Types of Editing

“I need an editor.”
“Okay, great! What kind of editing do you want?”
“Um, I don’t know?”
That conversation happens a lot in different writers’ groups. Here’s what you need to know to choose the correct type of editor for your manuscript…

Developmental Editing (Content/Substantive Edit) 

A developmental edit looks at the “big picture” of your manuscript. It focuses on the overall structure and organization as well as the development of the topic for non-fiction and the development of characters and plot for fiction. This is the ultimate level of editing and potentially overhauls your book, if necessary, while retaining your writer’s voice and the story.

Some of the areas a developmental edit focuses on are:

• identifying and correcting inaccuracies in both fact and logic.
• reorganizing sentences, paragraphs, sections and chapters for clarity.
• recommending areas for rewriting to improve overall flow and understanding.
• reviewing logic and comprehension.
• identifying gaps in content or story.
• evaluating the manuscript and its marketability for your target audience.

Line Editing

A line editor’s main focus is on the content of the manuscript and making sure that it is presented in the best way possible. They have a superior understanding of grammar and logic. These are the editors that will rewrite and/or rearrange sentences, paragraphs, and chapters to make them correct. 

A line edit focuses on word usage, syntax, and sentence structure. Other areas a line edit focuses on are:

• checking for shifts in tense, person, and number.
• reviewing sentences for reading ease, variety, and overall clarity.
• noting inaccuracies and inconsistencies in facts and logics.
• correcting passive voice and weak verb usage.
• finding redundancies, poor word choice, and inaccuracies in descriptions.
• crosschecking references, notes, tables, and other features within text.
• verifying unusual facts and statistics for accuracy.
• maintaining consistent style, format, and wording for subheadings, lists, quotations, captions, etc.
• verifying all sources are properly cited.

Copyediting*

Copyeditors are the ones who earned all of us editors the title of grammar police. They know the technicalities of the English language and the rules to back them up.

Copyediting includes identifying and correcting:

• typographical errors.
• misspellings.
• punctuation errors.
• minor word usage problems.
• grammatical issues.

Proofreading*

The manuscript should be in its final design for proofreading. Generally, proofreaders have permission to change only the glaring errors and not fix something for clarity’s sake. All formatting is checked for consistency. Photo captions and references to illustrations, tables, etc., are cross-checked within the text. Any lingering typos are marked for the designer to fix.

*If an editor does a developmental and line edit on a manuscript, you should hire a separate editor for the copyedit. Some editors combine the line and copy edit stages, so if that’s the case, hire a separate proofreader. Just like writers, editors can become too familiar with the text and miss sometimes obvious mistakes. Always have that extra set of eyes look at your manuscript.