R.L. Maizes Essay - Literary Hub "A Love Letter to Developmental Editors"

Literary Hub | July 22, 2020

“Long before I had a regular writing practice, a friend told me he had hired a local author to give him feedback on a short story. ‘They do that?’ I said. I had never heard of a developmental editor. I filed the information away, not realizing developmental editors would one day become my most important teachers.

When I first began writing, I attended craft classes and workshops. I learned to read other writers’ manuscripts critically, to articulate what was working and what wasn’t, which taught me to read my own manuscripts critically, too. Listening to teachers read their work, I was inspired by the range of literary notes they hit.

But I was never comfortable in a classroom. I sweated through the give and take of workshops, craving the attention that came with holding the floor, afraid of looking foolish when I did. Beneath the tables around which we gathered, I would wring my hands. Perhaps my anxiety was linked to introversion. Or maybe it was the result of having an impatient and unkind father.”

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