Stories at the Agency

While reading some of the manuscripts that are sent to BookEnds, I made notes in my reader reports that plots of some of the stories are unclear after the first three chapters. Even if the writing is great and the characters are interesting, it is important for the story to let the reader know what is going on and give the reader a general sense of where it is going.

Copy editing has a lot to do with this process of moving a story forward. The chances of someone continuing a story, whether it is commercial fiction, nonfiction, or a news article, are slim if the reader does not know the point of the story. "Why am I reading this," is a question that must be answered near the beginning. This is not to say that important points should just be given away, especially in a mystery. But knowing what the story is going to be about is important to readers.

It is difficult to get a story past agents and editors, let alone to have the general public pick it up to read. Knowing how to hook your audience is essential to any writer's job, and especially to copy editors.