You’ve decided you need some help with your manuscript, but you’re not certain what kind. Or maybe you’re open to the idea, but you aren’t sure how an editor could help. You know that, as soon as you start reaching out to editors, their first question will be, “What kind of editing are you looking for?” You’ve heard terms like copyediting and line editing thrown around, but you aren’t sure what the difference is, or which one you might need.
Let me break down the three primary types of editing to help you understand what your options are and which ones might be your best fit, based on where you and your manuscript are in your writing journey.
Developmental Editing
This is the broadest type of editing, and it’s most useful in a manuscript’s early stages. Maybe you have a complete draft or maybe you’re only part of the way there, and you need to know what’s working, what’s not, and how to take your book to the next level.
Developmental editing addresses those issues, and can touch on structure, plot, voice, character development, dialogue, and more—all the building blocks of a great story—to ensure your novel or nonfiction book is set up on a strong foundation.
This process can look a couple of different ways, depending on what you and your story need. Your editor can be hands-off, providing extensive written feedback and recommendations in a memo and/or in the margins. Or, she can be a little more hands-on, actually making the substantive changes she’s recommending. In either case, the feedback you get on a developmental edit is liable to be about the big picture, and the recommendations may seem a little overwhelming—from deleting chapters to reworking characters to adding additional content or restructuring what’s there. But keep in mind, an editor brings not only expertise in storytelling, but also fresh perspective, and she can see the holes and cracks and flaws that are holding your story back. She can also see your strengths as a writer and help you capitalize on those as you take your book to the next level.
Line Editing
Line editing is a more granular, but still subjective, kind of editing, and it’s most useful when you’ve got a complete manuscript and you’re confident all the big pieces are there. Maybe you’ve already worked with a developmental editor or had several beta readers (or just honest friends) provide feedback. Now, your line editor can get her hands dirty polishing the manuscript at the sentence level. Working with track changes, she’ll help polish your prose, making your voice shine, tightening dialogue, perfecting your pacing, and addressing any inconsistencies or unclear spots in the manuscript.
The manuscript you get back will be heavily marked up, but as you go through the edits, you’ll start to see your manuscript really gelling into one cohesive, gripping story.
Copyediting
Copyediting is the last phase before you format your manuscript and prep it for publication. This addresses grammar, spelling, punctuation, and those last few awkward moments in the prose. Again, your editor will use track changes, and your markup may be hefty, but this step is critical for creating a streamlined, professional manuscript.
Line editing and copyediting often go hand in hand, and editors can and will tackle both at the same time. But I always recommend completing them as separate steps. After all, when you’re still adjusting the content, it’s easy to introduce new errors or miss others. And you may wind up copyediting full paragraphs that don’t make the cut. Your cleanest, safest bet is to invest in line editing and copyediting separately.
And finally, proofreading also gets conflated with copyediting, but this is another step. Proofreading takes place after your work has been formatted and is just about ready to publish. This is the last pass to catch any remaining errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. A proofread won’t include any subjective edits or rewrites—it’s just that final cleanup that makes your manuscript look really good.
What stage are you at with your manuscript? I work with authors at every stage, and I’m always happy to help you identify what level of edit would be most beneficial for your work! Feel free to contact me with any questions—I’d love to hear about your work in progress.