The Various Editing Processes

I never thought about it, but it makes sense there are different editing processes for each phase of story development.

A Developmental Editor works with the author on developing the story. They will check the structure and content of your book. You may or may not need this service, depending on your skill level. For a detailed article on how to work with a developmental editor, check Jane Friedman’s website.

A Line Editor looks at the author’s creative content, writing style and language, making sure the use of language is clear and readable. A line editor will point out overused/unneeded words and sentences, where dialogue needs to be tightened, and confusing scenes, just to name a few.

A Copy Editor gets down to the nitty-gritty of finding spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. The copy editor will look for consistency in your use of words and statements. You can’t have someone with blue eyes in the beginning of the story and brown eyes at the end – unless, of course, contact lenses are part of the story!

Thanks to the New YorkBook Editors website for pointing out the differences between line editing and copy editing.

Editing – You gotta love it!

I’ve been through my manuscript a number of times. I utilized Prowritingaid software diagnostics, and then addressed the comments/issues my three experienced first readers sent. Before I send the manuscript out to my “second” readers, I need to make sure all the changes I made are correct and the story works.

I’ve learned every time I touch a document, there is the possibility of a typo, leaving a word out, or leaving in an extra word. With that in mind I had a copy run so I could read it from a different point of view – if that makes sense.

In other words, I’ve put aside my “writer” hat and put on my “reader” hat. When writing I tend to be tense, trying too hard to figure out the right way to say something and thinking about consistent formatting. This time I am sitting back, more relaxed, and in that process, with red pen in hand, I am finding all sorts of different ways to phrase what I want to say. I am also deleting sentences that don’t pull their weight, and adding some that will.

Having said that, I learned with the first book that editing can go on forever. There has to be a time when the author says, it’s done, and that is a hard decision to make.

In the meantime, I will continue to color my manuscript red.

Should you hire a professional editor?

The answer to this question is: It depends.

At the presentation I attended on Saturday, thriller writer Rick Pullen talked at some length about the editing process, developmental editors, copy editors, and line editors. He shared his trials (and money spent) in finding just the right person for his particular work. He also has his daughters, wife, and ex-girlfriend reading and advising on his manuscript.

It was almost like my Sisters-in-Crime were listening in on that presentation, because this week the SinC Self-Published Authors Yahoo! Group was abuzz with questions/opinions/answers on whether or not one should hire a professional editor, and how much should one pay for those services. The consensus so far was anything from $300 to $1,500, but then, again, we get that word “depends.”  And some made the point – you get what you pay for.

It also depends on which kind of editor you want. They each have a different job and should be done in the appropriate order. Before hiring an editor, do your homework. Know exactly what services each editor performs and decide what kind of editing you need.

To decide whether you need to hire professional help, ask these questions: How good are you at typing, spelling, grammar, style, punctuation, formatting, pacing? How good are your editing skills? Can you find those typos, like “sigh,” when you meant “sign?” Can your eyes pick up extra words or missing words – you know, every author has them. It happens when you are cutting, pasting, moving text around. Can you pick out repeated sentence starts and sentences that are too long? If the answer is yes to most of the above, then you probably don’t need to hire an editor. But you still need experienced proofreaders. There is no way any writer can pick up on all those issues.

Besides having experienced proofreaders, I am also utilizing the Prowritingaid.com website to run my chapters through. That software points out where I might have issues. I say, “might have,” because you, the writer, have the final say. It’s software, after all, not human interaction. I found that some issues the software pointed out where not issues at all. But for the most part, it has helped me tremendously in pointing out overused words, long sentences, grammar and style. It allowed me to send a much cleaner manuscript to my First Readers.

ProWritingAid Editing Tool

Through the Sisters-in-Crime self-published authors' Yahoo! Group, I learned about an editing tool, Prowritingaid.com. I am cautious by nature and definitely do not have money to waste, so I checked this site out several times before I decided it might be the right editing tool for me.

The site provides layers of editing. There is no download of software, which I like. Instead, you upload your project onto their site. From there you can run a summary report which tells you things like overused words, how many long sentences, readability level, spelling issues, grammar issues, number of “sticky” sentences, number of same sentence starts, clichés, pacing, and more. When it reports overused words, or adverbs, it tells you the words and by how many you should reduce.

The software prefers smaller amounts of text, as opposed to an entire 81,000 word book, so I uploaded one chapter at a time, ran a summary report, and with split screen, adjusted my manuscript on the spot. I then put the chapters through the various diagnostics, i.e. grammar, style and sticky. I didn’t need to do readability or pacing, as I was in their “green” zone for those. And just to make you feel good, on the areas where they find issues, they’ll tell you how much better you are than the rest of the users! Like, you are 67% better than …

The website allows you to do a free test on a 500 word document. I tried it out on the first couple of chapters of my book, and was amazed at the helpful hints the site provided. I decided to purchase a license from them and for $40 I have use of this site for a year.

I highly recommend this site for all writers - for those who write for newspapers, newsletters, periodicals, magazines, as well as full-length books. I had no idea how many times I used the word “knew.” He knew, she knew, they knew. Prowritingaid.com picked-up on this usage for almost every chapter. I then went through with the Find feature in Word and found those little buggers!

Editing: Chapter Check and Word Count

I’m almost ready to send the manuscript to first readers, but before I do, I did a Chapter Check. During the writing process it is normal to add chapters, move chapters around, and even delete chapters that don’t pull their weight. Doing that means chapter numbers might not be correct. That is why a Chapter Check is imperative.

The Chapter Check also included writing a short synopsis of each chapter. When that was done, I scrolled through the synopsis and identified each day in red to make sure I was consistent with the timing of events.

And I’m glad I did! It didn’t take long before I ran into the first glitch. After reviewing Chapter Four, the next numbered chapter was eight! As I went through I had to adjust the chapter numbers. 

But that’s not all. I decided to do a chapter word count. That, too, was a good exercise. I found a couple of chapters that had well over 2,000 words. Those chapters I divided up to be consistent with the other chapters.  Of course we don’t want chapters to all have a similar word count, so this process helped me to monitor that.

Editing takes many steps, and I’m learning new ones every day!

Editing Tricks

Sisters in Crime recently started a Yahoo! Group for self-published authors. Topic headers allow members to search on any issue. Recently there’s been a number of suggestions on editing – how to, whether to hire an editor, etc. Some suggestions are: Change font, use one color pen (red), read from bottom to top; read back to front; don’t proof on computer screen; print on colored paper; read aloud (must); and draft up reading group questions.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks utilizing the Find feature in Word. I searched for glue words, which are unnecessary words that slow the reader down. My glue words are: Since, although, had, some, and want. During this process I also found extraneous words, sentences and even paragraphs to be deleted. By the end I had deleted almost 4,000 words!

The next step in the editing process is looking for long sentences. You know, the ones often connected by “and.” Those can be double checked by utilizing Find for the word “and.”

The last step in my editing process before I send the manuscript to my beta readers is to check chapter numbers. During writing I have added/subtracted and moved chapters around. I need to make sure the numbers are consecutive.

The devil is in the details!

Clipping Document

This is me carefully editing my manuscript

For those of you waiting for the next Caitlyn Jamison Mystery to be published, the good news is I am more than halfway through the second draft. The not so good news is that there is still much work to be done!

Editing a manuscript is a difficult, time consuming, and tedious job. Did I mention it is a necessary one? Reading a manuscript in a slow and careful manner allows the author to get into the flow of the book, the characters, and the plot lines. The author will find which characters need to be developed more, and what plot lines need further development. I also find many words and sentences that are not pulling their weight – I make my words work and those that don’t – Gone!

As I make my way through the second edit, I realized that the initial character for the genealogy subplot was not developed so that the reader could connect with her, and maybe even sympathize with her plight.

Actually she was. Early on in the book’s development I had written a chapter describing Edda van der Molen, putting her in time and place. But as the book’s other characters and plot lines were developed I felt the chapter featuring Edda was not what I wanted.

But it was a chapter and I hated the thought of deleting all that writing. I decided to put this chapter into a “clipping document.” The document would serve as a holding place for sentences, paragraphs, even chapters that for one reason or another didn’t work anymore. Why waste them? As I worked my way through the book, I have dipped into my clipping document and pulled out words and sentences that I tweaked enough to fit perfectly into the story line.

As for Edda, I had clipped her chapter into a separate document (thank goodness; easy to find), and labeled it “Edda.” When I realized I needed to flesh out Edda more, I copied and pasted the clipping into the manuscript and edited it down to give the details I needed.

Consequently, my advice to writers: When your creative writing doesn’t work, don’t throw it out – save it in a “Clipping Document,” (properly labeled). You never know when that piece of writing just might be the ticket for soup!

Writing is an art

My blog silence over the past month is due entirely to the fact I have been spending hours editing the first draft of my second Caitlyn Jamison mystery. Right now it is over 83,000 words filling 230 pages. That’s a lot of words to read, mull over, and decide – is each word, each sentence, necessary to move the story forward? Does each word, each sentence best describe what I want to convey? Are there better words, better sentences I could use? That is why we edit multiple drafts.

I look at writing a novel similar to an artist developing a painting. The first draft of a manuscript is like the artist’s first outline sketch. An artist then applies layers of color, layers of detail until the painting is complete. So, too, does a writer layer in “color,” and detail in the form of description, setting, action, and character development until the story comes to life and is complete.

As I work through my first draft, I consider have I provided enough layers of character and setting description to bring readers into the story.  That is something I ponder at the end of each day. And at the end of each day, thoughts come to me about what could be added that could better describe a character, setting, or move the plot along.  I keep my writing journal close at hand and jot down those random thoughts as they come – then consider them at the next day of editing.

Of course I worry. I worry about whether the picture I am painting will satisfy my readers. I think about them a lot. They let me know they are still out there waiting. In the last week I have had four people ask about how the next book is coming and to make sure that I am continuing with the same characters.

My challenge is to “paint” a picture of the characters and setting that will get readers back into the characters and setting, as well as providing them with a story line they will enjoy.

Checking my foundation

It’s good to take a break every once in a while and review earlier chapters. That’s on my schedule for this next week. While going through the process I will keep a number of things in mind.

If my next book is going to be successful, it has to have a strong foundation, and that means each chapter, or scene if you want to think of it that way, has to have purpose.  As I review each chapter I have to ask myself: Does the chapter have a strong first sentence – to pull the reader in; a strong last sentence – to keep the reader turning pages?

Does the chapter reveal important information about the characters/plot? If not, why is it there? I will have to either rewrite or hit the delete key.

Does the chapter move the plot forward? I believe there is a caveat with this question. Some chapters have to introduce characters, setting, and possibly provide some back story? Maybe this could be considered moving the plot forward as well as strengthening the foundation.

I need to make sure my characters face some challenge and that I don’t get bogged down in every day minutia.

I believe a book is produced in layers. The first run-through is about a story line, but doesn’t necessarily put in details of character and setting description, good dialogue, appealing to the senses. A good book is about going through the manuscript multiple times, and each time adding a layer to make the final product delectable.