This past week I've been laid low with the bug that's been making the rounds, and so I bring you a newsletter from the archives, which I've edited to add a Hierarchy of Editorial Concerns which clarifies what to address first when you're staring down the barrel of a messy draft.

I've spoken to a number of writers who believe they don't have to revise that much before approaching an agent with their work. They hope that the merits of their story—the uniqueness of the idea and the execution of their early draft—will be enough to tantalize an agent. Because, anyway, the agent will help them edit the whole thing. Right?

As a writing coach, I feel honor bound to be honest with clients, even when it's news no one wants to hear. In this case, the truth is that writing is revision. And, yes, you'll have to do it a lot before you secure an agent. It's a heartbreaker! I can't blame anyone for harboring fantasies that someone important will recognize their early genius and open doors to publishing—without having to go through a ton of revision.

Yes, we do hear about the exceptions where an agent helps a first-time author develop a book based on a paragraph scratched on a cocktail napkin, but it's far smarter to expect your manuscript (or non-fiction proposal) will be among the 99.9% rather than the 0.1%.

Literary agent Carly Watters addressed this when a writer asked:

Carly responded with three key reasons why submitting polished work is always the best plan. I paraphrase her response here, but I encourage you to read the full answer:

1. It's better for business. Polished work means the book can get to market faster which means everyone gets paid faster.
2. Agents don't make money until the writer makes money, and if an agent needs to spend a lot of time working on a manuscript with an author, it means it will take all that much longer for the agent to get paid. Essentially, they'll be doing a lot of work for free. (And after all that, the book still may not sell!)
3. Competition is fierce. There are so many good writers vying for publication that we can't afford to not be our best at every step of the process.

Additionally, there are many agents who don't do editorial work at all. In fact, they often refer writers to book coaches or editors if the work isn't ready to submit to publishers. I hope instead of discouraging you, this encourages you. Publishing is a tough business across the board, and knowledge is power.

One of the tools that has been enormously helpful during the revision process, both as a writer and as someone who works with writers, is Jennie Nash's Hierarchy of Editorial Concerns. This helps me get out of the loop of tinkering with sentences and word choice when there are larger issues afoot. Here is a simplified version of that hierarchy, in order of what to address first to last:

1. Protagonist's desire, cause-and-effect trajectory, story point
2. POV, character's emotions, showing vs. telling, protagonist's decisions
3. Dialogue, balance of dialogue and narration, passage of time
4. Sentence structure, paragraph and scene structure, pacing
5. Grammar and style

In other words, revise those foundational elements before working on the fun, surface detail. If you start with a close edit of your grammar before you have your cause-and-effect trajectory locked in, it will be like painting your walls before you've applied the sheetrock.

Further reading:

• ​Before and After the Book Deal, by Courtney Maum
• ​The Business of Being a Writer, by Jane Friedman (A new edition comes out April 18)

I hope this is helpful! If you need guidance developing a revision plan, let's talk. Just reply to this email.

Wishing you a good week ahead—and may you avoid this bug that's going around!

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