Levels of Editing: An Overview

New authors embarking on the editing process for the first time are often dismayed to learn that properly editing a manuscript is not a simple “one and done” event. Instead, it’s multiple rounds of edits to address different areas that will ensure your manuscript is the best it can be.

To help you understand each level of editing, think about moving into a new house.

Moving In: Substantive or Developmental Editing

How exciting! You’re moving into a house, and here’s all your boxes and furniture strewn all over the place. You labeled boxes the best you could, but there’s probably a kitchen box in the bedroom. It’s time to take a big picture look at your items. Should the piano go in the dining room or the living room? Does this red chair work in this house, or should it be put on Facebook Marketplace in favor of a new leather sofa?

A substantive (or developmental) editor helps you answer big picture questions about your manuscript. Does your plot have any major holes or inconsistencies? Are there elements of the story that don’t ring true? Are your characters memorable and distinct? What is your theme?

At this point of the process, your editor will annotate your manuscript with questions and thoughts for you to consider. You might see some grammar changes, but that’s not what this stage is about. It’s about making sure your story makes sense and is meaningful to the reader.

Unloading the Boxes: Copy Editing

Once your boxes are unloaded, it’s time to start finding space in your new home for every recliner, vase, family photo, and commemorative mug. Select the silverware drawer and load the linen closet. While we are at it, we will make sure this photo is hung exactly symmetrically on the wall above the sofa.

Copy editing happens midway through the editing process, and is all about spotting and correcting errors in spelling, grammar, and inconsistencies. Your copy editor will notice if you have any “weasel words”—words you tend to repeat—or other word usage issues. They will address point of view issues and dialogue tags, and ensure you’re compliant with your chosen style guide.

This is the manuscript that will come back to you with loads of Tracked Changes and Comments. It’s important to note that copy editing may include several rounds, because there are likely so many changes to be made that several passes are needed to ensure the changes are made without accidentally introducing errors.

Housewarming Party: Proofreading

All the cardboard boxes are on the curb, waiting for the recycling truck. You’re absolutely positive that the silverware is in the right drawer because you can reach it from the dishwasher. The landscape painting looks phenomenal over the bed, and your new duvet cover perfectly complements the wall color you’ve chosen. It’s time to dust, straighten, and invite people over to your house for a party.

Proofreading is your last stop before printing. All the hours of discussion with your substantive and copy editors about major plot points and the perfect word choice have paid off, and your manuscript is on point. The proofreader won’t make any major changes, instead ensuring each period, semicolon, and m-dash are perfectly positioned. There are no orphans, widows, or bad breaks. The proofreader is your last bastion against errors in your manuscript.

Three Distinct Thought Processes

The heavy lifting involved with moving into a house is a different skill set than dusting a perfectly positioned vase. So it is with editing: it’s nearly impossible to proofread at the same time as the substantive edit. That’s not to say that an editor doesn’t have the ability to do both types of edits—many of them can. However, it doesn’t take place at the same time.

Your substantive editor can be the same person who copy edits your manuscript, but I recommend getting another editor to proofread. A fresh set of eyes can pick up more errors than someone who has read a manuscript multiple times.

Three (or more!) rounds of editing might seem expensive and time-consuming, but it’s an investment in the quality of your work. The encouragement and challenge you receive from your team of editors will push you—and your work—to new heights.