I read all manuscripts with an open mind, but I have to confess that I am not one of these people who, in most cases, can read only 50 pages and know if is is good. Most of my reading, of course, is unpublished material and so I am looking for what is going to hook a reader's interest as much as the writing style, unless the style is clearly below publishing quality.
In Joe's case I knew right off the bat I had a winner because of the quality of the writing and the appeal of the storyline. This makes it so much easier to champion a manuscript in an editorial meeting, rather than to have to couch one's enthusiasm with, e.g. it needs work with the pacing, or it's in a genre that we are having difficulty selling.
With regard to revisions, I don't think I can even think without a pencil in my hand, I've been at this so long I probably make little typo, grammar corrections as I read first time through, But I also will jot down major plot points or pacing or thoughts, even before I buy something. Because if, in your opinion, a book needs work from the very beginning, you want to share that information with the agent/author right off the bat. After it's acquired, I then set aside time for a careful read and it is at the point that it seems you are almost channeling an author and what he or she is trying to do in the book. I feel as if I hear the narrator's voice in my head as I read, be it fiction or nonfiction, and if a false note appears it just leaps out. So I guess I rely a lot on my instincts.
Not every author will agree with all the suggestions you make, however--sometimes to delete material to improve the pacing, or add something here or there to clarify motivation, embellish description, fill in a missing but key plot point or time period, or keep a character true to itself. Lots of things.
But if I think something is actually wrong, I will try and persuade him or her to see it differently, if not exactly. as I do. But ultimately, especially in fiction, I almost always defer to the author in the end. With regard to line work, in some cases I find myself writing in what I think is missing and then asking the author to rephrase into their own words/style. A sort of show by example,
In any event, it is all very much a delicate dance, and ultimately, different ears hear things different ways, so in some cases there is no right or wrong, or objective better or worse, just preference. And it's important when to know the difference as an editor ...
