Demystifying Editing Services For Novelists
Why is editing so confusing?
Okay, so when I started writing, I knew nothing about the different editing types or what I may need in the future. I researched and researched and still felt confused.
Did I need structural edit, or substantive edit, or a manuscript assessment? Or wait, maybe I’d need a manuscript appraisal? Or is that all a developmental edit?
What's the difference between a copy edit and a line edit? Do they come together?
What do you mean I need a proofreader? Isn't that what beta's do?
Sigh. So many questions it makes the brain spin, right?
The reason it's confusing is that some edits have more than one name, and you don't need all of them.
So I will try to simplify it and explain the editing process one can follow to ready their manuscript for publication.
I'll highlight the steps I think are essential and the typical order writers pursue them. Again, remember you may not need every step.
Here goes, and we will assume you begin with a finished or mostly finished first draft.
The Self-Edit
Manuscript Assessment/Evaluation
Developmental Edit
Copy Edit (copyedit & or line edit)
Proofreading
Fact-checking
Beta Readers
The Self-Edit
This step is a must for every writer.
The self-edit takes the messy first draft and makes it into a cohesive 2nd draft.
You will read the draft and note what is missing given the novel's structure, genre conventions, plot, character arcs, motivations, point of view, theme, and overall feel. You'll also be looking at things like tense, word choice, grammar and punctuation, spelling, etc... but those come later. First, do the big stuff, then drop down to sentence level.
The self-edit is often where many writers get it wrong.
I did.
I didn't know where to start. What problem to solve first? I didn't even know what many of the issues were!
So I did the best I could and started my revision process on page one, going line by line to the end of the book as fast as I could. I made sentence-level changes, not big-picture changes, and guess what? The book didn't work.
Lesson learned.
Do the big stuff first.
This is one of my favorite things to help writers with today. I teach them a self-editing/revision process in my group coaching programs!
Manuscript Evaluation- AKA: manuscript assessment or editorial assessment
An editor will read your draft and give a summary of their findings. Think broad strokes here. The general impression. It might be a single page or maybe six. Depends on the editor.
From my perspective, a manuscript evaluation or assessment helps if you are uncertain of what type of editing services you need. Or if you even need a developmental edit. (I think many of us do, especially when we are first starting.)
Developmental Edit-AKA: content edit, substantive edit, structural edit
I strongly recommend a developmental edit for first-time novelists.
The developmental edit is much more involved than a manuscript assessment.
The editor will give detailed feedback on big-picture items: theme, genre conventions, story structure and logic, worldbuilding, narrative drive, character arcs, characterization, point of view, and voice, as well as more craft-focused issues that require attention. Think show vs. tell, passive voice, tense agreements, dialogue attribution, and so on.
You should receive a manuscript with track changes, in-line comments, and an editorial report or letter.
My experience has been that the editor will return three copies of your manuscript. One with all the track changes shown (it's a mess, basically unreadable, or at least mine was. LOL), another with only comments ( track changes have been accepted), and a final clean version with no comments.
The goal of the developmental edit is to make the novel as structurally sound as possible and make the narrative flow from a story standpoint.
It is not about making it pretty or correcting grammar. It is not a copyedit or a line edit.
When you research, you'll find that some recommend doing a developmental edit early in the writing process. This confused me for a long time until I figured out that early meant after the first draft was finished. Best after the writer has done a self-edit.
Having said that, book coaches, such as myself, often work with drafting writers, and we help with the story's developmental aspects. That's our job. We ensure the story's foundation is strong, so the big structural self-edit that comes later is much less heavy.
Does every writer need a developmental edit? No. I don't think so.
If this is book five and you're confident of the story's structure, and character arcs or you’ve worked with a writing coach who focuses on revision, then no, but for new writers, I think it is a wise idea.
Copy Edit
Copy Edit is an umbrella term, and the copyedit and the line edit are under it.
A copyedit is the mechanics: think grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. It’s part of the polish that makes the work shine.
The job of this edit is to make your manuscript as error-free as possible from a grammatical standpoint. Every writer who wishes to publish their work will need a copyedit at some point. If you are self-publishing, do not skip this part.
Every professional writer has a copyedit done. Traditionally published authors all have an in-house copyedit before their work is released. A copyeditor will provide you with a style sheet for consistency across the manuscript.
Line Edit AKA: the stylistic edit
The focus of this edit is the prose.
The flow, the content, the voice.
This editor will read the novel line by line, critically examining how the sentences are formed and if they carry the meaning/intention the author desires.
Here we are talking about tone and syntax.
They also focus on descriptive inconsistencies, point of view, tense, and dialogue. Line editing is subjective vs. copyediting, which is very objective. The editor will interpret your meaning here and try to make it crystal clear.
A line edit is not about correction per se; it’s more about enhancement.
Do you need a line edit? If you struggle to make your prose sing or are uncertain of your voice, then maybe.
Proofreading
Every writer will need to have their work proofread before publication.
Self-published authors will hire this out; for traditionally published authors, it will be done in-house. This is the last line of defense against typos and grammatical errors. They will also check for problems with scene breaks or funky chapter heads, and so on.
Fact-checking
Fact-checking is precisely what it sounds like.
Not every manuscript needs a fact-check (we fantasy writers are smiling here, except for those of us who write about pirates and ships. I tip my hat).
Still, if your story has technical elements you know nothing about, such as horse racing or deep sea diving or teaching middle school in today’s climate, and you are in your 60s, then hire a fact checker or find a reader who knows what you may have missed.
Historical, crime and hard sci-fi novels probably need the most significant fact-checking.
Beta Readers
I will do another article on when to incorporate betas. For some writers, the answer is never, and that’s okay.
You don’t have to have betas to publish books. But that’s a topic for another day. Here’s what you need to know for our editing conversation.
Beta readers are the first readers of your polished manuscript. The book is in the best shape you can make at this point. It has been self-edited and may have gone through a developmental edit.
If you have several books under your belt and are comfortable with your self-editing process, then the next best step may be sending your second or third draft to a beta reader vs. doing a developmental edit.
Beta readers are not editors.
They are regular readers of your genre. They can give you a strong sense of if the novel works and satisfies from a plot and character perspective.
My advice is to tell your beta what concerns you have about your story. Have a list of things for them to focus on that you give to them before or immediately after they read the manuscript.
If you are pursuing traditional publishing:
You don’t need a copyedit/line edit or proofreading before you query an agent. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it cannot be riddled with errors.
So I’d invest in ProWritingAide or some other spelling/grammar checker. If cost is an issue, grab the free ProWritingAid trial and polish up the manuscript to the best of your ability before you query.
I hope this helps demystify the possible editing pathways to publication.
A wiser woman probably would have just made a graphic. LOL.
