Oct 14

Oct 14 What are the three most common problems in a manuscript?

When I’m working on a structural/developmental edit, the three main problems I find are characterisation, plot and showing/telling.

Characters are such tricky creations because they need to be realistic and sufficiently sympathetic for us to care about them so that we continue to read until the very end. Even if it’s a plot-driven book, it will fail if the characters aren’t strong. They need to have depth and be three-dimensional, and as readers we need to feel as though we know them inside out and understand their motivation.

With plot, particularly in a drama or romance, where there’s a tendency to spend a lot of time in the inner world of a central protagonist, we need ample action to drive the story towards one or many turning points to lead us to a powerful conclusion. Without this, the pace will suffer terribly and this will diminish the storytelling. And it’s always a great idea to plunge us directly into a point of action to begin the story. Too often, writers spend time giving background information leading us gently into a story. It’s much better to place us in the middle of a problem and give us the background in small snippets throughout the narration.

We’ve all heard the ‘show don’t tell’ advice – as in, give us live scenes through dialogue instead of pages upon pages of narration. But actually, a healthy balance is what’s needed. If there is too much narration and not enough dialogue, then the pace is slow and as readers we are kept at a distance. If there is too much dialogue and not enough narration, then we can feel as though the narrative voice is missing, because that’s what the narration gives us.

Narrative non-fiction and fiction editing are very similar. The complicated part with non-fiction is that the characters and plot points are real, and it’s a matter of ensuring they are the most powerful they can be.

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