Transforming Your Words into Published Works
Aspiring Authors Series. I recently wrote about the three ‘rules’ of fiction writing that I find myself commenting on most frequently when I’m editing fiction novels for clients. But there are many other ‘rules’ to make good fiction that also need their time in the spotlight. If you know why the rule is there and how to…
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This type of edit will offer broad feedback on major strengths and areas for improvement in your plot, characters, and prose. Instead of comments and example rewrites in the manuscript, you receive an editorial report detailing those broad strokes. An editorial assessment is great for authors who are earlier in the process (messier manuscripts). It will make later developmental and line/copy editing easier, or decide if you're ready to query agents if going the traditional publishing route.
Developmental Editing
Also called content or substantive editing, development editing looks at the “big-picture” issues, such as finding plot holes and inconsistencies. We look at narrative arcs, characterization, and overall story development. You will receive a marked-up version of the original work with specific suggestions for each issue, as well as a summary of these issues in an editorial report.
Line Editing
Also called 'stylistic' editing, line editing focuses on the content and flow of your prose. While a full copy edit looks at the mechanics of writing, the line edit only considers stylistic issues like word usage, POV/tense, dialogue, and descriptive inconsistencies. A marked-up manuscript will provide suggestions and examples for re-writing, with more broad information in the editorial report.
Copy Editing
Copyediting addresses the mechanical aspects of the writing, such as grammar, punctuation, syntax, repetition, capitalization, and spelling. The aim is to help you improve readability, clarity, coherency, consistency, and correctness. You receive a marked-up version of the original work, with corrections and suggestions using tracked changes.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the last major stage of the editing process. There should be no major error or re-writing at this stage. Proofreaders inspect the document one final time, to ensure there are no obvious spelling or grammar errors. Again, you will be provided with a fully marked-up/corrected version of your manuscript, ready for the next stage of your publishing journey.