Reply #2: I'm not sure... [View All]

I understand wanting to have some sense of the nature of the story at the very beginning, but to have more knowledge than a statement of the inciting incident, the path it's starting me down on and some really good sense of who the major characters are doesn't seem necessary.

Or is this simply a communication problem, where the editor assumes that the writer will know the criticism is about a lack of those key elements when she says what she says?

I mean if you can tell the whole story in the first three pages, then what are the other 342 pages for?

To some degree this is exactly the kind of nebulous response I've gotten from a few professionals. Not all. Some manage to be much more specific as to the problem and precise in making recommendations.

If I'm paying someone for professional editorial services, I think I'd expect more detail than I can get from a critique group.