Writing a book is a journey and this journey has many twists and turns and one of the most complicated aspects of this journey is the editing process.
Sometimes authors have even said that the editing process is more difficult than the writing itself and there is a reason for that.
Editing is a complicated and technical process with multiple layers involving understanding and assessing structure and clarity, as well as flow and tone and much more and it is not as simple as uploading your manuscript to a grammar software and letting it do the rest.
Today, we are going to talk about everything related to editing and help you get a clear idea of all the different stages and types of editing most commonly utilised by book authors.
We will understand the primary stages of editing, from development editing to sentence-level refinement or line editing and much more.
So, let’s dive right in.
Here Are the Different Stages of Editing Explained
Developmental Editing (a.k.a. Structural or Substantive Editing)
At first is developmental editing and you can think of it as the macro stage of editing and it is basically editing meant to focus on the entire structure of the manuscript as well as the content and flow of the manuscript.
This kind of editing usually covers everything from the plot structure and pacing to logical flow and argument strength, as well as character development, along with character motivation and consistency.
This editing also takes into consideration chapter organisation and transitions and as an author, you will need to identify missing sections and redundant sections during this editing.
The purpose of this editing is not fine details but rather fixing the overall structure.
Line Editing (a.k.a. Stylistic Editing)
After we are done with the macro stage of editing, we can now finally focus on the micro stage of editing, which focuses the lens of editing on each and every word and sentence.
That is basically what line editing is because this helps in the refinement of language and flow and helps with focusing on style and ready them and ensures that each and every sentence is alright.
In line editing, the author focuses on the choice of words and rhythm of sentences as well as voice consistency. This is the time to remove redundancy in ideas and awkward phrasing, as well as ensuring smooth transitions between paragraphs.
Copy Editing (a.k.a. Technical Editing)
If you are new to being an author, then you might be confused between line editing with copy editing.
Copy editing is basically editing related to the technical side of things related to your manuscript and it is the kind of editing you do to grammatically correct the manuscript and make sure the manuscript is consistent and professional.
In copy editing, authors ensure grammar and punctuation, as well as spelling and every other technical aspect, such as consistency of tense and capitalisation, as well as style.
This is also the type of editing that influences fact-checking of names and dates, as well as references and also deals with formatting and citation consistency.
Proofreading (The Final Polish)
When you are done with every type of editing possible, you are finally going to reach proofreading.
You can think of it like a last filter that covers everything that might have been missed.
Proofreading deals with everything from spelling mistakes to grammatical mistakes, as well as missing words and punctuation and even mistakes in formatting and layout issues.
Proofreading is also going to deal with making sure the page numbering is done correctly, as well as ensuring the headers and visual consistency are correct.
This is one of the most important stages of editing because if something gets missed out in this process, then it will land in the printed book, which is never a good thing.
Tips for Authors Navigating the Editing Process
Don’t Rush the Stages
When it comes to editing, patience and perseverance is the name of the game because this is not the time to rush things; editing is the time to simply take as much time as possible and give yourself time to revise things multiple times.
This becomes even more important if you are doing line editing, as it demands your fullest attention.
Collaborate Openly
If you are not doing the editing yourself and if you are assigning editors, then you should be open to collaborating with them at all times because you need to let them know about your ideas and how you want them to shape the manuscript.
Your editors are not your critics and they will need all the help they can when it comes to editing your manuscript for you.
If you are not able to express your vision to them right now, then it will have bad effects later on.
Know Your Needs
See here is the thing, you are not going to need all the stages of editing at once because if you are manuscript is at a first draft stage, then you are going to need developmental editing.
If your manuscript is at a more polished and final stage, then you might only need line editing and copy editing and it all depends on the stage you are manuscript is in.
Sometimes you can decide to do part of the editing yourself, such as the developmental editing and leave the rest, such as the line editing or the copy editing, to a professional editor.
Budget Accordingly
Editing is definitely something you need to budget for because it is one of the major investments of a book if you are delegating the editing process to a professional.
Sometimes the publishing company will help you with the editing but that is usually the case with self-publishers because traditional publishers usually will not help out with developmental editing.
We hope you now understand everything about the different types of editing and we hope you understand that developmental editing means dealing with the big picture and structure and line editing means dealing with the language and flow, and copy editing likewise means grammar and proofreading means final corrections.
We also hope this will help you produce the best manuscript you can but if you are doing this for the first time and you need help in the editing process or even the manuscript process, we are here to help you.
We are Ghostwriting India and we can help you with the entire editing process of your manuscript, from developmental editing to line editing and much more.
In addition to that, we can even help you out with the entire manuscript as well and all you need to do is express to us your vision and we will do the rest for you.
We are one of the most renowned names in the industry and we welcome you to visit our website and check out everything we do.
