Meeting my reader

Last week I went up to London and met the lady who reads for me. She is so, so good! I thought I'd talk to her for a couple of hours. Then I looked at my watch and four hours had passed without me even noticing. My reader sees a hundred things that most people just wouldn't see. I think she's a much better editor than most publishers and agents. I pay her for what she does but it is worth every penny. However, the strange thing is that the main things which she says are things which are very basic and which I know all about ..... But still (as I write my fourth novel) I need someone to say them to me. Basically she's making two points which are - dramatise, dramatise, dramatise. And cause and effect .... Because this, then this. Because that, then that. I know all that. I say it to my own students again and again. But still it takes someone astute, who is looking from the outside, to show me the ways in which I'm not following that advice. It is strange business, writing. But I'm now fired with enthusiasm about the book. I aim to get a new draft completed before Christmas. That will be difficult but I'm determined. Thanks those who have commented on this blog!