Hello,
Advice please.... Have recently had feedback, from an American publisher, that was both very encouraging and a little dispiriting. She has suggested weeks of revision/editing to cut out a great deal of descriptive writing. My book, set in nineteenth century Cornwall, is highly descriptive in nature and with a necessary dark, undercurrent. The editor in question has only read the first three chapters... My problem is I don't want to cut all this out and ruin the work. Are editors always right, or should you follow your gut??
I think you'll find that almost all editors would suggest revision/editing before placing a novel on the market - it is after all their job to do so. So, wether or not you go with this American firm is up to you, but expect the same request from others.
No, editors are not always right. People have different opinions. I, for instance, don't rate Pride and Prejudice - it's okay, but I find it verbose and I don't care for the story or the characters. I do, however, like Emma, which lots of people dislike.
Now, it may be the editor is correct and your prose strays to the purple, or maybe it's that the description is slowing the writing down in the initial parts of the book (making it more difficult to hook the reader).
It doesn't really matter that the editor has "only" read the first three (and they may not even have read them all) - they weren't interested in reading further. Chapter Four could be the greatest chapter in the history of writing but the reader will never get there if chapter one was dull.
If you are unsure, get outside feedback from Betas.
It depends, I was constructively criticised for not having enough detail and description - so I added a little more, and now I can see a much better future for my prospects. in terms of too much detail, I personally find that over described writing can limit the readers ability to paint their own picture of the story, but in some cases a high level of descriptive writing may be needed.
put it down to this, what is most likely to get you published ? the editor or your gut ?