3 Types of editing for authors

You’ve finished your novel. Hooray!

Hopefully you’ve taken a moment to bask in the sense of achievement. If not, try to. Finishing a novel is no mean feat; not many people have the dedication to see out a novel from Chapter 1 to The End.

But when you’ve had some time to celebrate, perhaps taken a break from your manuscript, or even started working on something else for a while, you’ll want to come back and start to edit.

Once you’ve taken your novel as far as you can by yourself, you might consider hiring a professional editor to help you. Contrary to some beliefs, editing isn’t just about weeding out rogue commas or correcting typos. There are different stages of editing, and different editors specialise in those stages.

Here I’ll go through the three main categories of edit.

Developmental Editing

You could see this type of edit as the ‘first stage’ of editing. A developmental edit looks at the bones of your novel, those big picture elements of structure, pacing, plot, characters, worldbuilding and theme.

The aim of this edit is to make sure that the story itself is working, that there are no plot holes, that your pacing doesn’t drag, your characters and settings spring from the page, and your voice is consistent.

Your editor will provide you with an in depth report looking at these various elements, giving you insight into your strengths and what areas you need to work on, including suggestions on how you might go about doing this. They’ll also make in-line comments on your manuscript, perhaps highlighting examples of issues raised in the report or giving initial reactions to plot turns and twists.

In general, you won’t receive feedback on your writing itself in a developmental report. Things like your use of literary devices, word choice, sentence structure and grammar aren’t within the remit of a developmental editor. This is because suggestions in a developmental edit might result in big changes to the manuscript – there isn’t much point perfecting prose in a scene that you then cut! However, your editor may flag any recurring issues that really stand out to them as something to look at during the copyedit stage.

Copyediting

This is generally the next stage after developmental editing. Once you’ve really nailed down those big picture elements and are happy with the foundation of your novel, you’re ready to move to the writing itself.

A copyeditor helps you do this by analysing your words, and making suggestions on picking the best words possible. They’ll comment on things like your use of literary devices (e.g. metaphors), grammar, word choice and sentence structure, picking out when, for example, your writing reads awkwardly, your dialogue is incorrectly punctuated, or a sentence is too wordy. If you work with a publication such as a magazine, a copyeditor will also be ensuring your piece upholds the style rules of that publication (for example particular grammar usage or spelling choices). Their aim is to make sure your writing is cohesive and the thoughts flow well on the page.

A good copyeditor will ensure your writing is its very best, whilst maintaining your unique voice as the author. After your copyedit is complete, your book should be readable and very nearly ready to be published.

A copyedit won’t be looking at the big picture elements covered in a developmental edit, so you’ll want to be 100% happy with your plot, pacing, theme, character arcs and worldbuilding before your embark on this type of edit.

Copyediting can sometimes overlap with proofreading, in that your editor will be looking out for, and correcting, any typos, grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Proofreading

This is the very final step of the editing process. Like copyediting, a proofreader will read your manuscript looking to correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. They’ll track these changes in your manuscript.

Unlike copyediting, proofreading isn’t concerned with the flow of the text – it is simply a final read through to pick up any mechanical mistakes that have been missed during the rest of the editing process.

Proofreaders have an exceptional eye for detail, as they are the last editing hurdle before a book is published.

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