Writing Tips: Types of Editing

Hello, you cutie pies!

We have work cut out for us today, as we are covering today Types of Editing! Hold my hand, babe, this is going to hurt.

It’s confusing and in all honesty I haven’t completely mastered the meaning of it all, but I know that figuring out the best type of editing for your work is essential!

Developmental Editing

This type of editing focus on the big picture, on the structure of your plot. It makes sure your characters are aligned, they are developing as the story flows. Can be done even when you have just a rough idea of the argument. Which it might be tricky, not everyone can afford to hire a professional to hear your first rough ideas of plots (that’s what husbands are for), but when writing an intricate plot and world building it might be a excellent option to guarantee a great final product.

Evaluation Editing

Similar to developmental editing, this type of editing focus more into the story than the grammar and punctuation. The difference between both is that Evaluation is only done after you have a complete manuscript. So this one would be more used among people, would be similar work to the Alpha Reader.

Content Editing

Now things get tricky. The next terms are usually used as interchangeable, many writers when they are started they might pay for the wrong editing. Content Editing’s key focus is paragraph to paragraph keeping in mind the author’s voice and their target audience. A content editor will offer advice how to smooth your work and correct incomplete sections by linking the chapters to create a flow of narrative.

Line Editing

The name says it all! It’s a line by line review of the manuscript. There’s no point on getting a line editor until the big picture is taken care of. The line editor will look into word choice and the details of sentences, so pretty much criticise if you are using the word “nice” too many times. This step will only be effective when your narrative is structured and ready.

Copyediting

We have finally arrived!! This is what people usually understand by editing. Copyediting looks into the grammar and spelling errors, the Copyeditor’s job is to make sure your book is mistake free. It’s important to hire a professional, as the average person can only find 60% of errors, while a professional 85%.

Proofreading

Hold my hand, we are almost there! This is the final step, the final complete review before the book is ready for print! Besides catching the last spelling errors that might have slip through, the proof-reader also reviews the book after is formatted and will look for layout mistakes: page numbers, front and back matter.

It wasn’t that hard was it?

Leave a comment if you have any question!