Mentoring and Manuscript Appraisals

A manuscript appraisal is a close cousin of the structural edit. It considers all the big-picture elements of the work: structure, voice, characterisation, plot, pacing, style. What’s working and what needs attention. An appraisal comes in the form of a report, usually a couple of thousand words, and doesn’t involve any mark-up of the manuscript – except, occasionally, to illustrate a point.

Sometimes, an appraisal is all that’s needed for the writer to get the manuscript ready for submission; sometimes it is the start of a mentorship. (A mentorship can also begin with a twinkle in the writer’s eye.)

An ongoing mentoring relationship is – necessarily – flexible and intuitive, thriving on trust. A story or project might be urging up but the writer can’t make room for it. It can help to experiment with where and when and how the writing happens. They might appreciate deadlines, timelines and accountability. Or the writer could have an abundance of time, space and self-discipline, but they are losing their way in the content. Regular workshopping and an ongoing conversation about the particular challenges of that project – a flatness in the story arc, the opaque central character, a muddled premise – are fundamental components of a mentorship. Or perhaps the writer has a glorious idea, the way and the means, but something shapeless and nameless is blocking them. That thing has something important to relay.

It’s a tangled, lively, rich business, demanding faith and courage, and every writer grapples with their own dynamic mix of the above. A mentor won’t provide all the answers, but they can accompany the writer through the woods of their project; help them understand and define the quest, identify strengths and vulnerabilities, and find the tools and tricks they need to get the work done. Sometimes, simply bringing another person inside the work can be transformative.

Myfanwy Jones has mentored writers on a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction projects, including literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, crime fiction, short story collections, narrative non-fiction, biography, memoir, popular science and psychology. She considers it an honour to join another writer on a leg of their journey, wherever it leads.

Contact Myfanwy to discuss your project and scroll down to read some recommendations.

(The Institute of Professional Editors [IPEd] freelance directory is an excellent resource for writers seeking copyediting or proofreading services.)