Here are some reasons why:
You bury the most important parts of the dialogue with less important chat
Dialogue can spark and ignite a scene, but if it goes on too long, with no real purpose, it can start to get exhausting to read
Most human communication is non-verbal, therefore you will miss out on a lot if you focus too much on speech at the expense of body language and facial expression, etc
Also, check your speech tags in your dialogue. Some writers make mistakes with the punctuation:
“I went for a walk today.” She said.
The example above is wrong because the speech tag should not be a new sentence. It should be:
“I went for a walk today,” she said.
Also, remember that you don’t always need to use speech tags. You can replace them with action:
“I went for a walk today.” She glanced down at her muddy boots.
If you only report speech and no body language or visual information, it can feel like the reader is left to eavesdrop on a conversation rather than seeing it play out.
You are essentially only using one sense – hearing.
Other senses like smell, touch, sight, and taste are left out.
Obviously, some of these senses might be irrelevant to the scene, but while some authors like to have dialogue interactions devoid of thought, visual imagery, etc, it can lead to the reader being in the dark when it comes to seeing the characters. Yes, they can imagine some of it for themselves, but sensory information in fiction triggers the human brain – if you say a room smells of lavender, the reader’s brain will respond to this information as if they can smell it themselves.
Sometimes dialogue without additional input works well to create a fluid and sparky conversation. Just be aware that if it goes on too long, it can be detrimental to the scene.
Sensory information
As above, it’s best to remember that leaving out sensory information leaves a narrative flatter and less immersive. Sensory information can draw your reader into your world and make it more vibrant. There are five senses you can explore, plus thought.
Developmental self-editing checklist
If you’re considering a developmental edit or a manuscript critique, you can decide to do a pre-edit scan for at least some of the items below. However, if you prefer to let a professional deal with it, that’s fine. Some writers like to do some checks before they send their manuscripts off.
Here’s your checklist:
1. Overall word count – then check if it seems in line with genre expectations. But at this point, before professional editing, it’s fine if it’s longer since you still have time to condense and refine
2. Chapter word counts and check to see if any are oddly long compared to others
3. Are they very long in the middle or at the end where you need to be more careful about pacing?
4. If you use sections, check to see if they’re unusually choppy in length
5. Writing in present tense? Check you’re not using basic and repetitive sentence construction
6. Head hopping is a big problem in manuscripts – each scene or section of a scene should be seen through the eyes of one character only. If you want to switch viewpoints, have a line break and switch to the other character
7. When you have more than one viewpoint character in your novel, consider who has the best viewpoint for any scene. Who would be most impacted, feel the most emotional impact, the highest stakes, etc?
8. Character hierarchy – don’t have too many main characters, especially in shorter novels
9. Character numbers – longer novels can have more characters but shorter ones will lack the space
10. Avoid naming walk-on characters if they don’t need to be remembered by the reader
11. Avoid character names that look too similar to the human eye
12. Does your main plot connect to your main character(s) or secondary characters. If the latter, you have the wrong main characters
13. Your opening chapters are your big chance to hook your readers. Slow warm ups are fine during the writing, but once you polish your novel you should strengthen the opening with an eye to hook your reader
14. Resolutions should be short because the main conflict and stakes of the novel have been resolved already so it will not be possible to maintain momentum in a drawn-out resolution. Readers will get bored
15. Check your speech tags and punctuation of speech tags
16. Remember that dialogue that goes on too long without other sensory input or thoughts can start to drag the pace
17. You don’t need to include an entire conversation – you can focus on the most important parts and summarise some of it
18. Sensory information brings narratives to life and makes it easier for the reader to immerse themselves in the world of the story
There are other issues I could have covered, including theme, and whether your ending matches the promise of your beginning or strangely goes off in a different direction.
Also, does your novel fit with the desired genre?
One of the most common problems I see in manuscripts relates to psychology and the tendency of characters to often forget important events and not respond to what would be real-life triggers.
For example, if someone goes out at night and gets beaten up, they should not swan out the door later in the book without a care in the world. They should be cautious, fearful, and suffering internal conflict if they need to go out, but can’t or won’t.
It should be part of their character arc to overcome these fears.
The fears also contribute to the raising of the stakes and the potential for danger. If the character is worried, the reader is worried for them. If the character doesn’t care, the reader doesn’t feel any tension and this is an example of a missed opportunity when it comes to – character arc, high stakes, credible character development and action, pacing (which gets faster in the face of danger and slower when there’s none), and so on.
I’ve written more about this problem in a different post:
If you’re looking for some developmental feedback on your novel, I offer a number of services and can tailor them to your needs. If you are on a budget, I can do an opening chapters developmental edit where I go over the first 10-15000 words of your novel and synopsis with margin comments and a report. Not only will this help with strengthening your opening but some issues will apply to the rest of your novel and once you’re aware of them, you can fix them yourself. Head hopping would be an example of this.
You can also opt for a manuscript critique – my full critiques tend to be quite long, but I do offer a shorter report. Recent full reports have gone to 17,000 words (when necessary) and shorter ones can be around half that length.
You also have the option of a full developmental edit – the most expensive service. I normally do four passes of the novel in a single edit, but I do have the option of three passes which is slightly cheaper. However, I don’t offer two or one pass developmental edits because they only work best for a final check after a previous round or two of editing.
If you want to check my services out, you can go here:
So, you’ve been working on your novel or memoir and now you’re wondering when is the best time for a developmental edit.
Maybe you’re even wondering if you need a developmental edit.
In fact, that is the best starting point for this topic.
Let’s check your writing background and circumstances.
Let’s take a look at your background and current circumstances. Have a look at these questions:
Are you a beginner writer working on your first piece of writing?
Do you have any experience of writing groups, workshops, or courses?
Have you already had feedback on your writing from anyone likely to give you an honest assessment?
Are you in a hurry to boost your writing skills as opposed to taking your time to learn your craft?
Are you intending to publish your work yourself?
Do you hope to make a career or at least a side gig out of writing?
I could have listed other questions, but I think this is a good starting point.
Beginner writers don’t necessarily need to get a developmental edit on a rougher draft unless they are determined to shorten their learning time, they have the money, are aiming to publish themselves, and don’t have access to writing groups and other feedback.
However, I’m not someone who believes people should be wasting their money on unnecessary services or services they are not yet ready for. So, let’s dig deeper.
Let’s assume you are working on your first book – either a novel or memoir.
Perhaps you don’t have access to a local writing group and you’re not comfortable engaging with online writing communities.
Maybe you’ve tried to join some but you’ve just never found the right one.
Or maybe you’re just shy and hate participating and you prefer to share your work in a more controlled situation.
Developmental editing and manuscript critiques are still not your first option. There are times when they could be, but a beta read or working with a trustworthy critique partner might be a better cost-effective start.
However, if you’ve not had much luck with beta readers, you might be reluctant to go down that path again.
Nevertheless, it could still be worth your while looking for like-minded people online who are interested in your genre, are knowledgeable about it, and reliable enough to give you constructive feedback.
But, for whatever reason, maybe this has not worked out for you or you just don’t want to go down that route. I get it – writers can be introverts. And like creative people in general, they can be wary of sharing their work.
When you need feedback
However, sooner or later, you need feedback. For one thing, bad habits can become engrained and it can become difficult to shake them off. But you also want to know:
Is my work good enough?
Would anyone want to read it?
Might an agent be interested?
What can I do better? Where can I improve?
I have worked with quite a few beginner writers. In those instances, a developmental edit was useful for them because my prices at the time were lower. Some of them said I was cheaper than a writing course.
But I did look at it to some degree as coaching mixed with developmental editing. The aim was to boost their skillset (and their manuscripts) to a whole new level.
But you don’t have to go for a full developmental edit to do this. You don’t even need to opt for a manuscript critique, which is cheaper but usually deals with an entire book.
There are some editors, like myself, who offer opening chapters packages. I offer 10,000 words currently for £120. (Or £180 for 15,000 words.) It’s a flat rate, so you always know what you’re paying.
There are no extra costs.
From a price perspective, it’s more affordable, but it also means a newer writer doesn’t feel as overwhelmed by information and track comments right through the entire manuscript. It allows you to learn with less material.
Some of the things an opening chapters edit will deal with
Your opening hook – do you grab the reader (and why it’s important to do so).
Do your writing style and tone fit the book’s genre (you’d be surprised what can impact this).
Your main character – are they well fleshed out and someone the reader will want to champion for an entire book?
What are your main character’s goals, aspirations at the beginning of the story? What do they want?
Narrative viewpoint(s) – does your point of view choice work in your narrative’s best interests?
Do you have an antagonist or antagonistic force? Who/what is blocking your main character’s goals?
If you have an antagonist, are they a fleshed-out credible character or a two-dimensional baddie with no redeeming features?
How soon does your plot begin? (Hint: it should start pretty soon.)
If you’re writing science fiction, fantasy, or historical fiction, do you have a lot of worldbuilding at the outset? (Watch out – this is a pace killer and could leave your reader bailing out before the story is underway.)
Character hierarchy – how many characters do you have, and how many are main characters, secondary, minor, etc? (Remember, the more time you give to minor and secondary characters, the less time you have for the main characters.)
The emotional and psychological dominoes – if something good or bad happens to your character, they should not forget about it by the next chapter. This is a generalisation, but if someone has had a bad experience in real life, it reverberates for days, weeks, even years. (This will be the subject of another post.)
Location: does your novel have a strong sense of place? (Location is more important to some stories than others.)
Do you have either too much or too little dialogue? Do you use dialogue to tell the reader things in a way that’s maybe too obvious and clunky? Is your dialogue the right tone for the scenes?
Do all your characters sound alike? (Do any of them have their own particular speech patterns?)
Is your dialogue correctly formattted? (I’ve seen some odd stuff in my time!)
Pacing – how well does your story move? Too fast? Too slow? The same speed all the way through?
How does your paragraph formatting affect your pacing? (This is a topic I’ll address in a future blog post.)
Are you using unnecessary transition scenes when you could just opt for a jump cut instead?
Your plot structure – even though I only assess the first 10,000 (or 15,000) words, I can also give you an idea of what you should be aiming for later on. Especially if you include a synopsis that helps outline the middle and end of your book.
Themes and subjects the opening chapters address.
These are only a few of the things that might get looked at in an opening chapters edit. It partly depends on the individual manuscript and the author’s strengths and weaknesses.
Don’t worry, all writers have their weaknesses!
What you get with an opening chapters edit
So, how does all this look in terms of what you get for your £120?
An editorial letter that usually runs to at least a few thousand words.
Track comments in the margins of your manuscript.
A reading list that addresses editorial suggestions and helps you develop your skillset further.
Where relevant, I might include a book map or visual material but not all manuscripts need this.
Email support – I respond to your queries about the edit.
A discount on a later manuscript critique or full developmental edit.
The beauty of an opening chapters edit is that it’s not overwhelming, either from the point of view of time, amount of information to consume, or price.
This is also a fast service – you can get your feedback within a week.
You also don’t pay the full amount upfront. If I’m booked up, you can pay in three installments, though the payment period is very short owing to the express delivery time. If I’m not booked up, you can pay half in advance and half on completion.
When is the best time for a developmental edit? Whenever you’re ready!
But don’t forget you have writing group and beta reader options first.
You can also try my FREE sample edit if you want to see what a developmental edit looks like. Feel free to contact me at
In the meantime, here are testimonials from previous clients:
If you’re ready for an opening chapters edit, you can find the service page here to find out more:
