Well that is true, but it’s only one type of editing, and there are three different types listed in the article. The article also noted that a novel length manuscript needed to go through all three types before it was submission ready.
Developmental Edit – better known as the content editing, story editing, structural editing or substantive editing. This edit looks at the big picture of your novel and focuses on
- character arcs/development
- pacing
- story structure
- pot holes or inconsistencies
- strong beginning, middle and end
- plausibility/believability
- clear transitions
- point of view
- showing vs. telling
- dialogue
Copy Edit – copy editing is the one most of us think of when we hear editor. He comes on the scene after the developmental editor and cleans things up. He is the one who does the line by line with a focus on
- grammar
- punctuation
- spelling
- redundant words
- inconsistencies/continuity errors
- awkward sentence structure
The proofread- I never thought of a proofreader as an editor, but in all reality he is. The proofreader checks your manuscript for lingering errors, missed commas, and typos. It may be tempting to skip this step or do it yourself. Keep in mind, you’ve read the book so many times you will be blind to many lingering errors. You need an unfamiliar eye.
I thought this was an interesting article. I’m not sure where you are in the writing process, but you do need to know the proper steps to take before submitting your work. Remember as stated above you don’t see the errors. You are so familiar with your work the errors become invisible. Your brain actually fills in the holes as you read.
I didn’t have this information and submitted my work to several different agencies after I ‘edited’ it and had a few friends read through it. Needless to say I got nothing but rejections. I followed up on suggestions, and that’s when I realized just how bad the manuscript was. I couldn’t believe I sent such shoddy work to an agent. I was embarrassed and glad I hadn’t met them in person.
Hope this helped!
-Jan R
Very useful. Thanks
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Wendy Unsworth and commented:
A very clear and useful breakdown of editing in all its forms – thanks to WriteYourFirstNovel
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the reblog and thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post – and the picture captures the essence of the process! Thank you for providing a comprehensive overview of the process along with your experience 😊.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on The Owl Lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You! and thank you for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
What a dunderhead I’ve been. I’ve been sending all my blog posts in without doing any of these things. And my staff—me, myself, and I—still publish them! Fortunately, the folks down at WordPress apparently haven’t been checking either, because my posts are still getting read—well…seen anyway. But in all seriousness, Jan, this is very helpful and I intend to use it. ‘O)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol-Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
Your welcome. It was really my pleasure. I stand to benefit from the good advice. :O)
LikeLike
It’s really tempting to just do all this by oneself, but knowing me, I’ll probably skim over some REALLY nasty typos! Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s not just you. You are so familiar with the story that you see it as it should be. The mind is a crazy, amazing thing. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pot holes or plot holes? (sorry, but it popped out at me.) I took a reading course once, and it was all about how our brains fill in the gaps–that’s essentially the process of reading, anticipating meaning versus reading every single word.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s why it’s important that you have others critique and/or edit your work. As you said, your mind fills in the holes 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on lmnelsonscorner and commented:
Good article about editing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] via Edit, Edit or Edit? — Writing your first novel-Things you should know […]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Finding Myself Through Writing and commented:
Take it from Jan. She knows. When you think you’ve corrected all your errors, there’s always another one…and another one…and…well you get my drift. Edit, edit, edit… You can never do too much editing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the reblog and thank you for stopping by 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just published my non fiction book and I thought I would never finish editing. It’s so true about how much editing one piece needs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome Jan 👍😃
LikeLike
I totally did this too. Way way back before really digging in and editing properly. These are all very important editing tips that you’ve shared.
LikeLike
Thank you! Yeah I seem to learn everything the hard way. Sad part was I thought it was a great draft. You don’t know what you don’t know. You have to do your homework. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike