What does a Developmental Editor actually do?

When new writers think of editing, they usually think about Copy Editing – the type that fixes spelling, grammar and punctuation.  

But there are plenty of other types, and all play their part in the Editing process. 

I spoke about the 5 Types of Fiction Manuscript Editing in my last blog, but let’s drill down into the specifics of a Developmental Edit – my favourite kind but, as a Dev Editor, I’m a little bias.

A Developmental Edit is often a time of big change for a story which can be frustrating or anxiety-inducing for writers. You’ve given your pride and joy to someone to critique, and though you hope they’ll say you’ve written a masterpiece, they’re likely to have some notes.  

But one way to ease the apprehension of an unfamiliar process is to understand it. And what’s even better is the more you understand Developmental Editing, the better your Self-Editing can be. 

So let’s look at what a Developmental Editor does, the general process and when a writer should look at getting one done.

 

  

The 9 key elements of Developmental Editing 

 

First, the nitty gritty.  

We know that this type of editing looks at the big picture items of a manuscript, but what does that mean? Here are 9 areas of your manuscript a Dev Editor could look at and provide feedback on – and I’ll include some real-life examples too. 

 

1 – Structure

The overall structure of your manuscript is the bare bones holding up your wonderful tale.  

Before diving into the details of your story, a Developmental Editor could look at your word count, chapter length, and where there is variation. 

A general rule of thumb is to have all your chapters a similar length, unless a specific chapter is longer or shorter for emphasis. However, I think a better way to think about this is balance. 

Word count isn’t always the best indicator of this, but rather how many scenes/plot points there are per chapter. If you have an entire chapter with 1 scene and 1 plot point, but the next has 20 scenes and 6 plot points, there’s a balance issue that could be affecting your pacing. 

This is also dependent on genre, style and plot development, but balance is key.

 

2 – Theme

These are the threads through the story that closely link to plot and character development. Consider these the discussion points or lessons you want to leave with the reader. 

It’s good to discuss your story’s themes with your editor. They might find others in the story that you’ve overlooked, or find some that aren’t as embedded as they could be. 

An example; When editing a relationship-based fiction manuscript, I noticed a theme the author had touched upon in a few places – cheating/betrayal. I discussed this with the client and suggested ways to bring it out more in the story to tie together some loose plot points and solidify a key character’s development arc. 

Quick tip: If you can’t highlight a theme in your book, it may be that you have too many that have been mentioned but are not rooted into the narrative. Look at your plot and character development, what changes and why, and soon your core themes will become clear.  

 

3 – Plot Development

The plot development is the beats to your story; it controls pace, tension and forward movement for the characters and the situations they are in. 

There are different types of plot structures you can use, and choosing a suitable type is closely linked to genre, style and the kind of story you are telling. I’d recommend reading Monkeys with Typewriters by Scarlett Thomas to learn more about this. 

 4 – Character Development

Character development is similar to plot development however it is the beats of change each character makes through the story; how they change, why they change, what effect this has, and how it enables them to reach their goal. 

For the most part, all the main characters in your story should have a character arc which includes some kind of physical, moral or emotional development – positive or negative. Once they’ve finished the book, a reader should be able to look back at the beginning of the story and see the difference in the character. 

Two quick tips for this though; 

• Background characters don’t need an arc. We don’t need to know that the main character’s next-door neighbour, Mildred, overcame her curtain twitching or learned how to bake. 

• Some main characters can have a flat arc, where their core character/values remain unchanged. An example of this is Frodo, who has a consistent character throughout The Lord of the Rings despite the challenges he faces. 

 

5 – POV

POV is very important to control how emotionally close the reader is to each character, how much the reader gets to see/learn about the world and to influence the reader’s thoughts and opinions. 

There’s a lot of power in POV, and controlling it without inserting yourself into the story is a very difficult skill to get right. It’s easy to slip into a different POV or tense, but a Dev editor will help spot inconsistencies and make sure you’re using the most effective POV for your story. 

 

6 – Consistency

Not only can inconsistencies be across POV, but they can occur throughout the story in different ways and it’s a Dev Editor’s job to spot these.  

Common types are; 

• Unintentional changes in POV and tense. 

• Convenient magic systems without boundaries or rules – or breaking these. 

• Small details e.g. the flight time between London and New York. 

• Character names, appearances or personalities. 

• Technology. 

This part can cover a wide range of topics, and fixing these makes your story more believable and readable. 

 

7 – Narrative Summary

To be honest narrative summary is a bug bear of mine. 

It’s a way of handling exposition and time jumps, to catch the reader up on a situation or information that you, as the author, feel they need to know. When handled correctly it seamlessly blends into the scenes and is brief enough to not disrupt the reader. 

However, it is commonly used for information dumps and jumping over important scenes. 

Despite this, it is a necessary evil, so balance is key. 

A rule of thumb I use is to keep Narrative Summary as brief as possible. Evaluate the information you are giving to the reader. Can it be embedded into the scene? Can the information be included naturally in dialogue? Does your long section of Narrative Summary actually need to be a scene? If not, and it’s important, keep it brief. It is a summary after all. 

I like to think of it as the author sitting beside you, telling you information you need to know to understand the story. Small brief interruptions are okay, but if someone was talking for ages or going off on a tangent while I was reading, I’d soon stop.

 

8 – Dialogue and Internal Monologue

How characters talk to each other, and their internal monologue, either as individual thoughts or a part of the narrative, is important for two key reasons; 

• It needs to sound natural and believable as a real person’s speech and thoughts. 

• It shows characterisation to make each of your characters unique and recognisable. 

When you’ve done both, you’ve got some cracking writing. 

 

9 – Voice and Style

Every author has a unique voice and style to their writing, which usually evolves over time and continues to be tweaked even for seasoned writers. However, that style also needs to adapt to different genres, characters and scenes. Sometimes an author’s writing style doesn’t quite fit in some areas and some changes are needed to bring about a bigger impact.   

 

Knowing the 9 elements a Dev Editor will look at, not only makes the service clearer, but they can become areas for you to focus on when editing your own writing. If you want to learn more about these, follow along with my blog for future posts that will go further into the details of each one. 

For now, though, let’s look at the steps of getting a Developmental Edit done. 

 

Process

 

For an author, the process of a Developmental Edit should be quite simple. 

Though all Dev Editors have their own way of working and should explain their process upfront, this is my way of working which is a based on the industry standard. 

1. Query – An author will send me a query about my services or to ask for a quote. 

2. Introductory call or Questionnaire – Which one depends on if you are comfortable with calls or would prefer to fill out a questionnaire over email, but the outcome will be to get on the same page as each other. This is so I can know an author’s goals, experience and their intention for the story, and so I can give an accurate quote for the service and guide the focus of my feedback. 

3. Quote – Based on this, I will provide the author with a price and a project timeline. 

4. Contract – If both parties agree, I will prepare and send through the contract. 

5. Starting requirements – Once the contract is signed, the deposit paid and manuscript sent, the job will be booked in my calendar. 

6. Work – I will complete the Dev edit (this is the easy part for authors, so long as you can put it out of your mind!). 

7. Return – Once completed, and the final invoice paid, I will share the Dev Edit Report and Manuscript Mark-up with the author. 

8. Follow up – Around 2 weeks later, I will follow up with the author to see how they’re getting on with the feedback. 

9. Ongoing work – After this, additional services can be booked such as Book Coaching or another Dev Edit. 

But this still doesn’t answer the bigger question of when a writer should get a Developmental Edit done.

 

When is a Developmental Edit is needed?

 

A Dev Edit should be done during the early drafts of a manuscript. 

I wouldn’t suggest sending in a first draft, as self-editing is an important step to do first, but also don’t spend years editing a manuscript before getting the help of a Dev Editor in case larger changes are needed for the story. 

To get the best out of a Developmental service, I’d recommend; 

• Completing your first draft. 

• Self-Edit by focusing on the 9 key elements mentioned above.

• Repeat until you feel like you have a strong manuscript. 

• Query a few Dev Editors, for prices and terms of service to find your best fit. 

• Share any areas you want the Dev Edit to focus on prior to the project start. 

If you do these steps, you are setting yourself up to get the most out of the process. 

 

 

Conclusion

Developmental Edit is a key first step in the editing process to ensure the foundation of your story is sound before looking at the nitty gritty of grammatical and technical editing. It can be a period of change for your story, but one that should improve or deepen your narrative.

If you are ready for this stage of editing and are interested to learn more, have a read of my blog or Get in touch to ask a question or just start a conversation. 

Be reassured though, a Dev Editor isn’t some super harsh critic looking to point out your every flaw. Think of them as a reader with a wealth of knowledge on writing craft looking to help find the core of your story and enhance it. 

 

 

FAQs

What does a Developmental Editor look for? – They look at the Development of a story, mainly in the form of structure, plot, characters and pacing. They look for weak story arcs, or character developments, where the story stagnates or is confusing, and provide feedback to improve these. I’ve broken down their checks into 9 key elements in the blog post above if you want to learn more.

Is Developmental Editing worth it? – This is highly dependant on what your goal is and how much knowledge you have of writing craft. On the whole, yes, Developmental Editing is worth it, but I can appreciate it can be a big cost for some, especially indie authors and new writers. There are ways to make it more affordable, which you can read about in my blog – Why Fiction Editing costs so much, and 5 ways to make it more affordable

Should I get Developmental Editing before self-publishing? – In most cases, yes, you should get your manuscript edited before publishing. As a self-published writer, you won’t have the support of an editor from a publishing house, so finding your own editor is critical – though maybe you’ve decided to use critical writing groups or beta readers instead. If you publish before editing, you risk low reviews and decreased reputation than if you publish after making the improvements that come from an editor’s feedback.

Why is fiction editing so expensive? – Because of the combination of an editors years of expertise plus the time it takes to edit a manuscript. However there are ways to make it more affordable.

What’s the difference between Developmental Editing and Line Editing? – Developmental Editing looks at the big-picture items of a story, such as structure, plot, character and pacing. Line Editing looks at improving the flow and emotional readability of the story. Want to learn the difference between all the types of fiction editing, check out my blog post The 5 Types of Fiction Manuscript Editing.

Will a Developmental Editor change my voice? – A good Developmental Editor will not change your voice. At most, they might have the feedback that your voice or writing style doesn’t quite fit the genre or mood of a scene and suggest ways to adapt your voice to match these. However, a Developmental Editor will be providing feedback on the manuscript as a whole, rather than making changes. They will highlight areas of weakness, suggest changes and explain how that change will benefit the story.

What if I disagree with my Developmental Editor? – That’s absolutely okay. A Developmental Edit is providing you feedback based on their knowledge of writing craft but you don’t have to accept all or any of the comments they make. However, remember their feedback is mainly knowledge based rather than option based, so at the very least consider what they are saying.