Your Story Matters
Does Your Memoir Need to Be Edited?
The short answer is YES.
The longer answer is that there are many different kinds of editing that are important at different stages in your writing journey.
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing looks at the big picture issues. Is your memoir starting and ending in the right place? Is there a narrative arc? Is the emotion on the page or does the writing feel flat?
When do I hire a developmental editor?
Writers hire a developmental editor after they have a complete draft of their manuscript (and ideally, their manuscript is in as good a shape as they can get it on their own). The developmental editor delivers an editorial letter outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript; sometimes these developmental edits (also sometimes called manuscript evaluations or assessments) include inline comments as well. The writer then returns to the manuscript to execute the suggested changes.
