The other day, I wrote a Facebook post about a challenge I encountered upon moving to Spain and someone responded, “You’re so lucky you live in Spain now!” And I just about sprained my eyeballs rolling them. Sure, some luck was involved. Luck is involved in everything. But moving to Spain wasn’t a random gift…
Learning how to read is a crucial skill for developmental story editors. Years ago, I was teaching a university lit class that all new freshmen were required to take. For one reason or another, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” was on the syllabus. All of the students had encountered this poem before, and all…
When writing fiction, you’re likely to encounter problems with conflict—so the question is how to create conflict in a story. How to Create Conflict in a Story Conflict, as you probably know, drives the narrative. Consider this: Just now, I wanted a cup of tea, so I went and made one. So what, right? You…
Whether you’re a developmental editor, a copyeditor, or a line editor, avoiding scope creep is necessary so you can deliver your best work to clients. Avoiding Scope Creep for Editors When we edit novels, much of our work involves evaluating the problems in the manuscript and suggesting possible revisions for the author. If Joe’s character…
The basics of developmental editing can be shared in a set of do’s and don’ts for editors. Here Are My Basics of Developmental Editing I generally begin any developmental edit with a quick read-through intended just to familiarize myself with the story. I make developmental notes for myself as I perform that first read-through, including…
As we learn the craft, we go through stages of learning how to edit—I’ve decided there are four stages. When you’re first learning how to edit, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the learning curve and to wonder when it would be realistic to start charging for your services. The answer is at Stage #3….
Both editors and authors need to learn query letter basics to help with the best possible chance of book publication. Query Letter Basics For Editors & Authors If your author-client is interested in trying to have their novel published by a traditional publisher, you may be asked to look at the author’s query letter (also…
Here are my top tips for an effective manuscript assessment without having to read the entire manuscript to provide a quote. Use these questions to help you assess a manuscript in order to provide an editing quote—without having to read the entire manuscript first. In general, a developmental editor may be able to edit five-to-ten…
Here’s a rundown of basic editorial terms and their meanings to help you understand editing terminology. When I talk about the author’s work of addressing areas of concern, I call it revision to distinguish it from what an editor does, which is editing. Most people writing and speaking on the subject don’t distinguish between the two but since…
Editors, may I offer some suggestions on growing a developmental editing mindset? Beginning developmental editors sometimes ask me how “awful” books make it onto the New York Times bestseller list, and how can we worry about what makes a story “good” when obviously quality doesn’t matter to readers? How do “bad” books make it through…