Clients will often send me a finished manuscript of 40,000 or 60,000 words, which, for various reasons, they’re not happy with. A non-fiction manuscript may be outdated, not well organized, incomplete in its arguments, or just plain boring. A novel may be – well, just about any problem can afflict a novel!
Developmental editing is when the editor strives to re-shape and even re-write a manuscript so that the work succeeds as a whole. You might say this is the “30,000-foot view.” This work is done before line editing and proofreading. There’s no point in polishing a section of text that may later be deleted!
The key to successful developmental editing – which then leads to line editing and proofreading – is to take it slowly, in baby steps. Each step should require a small investment by the author and a commensurate amount of work by the editor. Typically, I’ll work in one-day increments.
Day 1: Read and Review
I’ll read the entire manuscript without prejudice and then offer my opinion about what we need to do to improve it. For full-length manuscripts, I will ask my client to hire me for one day at my “day rate,” which is usually enough time to complete this first step. This first day of work may include a brief written report from me. If the manuscript is very long – I’ve received manuscripts of 150,000 words and more – this step will require two or even three days.
Day 2: Cut, Paste, and Re-Write
Having read the manuscript and made a plan, the next step is to get “under the hood” (so to speak) and start pulling out bad parts and installing good parts. I’ll do this for one day – again, not a huge risk for my client. Then I send the file to them for their review. If the book is very short, this may be enough. If the word count is longer than 30,000 words, we’ll probably need Day 3.
Day 3: More Cutting, Pasting, and Re-Writing
Another day, more work on the manuscript. We go at the pace the client is comfortable with.
Day 4: Line Editing
Once the manuscript is acceptable to both my client and me, then we start polishing – line editing and proofreading. This usually takes a few days; for the average manuscript, I can edit and proofread no more than 20,000 words per day.
No Surprises!
The key is to take the process step by step, with each step approved by the author. Then at the end, we have a finished manuscript that’s ready to be marketed to my author’s readers!
