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Originally Posted by Michael J Hunt
what if the editor sees the opportunity for a much better story? If he/she were to suggest that to the author, might it be considered unethical? I suppose the author could always ignore the suggestion.
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No ethics involved, Michael, at least in my case. My editor has suggested many ideas along the way, and I take what works for me. Some have been fantastic, and totally clicked. Others, ah, no thanks. She does not force anything on me. All she does is mark up a printed copy and give it back, along with a detailed critique of the entire work. Sometimes when she has lots to say about particular sections her notes end up on the back of some pages. At that point the rewrites are left to me. She never touches the original manuscript.
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Originally Posted by Michael J Hunt
... alongside, of course, a good self-editing book (Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is my bible now).
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Indeed a fantastic book, a copy of which I own myself and have read more than once. Which reminds me of another great book coming out this month in print (on Smashwords for now). Look for "The Editor's Lexicon: Essential Writing Terms for Novelists," by Sarah Cypher, who just so happens to be that fabulous editor I've been talking about. (Couldn't resist the opportunity to plug a valued colleague.)