The Power of Developmental Editing

Guest Post!

I was thrilled when I found an email in my in-box from Elaine R. Frieman, a new to me author inquiring about editing her novel The Broken Engagement Club. She had me at the title…and luckily, her writing feels fresh and exciting and her characters and their adventures pulled me right in. We had so much fun going back and forth while she revised - all my clients turn into friends! - and now she’s pulling back the curtain and sharing what it is really like to work with a developmental editor. Grab some popcorn and dive in!

What’s it like working with a developmental editor?

Naturally, before working with a developmental editor, I had no idea about the process except what was written on a few websites. I knew it was taking a look at the “big picture” of the story but not the nitty gritty.

I was instantly drawn to Kristen and I’m not sure how or why I stumbled on her Substack but it was serendipity. Plus, I found her pricing to be affordable and fair – beyond fair, considering how much work she puts into each manuscript. In Kristen’s recent post about how she chooses who to work with my ego got a boost as she only chooses to work with certain authors (or hopefully future authors in my case).

Reaching out to Kristen

After I’d written and edited my manuscript, I asked Kristen if and when she was available and I waited on figurative tenterhooks to see if she’d even say yes and she did.

Despite being a copy editor and avid reader, I had absolutely zero clue how to go from the draft I had to the “next stage” of the manuscript. I’d heard author interviews about how they’d re-written their books over and over and I wasn’t even sure how to identify what bits needed to be “rewritten.” I’d polished lines, ensured my formatting was just so, but what about the story? How did I ensure that was right and commercial enough for what I wanted?

Of course, that’s where I knew I needed outside help. I appreciate not all beginning authors are able to afford these resources but from what I hear, the publishing industry is highly competitive and there are hundreds of talented aspiring writers vying for those spaces. Agents simply don’t have the time or luxury or the staff that they had in the past to work with authors to “bring out the best.” They have to see it straight away. And the same goes for editors at publishing houses. They want manuscripts to be almost ready to go – and need one round of edits at most before going into production.

I had a coaching call with Katherine Clements whom I’d taken an Arvon course with in Hebden Bridge back in July 2024 – long before I finished this manuscript in January 2025 – and I told her all about what Kristen offered and she said something along the lines of go for it. That sounds fantastic!

I asked when she was revising her manuscripts before she sent them to her agent, what she did. She said read your manuscript all the way through and note (but do not fix) things that need to be fixed.

When I went through my manuscript, I knew I was missing the biggest piece of all: the plot.

It’s laughable. Despite not being a pantster, being quite organised, and having an outline, I had scenes and moments but no overarching story that linked all my character’s narratives together.

That’s where Kristen came in.

Losing (and finding) the plot

Kristen read my manuscript through once. It was 97,000 words and she did this remarkably quickly. Before she returned the manuscript she very gently asked me via email if I had identified some areas that needed work. I said, yes, I have no plot! She said, phew! Okay! We can work with that. Paraphrasing of course.

Kristen has a very gentle way of giving feedback. She told me (very kindly) that she’d absolutely loved reading what she read but what she saw was a loosely connected set of short stories with no “staircase,” where one bit of the plot leads to the next part. I wholeheartedly agreed.

One of the best tools you can have as a writer, is not being too sensitive and I’d come prepared as Katherine told me when she first got manuscript feedback from her agent, even though it was mostly good, she cried for days, so I prepared myself to be upset, but found that I wasn’t. Phew! The feedback was gentle and absolutely spot on.

Kristen went through my manuscript and suggested plot threads I could pick up on. There were infinite possibilities! She encouraged me to focus on one character (not three as I’d done originally) and home in on her story. She had me outline a new direction and send that to her for her feedback.

She approved the outline and I got to work again. Kristen suggested I work a couple of chapters at a time. (Very sensible advice.)

Over inspired, I rewrote half the book in a weekend. (Not recommended.) I still wasn’t quite there with the plot, but the exercise did teach me more about my characters.

On to the next outline!

Round three, striking gold(ish)

On the third round of re-writes, I improved at taking Kristen’s very brilliant instructions. This time, my story was going in a much better commercial rom com direction.

In my head, I was thinking that surely I must have been the most overeager and difficult client to date as I went from zero to sixty on the wrong road a couple of times at least.

Kristen suggests places to cut but always reminds you (as the writer) that you’re in the driving seat and it’s your story; you don’t have to agree.

I did always agree, though, and I had a friend ask me if I got upset when Kristen “killed my darlings” and I said, “frankly, no.” She knows what she’s doing. She’s edited thousands of books and she’s absolutely right.

I want my book to have a chance at being sold to publishing houses (after securing an agent) and it’s best not to get too attached to any part of your novel. It can and will all (most likely) change and that’s okay. That’s why you’re paying someone who knows what they’re doing.

There were also suggestions to add lines. Sometimes something simple like, “your character said [this line], how would this other character react”? And it was such poignant advice. Or suggestions to add more of what the character is thinking between dialogue, how they’d react to the actions of another character, and even how to transition from the previous scene to the opening of another, from chapter to chapter.

Kristen’s notes were also very encouraging. She’d mark places where she found funny or poignant in cute comments. She’d show equally what was working well to balance places that weren’t working. All of her feedback could be described as “positive” and as someone who runs on the “golden retriever” end of positivity, it was encouraging and motivating.

If Kristen tells you your scene needs expanding, she’ll provide examples of directions you can go in, showing you how exactly you can tackle the issues. Sometimes she’d provide sample lines, which you could take or reword. Other times I had to ask specifically for further examples and she’d write back with an example or I’d write something and ask if this was okay. And she’d say, “Yes, perfect. Like that!”

All along it felt like collaborating and improving. Every note in the manuscript was actionable and I knew what to do from draft to draft.

It's difficult to boil down the advice succinctly because Kristen provides so much so subtly in a way, gently steering your ship (no idea why I have vehicles and boats on my mind this morning) in harbour.

Despite reading hundreds of books (and anywhere from fifty to one hundred per year across many genres), I knew that prior to Kristen stepping in, my novel wasn’t quite there. I could see how other writers constructed plots, but I wasn’t able to translate that onto the page myself. Kristen was finally able to get me where I needed to go.

Every novel is different: yours might not need so much!

You may not need this level of work on your manuscript so definitely don’t be put off. I needed quite a bit of help but what I’m left with is knowledge.

Kristen’s feedback was like a masterclass in how to write a novel.

In future, I plan to work with Kristen on more manuscripts (I have two in the wings) but equally, I’m sure now I’d have a better of idea of how to take my manuscripts from first draft to second and third draft and beyond. I’d know how to take those next steps on my own and even construct a manuscript that began in a better place than this one.

When I was revising my novel on its last couple of rounds, I knew I needed to move some plot points and chapters around and I had a re-read through of it a couple of more times – the manuscript had ballooned up to 111,000 words and I cut it back down to about 95,000 words (on Kristen’s advice) before going on submission – and I was proud of what I’d created – absolutely with the help of Kristen.

I could not have done it without her and I’m eternally grateful.

When she finally said to me that I was “ready” to go on submission after Labour Day, I was absolutely nervous but I knew that we’d done all we could to perfect this manuscript.

Going on submission

I’m now on the exciting (scary, wait-intensive) journey of querying my first batch of agents. Kristen worked with me on my opening query package: my first fifty pages, my query letter, my pitch, and my synopsis. And I’ve sent it out.

Watch this space and I’ll let you know if and when I hear back.

And if you’re thinking of hiring Kristen, this is your sign to go for it.

Elaine R. Frieman is a British-American full-time editor (not the glam kind) who manages a European copy editing team for a FTSE 100 data analytics and publishing company (in petrochemical and fertilizer journalism), has a master’s degree in Victorian literature, and writes a Substack called Why We Met (chronicling her disastrous dating history which led to her Yorkshire husband). She grew up partly in Oldham, Lancashire and partly in the American South (Florida and Georgia), lived in Germany, and now resides in Todmorden, West Yorkshire with her husband and their geriatric cat, Kit Kat, who belonged to her late father.