Reply #7: One reason I like Victorian novels

[DavidDvorkin]

is that they don't rush into and through the story too quickly. They may take an awfully long time to reach the resolution, but if I like the story and the characters, I'm happy to spend a long time in their company. The modern habit of editors and agents of rejecting submissions based on the first paragraph -- or even the first sentence -- isn't doing literature any good. Actually, I think the change began with the pulp era, so it's not something new.

I think you're quite right to expect more detail, and more helpful detail, when you're paying for editorial services, though.