When you finish your first short story, novel, or piece of nonfiction, the first thing you want to do is celebrate! The second thing you think is, “Now what?”
A completed draft is a success beyond measure. But it isn’t usually ready for publication right away. Even the most famous of authors still have editors.
Writers always see their work with rose-colored glasses and we know more about the story than we put on the page. An editor is there to make sure the story is a lovely experience for the reader who doesn’t have all of that knowledge.
But editors are a mysterious and strange beast to new writers. Since I happen to be an editor, I can help clear up the mystery.
What Are the Different Types of Editing?
When searching for an editor, you want to find someone who has similar values as you do but different strengths.
When you are talking to your editor, it is important to know what kind of editing you need and what kind of editing they offer because each editor is unique.
The biggest issue with types of editing is vocabulary. Just like all other aspects of the writing and publishing process, some terms are used interchangeably and differently depending on who you are talking to.
The most common terms for the five types of editing are: developmental editing, structural editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading.
Types of Edits and Order
There are five basic types of editing. They must all be completed in a specific order, and there is no flexibility in that order. However, you do not necessarily need to complete all five to have a strong manuscript.
The types of edits start with the roughest of drafts and look at the big picture. Then each subsequent type of edit refines later drafts as you narrow down into the gritty details and polish your prose into a publishable manuscript.
Developmental Editing
This is called developmental editing because it can occur during the writing of the work or when you get stuck and don’t know what to do next. The focus is on the content of the story.
Writers, even well-seasoned ones, sometimes need help with plot, character development, setting creation, story structure and more.
This is where developmental editing comes into play. A developmental editor can ask you questions and help you work through the answers. They can be objective about what is working and what isn’t, when the writer is lost in the weeds.
A developmental editor must be well versed in your genre, whether that be fiction, non-fiction, memoir, etc. They must understand the reader’s expectations for that genre, so they can advise you.
They also help develop the concepts and themes of the story. Identifying the message the author wants to get across and making sure that it weaves throughout the story and resonates with the resolution.
For non-fiction books, a developmental editor can help with brainstorming, planning, organizing, outlining, or the copy needed to catch an agent’s eye.
A developmental editor is a bit like a very seasoned, professional critique partner. Someone who can help you tell a compelling story that readers will love.
Structural Editing
This is one of the places where terminology can become confusing. Some people refer to structural and developmental editing as the same thing. And the confusion isn’t helped because editors who do one often do both due to an overlap in content.
Also, if a writer doesn’t get a developmental editor during the writing process, then some major character, plot, and setting choices will need to be assessed by a structural editor.
A structural edit focuses more on the organization of the manuscript’s building blocks. The entirety of the manuscript is evaluated against the blurb to make sure the writer is telling the story they want to tell.
Things that are analyzed include which scenes are essential to the story, purpose of scenes, story arc scenes, how the scenes are structured and flow together, chapters and how they are organized.
The editor will consider word length of the manuscript based on genre and word length of scenes based on importance. Structural editing can also go into major story choices such as protagonist, pov, and setting.
Other things examined based on genre are voice, tone, tense, and writing style. These will create an overall feel in the manuscript.
Flow of logical ideas such as cause and effect of events, the timeline, character arcs, and pacing will be assessed.
This is where an editor may suggest moving, adding, cutting, or splitting scenes to create a more coherent structure.
Any plot holes are likely to be discovered during this phase of editing.
It is also at this point that scenes will be checked for specific content. In Fictionary, we refer to these as the thirty-eight Fictionary elements. These include tension, conflict, senses, impact on pov character, impact on protagonist, flashbacks, backstory, and more.
A structural editor’s job is to find the story’s strengths and weaknesses. This allows the author to know what they have done well and what can be improved in order to create a better reader experience.
Line Editing
Another place where confusion with terminology can occur is at line editing versus copy editing. However, we are going to define line editing (stylistic editing) as looking at the prose. This means examining the creative content of the manuscript, sentence by sentence.
The editor will look at things like style, word choice, syntax, and tone. The words an author uses are personal to them, but should also be appropriate to the genre, story, and the characters involved.
It also includes looking at the readability and flow. Shorter sentences can increase pacing and tension, while longer sentences slow things down like a meandering river.
Speaking of, metaphors, similes, onomatopoeias, and other difficult English words that mean using fun language play are weighed and considered in this step. Anything that might trip up the reader should be clarified.
This is a place to get rid of cliches or anything the author tends to say too often or moments of word repetition. Too many sentences starting the same or writing too much about the same idea are places that can be trimmed into more precise phrases.
Editors will look for weak word choices that can be replaced by strong verbs and vivid descriptions. Characters often laugh, nod, or shake their heads. And while these may happen, editors will suggest you try something new to break up the repetitive cliches.
Head-hopping is something that might be picked up at this level of editing if not before.
A line editor makes sure each word, phrase, and sentence is doing as much as it can for your manuscript.
Copy Editing
We’re finally there! The level of editing that most people think of when they hear the word “editing.” The quality of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Surprisingly, this type of editing also includes style. Each author, series, or book may have distinct styles, and it is the copy editor’s job to point out where any inconsistencies lie.
It is the difference between using twenty-four-hour time versus twelve-hour time. Depending on purpose, it may be an author’s habit and choice in every book they write, or it may change depending on the series, book, or character.
Consistency is key.
Luckily, the author doesn’t need to remember every grammar rule ever created if they have a copy editor. The editor will point out where the commas go, or don’t go and if the author has a tendency to leave them off at conjunction or before the word “too.”
Misspellings, typos, or wrong words used (think their instead of they’re) are also caught at this stage of editing, usually based on a specific dictionary. And alternate spellings of a word or name could be an issue.
Other things an author may not think about are deleting extra spaces or returns, whether numbers are numerical or spelled out and in what situations, capitalization, etc. These are generally based on the rules of a style book like the Chicago Manual of Style or The Associated Press Style Book.
Something most people don’t think about occurring at this stage is fact checking. A copyeditor will determine if a certain type of plant grows in that place or your quotes from famous people are actually substantiated.
Copy editors get the manuscript into the final stage of readiness for publication, whether that be self-publication or submission to agents or publishing houses.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final stage of editing. It can be done by a professional or by advanced readers of the final product. And only after the manuscript is formatted.
Proofreaders are looking for any typos, spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, or formatting inconsistencies that slipped through or were created during the copy editing stage.
The layout of the book, how the words break at the edge of a page, front and back matter, headings, page numbers, illustrations, and running heads are all things that only the proofreader is going to look at once the author completes them.
This is a final pass before publishing, or if the author is self-published, there is an opportunity to fix and re-upload anytime an error is discovered.
The more polished the manuscript, the higher the credibility of the author with readers. And the more focused the readers are on the amazing story the author has written.
Content Editing Tips
- An editor should never change your manuscript.
- Developmental and structural editing are often done before beta reading. This allows the reader a coherent, mostly polished draft, but they can still discover small plot holes and opportunities for layering meaning.
- Read aloud the content to help find line editing issues, though you may find things at other editing levels, too!
- Whether or not an editor at each of these levels is needed, is based on the author, book, which editor they choose, affordability, and various other factors. However, authors should do their own editing at each of these levels before sending their work to a professional.
- Discuss with potential editors what services they offer and what their definition of those levels are. For example, some copy editors do fact-checking while others don’t.
- The Fictionary StoryTelling software can help authors find developmental and structural issues.
- Fictionary certified StoryCoach editors are trained in using the software to examine a manuscript at the developmental and structural levels and give feedback to the author in the form of notes, comments, a summary letter, and face-to-face online meetings.
- If you are interested in becoming a better writer or starting an editing business, Fictionary offers a certification class in the community.
- If you want to get involved in a long, drawn out debate online, post what you learned from this blog.