The Importance Of Editing:
Whether you're working toward completing an assignment or hoping to get something published, tightening your writing and fixing mistakes can actually be a remarkably creative activity. According to a dissertation editing service, thoughtful revision of work will lead to clarification of ideas, a reimagining of images, and sometimes, even a radical rethinking of the way you've approached your topic.
Developmental Editing:
Developmental editing, also called content or substantive editing, involves an editor providing detailed feedback on “big-picture” issues. They’ll refine your ideas, shape your narrative, and help you fix any major plot or character inconsistencies. Basically, they’ll look at just about each element of your story and tell you what works and what doesn’t.
There are two pieces here that your editor should provide: an editorial report and an annotated manuscript. The editorial report is a general critique of everything your developmental editor thinks you should change, along with commentary on what’s functioning well and should stay in your work. Meanwhile, the annotated manuscript is a marked-up version of the manuscript itself, with specific suggestions as to how you can fix each issue. You might think of the annotated manuscript as the editor’s raw feedback and the editorial report as a summary of that feedback.
Editorial Assessment:
On the other hand, if your manuscript isn’t quite ready yet for a developmental edit, however, you still want to get some feedback on it, you can always call for an editorial assessment. “In an editorial assessment, the author wouldn’t receive comments and example rewrites in the manuscript,” says genre fiction editor Leah Brown. “Instead, they would receive a letter that focuses on the broad strokes. An editorial assessment is best for an author who is early in the process and whose manuscript may be messier.” An editorial assessment is similar to an editorial report, but with less detail. It should give you some concrete ideas about how to construct your story. However, it won’t have the nuance of a full developmental edit, thus don’t rely on an assessment alone to perfect your manuscript.
Structural Editing:
Structural editing is pretty much what it sounds like: an approach to improve your story’s structure, such that it works for your particular narrative and keeps the reader engaged. For example, if your story has tons of twists, a flashback structure might work better to increase suspense than a typical linear chronology. Structural editing can also help you determine if you should split your story into more or fewer chapters/sections if those sections are in the ideal order, and what content you might delete or expand to either trammel or fill out your structure.
All developmental edits should address story structure alongside plot, characters, and themes. However, if you’re particularly worried about the structure, it might be worth asking your developmental editor to range it. You might also consider getting a structure-focused editorial assessment as your first step, so you'll address those issues before anything else.
Copy Editing:
Once you’re certain that you’ve solved the big-picture issues of your book and done any necessary rewrites, it’s time to dive into copy editing! This type is also known as mechanical and sometimes line editing, depending on its particular application. “A copy editor’s job is to bring the author’s completed manuscript to a more professional level,” says editor Chersti Niveen. “A copy edit helps create the most readable version of your book, up clarity, coherency, consistency, and correctness. The goal is to bridge any remaining gaps between the author’s intent and the reader’s understanding.”
What Elements Do Copy Editors Consider?
A copy editor examines and corrects the following elements in your work:
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Capitalization
- Word usage and repetition
- Dialogue tags usage of numbers or numerals
- POV/tense (to fix any unintentional shifts)
- Descriptive inconsistencies (character descriptions, locations, blocking, etc.)
Essentially, while a developmental editor will address overarching issues with your story, the copy editor looks at more minute details. After all, it’d be pretty distracting to your reader if you constantly misuse dialogue tags or misspell the word “restaurant.” Copy editing ensures that errors like these don’t happen, so your writing is as strong as possible, and your reader remains 100 pc focused on the story.
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Types of Editing