From the Editor’s Desk: Know Your Edits and What They Do

Several weeks ago I surveyed the multitude of steps it takes to publish your book. Most of those steps occur once you submit your manuscript and may be opaque to first-time writers. Let’s talk a little about what it takes to get your manuscript to submittable quality. In other words, let’s talk about what I, or any qualified editor, do for you and your manuscript.

​There are essentially three editorial phases in which an editor engages a manuscript: the developmental phase, line editing, and copyediting.
 
Developmental Editing: This is the initial phase, the first time an editor such as myself encounters your manuscript. Well-seasoned and experienced writers may not need a developmental edit. But for most writers, wrestling with a manuscript with which they may have been deeply engaged for months or years, a developmental edit is at least helpful, and likely necessary.
               
At the developmental stage what I am focused on are big picture concerns: narrative arc and structure, organization, and proper emphasis of major and minor themes. We want to make sure that key turning points are mapped, key points included in their preferred place, and that key points and themes are properly weighted or emphasized.  
               
Much of what I focus on at this stage is the ironic question of what to leave out. For many writers—certainly for me—the early drafting stages are expansive. I write a lot of words, sometimes saying the same thing two or three different ways, as I struggle and work to clarify what I intend and find better ways to say it. Developmental editing is therefore a process of elimination, deciding what is superfluous, what doesn’t support the narrative, what is a distraction. Including lots of supporting material is a high-value practice in the early drafting stages, but once we get to the developmental stage, we’re laser-focused on what needs to be removed, what needs to be downplayed, or what should be removed to the footnotes.
               
Not every writer will need a developmental editor, but every manuscript needs a developmental edit. If you are practiced and experienced, you can probably do the developmental edit yourself. If not, it’s crucial to find a pro that can help guide you. If you’ve ever DNF’d a book, or threw something against the wall in anger, it is almost certainly because it did not enjoy a quality developmental edit. Do not shortchange your manuscript at this stage.
 
Line Edit: A line edit is a close reading at the sentence level, focused on sentence structure, word choice, and flow. We’re on the lookout for grammatical structure, making sure our verbs and nouns agree, that we’re not overusing adverbs, and that the use of the passive voice is as limited as possible.
 
We’re making sure that all the sentences are not only structurally sound, but that they are all load-bearing, that is, they don’t do too much or too little. This is especially important for your transitions and topic sentences, to be solid and do their work.
 
I am also looking for appropriate sign-posting—the metaphor editors use to describe the phrasing that reminds your readers of what is at stake, and what the argument(s) of the book and theme(s) of the chapter are.
 
It is not possible to do a line edit before a manuscript has been developmentally edited. The latter usually means that sections, passages, and paragraphs have to be moved around. All of that reorganization requires the narrative sinew of topic sentence and proper transitioning. This means that every developmental edit requires, to a greater or lesser degree, prose rewrites and revisions. You can’t line edit something that is not there.
 
Copyedit: This is the final editing stage before production. Here we’re doing a proofread: a final check to make sure there are no typos of any kind. But this is also the stage to ensure that we are in conformity with the prevailing style guides. This means both the prevailing industry style guide (either the Chicago Manual, the AP, or APA7, for most publications) and also the in-house style guide of your publisher. (I wrote about styles and styles guides earlier.)
 
If you are traditionally publishing, the press will do the copyediting for you. But they do not do developmental or line editing. And of course the catch here is that a traditional publishing house will not publish a manuscript that needs developmental or line editing.
 
If you are self-publishing, you might skip developmental and line editing to save cost. Unless you are very certain in your own editing skills, the final product will likely very much reveal your choices, however.
 
Certain hybrid publishers, like the one I mentioned the other day, will do the developmental and line editing for you, but for a fee. Do be sure to confirm this in your contract.
 
In other words, unless you are already confident in your abilities and certain that you know what you’re doing, every manuscript needs a developmental edit, a line edit, and a copyedit. There may be places to economize, but if you want a first-class publication, editing is probably not one of them.

Developmental editing focuses on chapter and book level. Line editing focuses on sentences and paragraphs. Copyediting addresses typos and style conformity. You can't do one until you do its predecessor. That's what I do. That's what makes your manuscript the best it can be.