What is developmental editing?
Developmental editing, also called substantive editing, is a type of editing that focuses on the ‘big picture’ elements of a manuscript – such as overall structure, content and tone – with less emphasis placed on the editorial details.
In fact, the role of a developmental editor is similar in some ways to that of a ghostwriter or a commissioning editor, in that they help authors develop what they want to say and deliver it in the most effective way, rather than polishing existing copy.
To get down to brass tacks, developmental editing centres on answering the following questions:
- What is the text fundamentally trying to achieve?
- Who is your intended audience?
- What do they need from the text?
- What can we do to meet these needs?
When should a text be edited by a developmental editor?
Developmental editing is a part of the editing process that usually happens right after an author has finished writing a first draft of their manuscript, maybe as they start to seek a book deal – though if you are considering embarking on a book project, you might benefit from input from a developmental editor before you even start writing, as they can help you sharpen your outline or determine how to position the book in the market.
The ultimate gift you can give your manuscript is developmental editing: fixing your intentions and honing the text early on makes the world of difference as you start your journey to print. Whether you’re self-publishing or not, and whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction or a short story, you want your writing to make its mark. It’s worth whipping your initial draft, or even your second draft, into good shape.
Why should you hire a developmental editor?
Hiring a developmental editor is an investment in your writing career: not only can an experienced editor help you significantly improve the quality of your manuscript – by strengthening the structure, word choice, flow or argument – but the right editor can contribute to enhancing your overall writing skills by providing detailed feedback on how to hone your unique style, tone and voice.
In addition, you may find that working with a professional editor increases your confidence in sharing your work with agents and other readers, knowing that it has been thoroughly evaluated and improved.
Ultimately, the developmental editing process can also save time, as an experienced editor will expeditiously identify areas that need improvement and provide guidance on how to revise your full manuscript efficiently.
What can you expect from the developmental editing process?
A developmental edit is a comprehensive evaluation of your manuscript, including its strengths, weaknesses, tone, style and voice. All professional developmental editors will give you detailed feedback and collaborate with you to refine your ideas.
Indeed, a developmental editor will provide a comprehensive and expert analysis of your manuscript, focusing on enhancing the overall, ‘big picture‘ quality of the book with you.
Saying this, there are several approaches to developmental editing and various types of developmental editing services. Here’s just a selection of the main options:
Marking up your manuscript
A developmental editor might review and annotate your existing manuscript with comments and tracked changes, identifying which sections work well and which need more finessing. They might also perform sample edits on certain passages to show how they might be improved.
Providing an editorial report
Alternatively, the developmental editors might write a separate editorial report, or editorial letter, providing holistic feedback on the book’s structure and recommendations for improving it. This report might also feature in-depth analysis of the market and books with similar themes or styles, so you can assess where your book might sit within the current landscape.
Coaching
Beyond this, developmental editing services can also approach something like book coaching, whereby the developmental editor provides continuous support and professional feedback to the author throughout the writing process.
What are the key principles of developmental editing?
Our team considers the following key factors in the developmental editing process, drawing on guidance from the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.
Content
This involves the central argument of the text and whether it’s clear to the reader. A professional developmental editor will assess whether there are areas of repetition that would benefit from being merged or cut.
On the flip side, the editor might also identify places where you need to explain in more detail, as a lay reader will likely not be as familiar as you are with your chosen topic. Above all, as part of this content editing, the editor will evaluate whether the manuscript meets its stated objectives regarding its message and call to action, if relevant.
Structure
Ideally, each chapter should have a single, unifying theme, building on the previous chapter(s) while also tying into the central argument. A developmental editor will pay close attention to chapter transitions (whether you prefer cliffhangers or segues), as well as subsections and paragraphs, highlighting where the structure becomes too loose or else too convoluted.
Clarity
An author is often a bit too close to their writing and so might find it difficult to assess whether their argument or story is clear and whether everything in their manuscript adds up.
This is where a developmental editor comes in: as an external pair of eyes, they will be able to judge whether the text is appropriate for the target audience, whether you have used unnecessary jargon or inconsistent terminology, whether there are plot holes and ultimately whether the text as a whole is likely to lead the reader to the right conclusions.
Tone
This relates to the attitude you express and the mood it evokes in the reader. A developmental edit will help to ensure that it is consistent throughout, as the editor will consider the words, sentence structure and phrasing in relation to the intended reader and their expectations or preferences.
Flow
Some texts follow a linear sequence, so events might be set out chronologically, whereas others are sequenced differently. In both cases, the text must have some sort of internal logic and thematic coherence, as emphasised in a developmental edit.
A developmental editor will evaluate and make suggestions about whether the information is structured logically, whether the central argument develops seamlessly as the reader moves through the text and whether certain ideas can be grouped together.
What are the other types of editing?
After the developmental edit, you may also wish to consider getting your manuscript copyedited or proofread: while developmental editors focus on the overall structure and coherence of the manuscript – the ‘big picture’ – line editors, copy editors and proofreaders handle editorial details like grammar, punctuation and consistency.
For their part, copy editors focus on enhancing readability by improving the quality of word choice in sentences and eliminating errors, all while ensuring that the author’s unique voice is preserved.
Meanwhile, proofreaders give a text a final polish before publication, making sure it’s free of errors and internally consistent.
Check out our blog post on copyediting vs proofreading here.
Writing a book is an iterative process, in which developmental editing plays a key role
Ultimately, the process of writing and publishing a book can be a long and winding road: getting a text ready for public consumption generally involves several interventions from different editors with slightly different focuses.
Developmental editing is one such intervention, a chance for the author to hone and iterate the ’big picture’ aspects of their manuscript, like content, structure, clarity, tone and flow, with help from an expert.
Interested in getting one of our professional editors on your latest writing project? Email us at [email protected] to book a free consultation with an editorial expert.
