Words to Edit By
Different kinds of editing focus on different aspects of writing. Whenever possible, work from big picture to nitty gritty.
A Realist Take
Common editing services offered include developmental editing, substantive editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Different writers, editors, and publishers commonly use the same term to mean somewhat different things, so make sure you clear up definitions prior to hiring an editor or accepting an editing job.
Substantial overlap exists among some of those editing categories, especially developmental and substantive editing, line editing and copyediting, and copyediting and proofreading. Any lengthy piece of writing probably needs more than one of those five kinds of editing, and some redundancy of editing tasks is helpful. That said, you’re more likely to need three of those types than all five as separate rounds of editing.
Often, it’s best to have different editors perform different kinds of editing. In my experience, most editors are not equally good at every type of task. In particular, editors vary widely in their grasp of the mechanical intricacies of writing, like grammar. Alas, many an editor advertises copyediting or proofreading services in good faith but relies on an intuitive or superficial understanding of mechanics that’s more limited than the editor realizes.
I find that many such folks are excellent developmental or substantive editors, and they’re sometimes adequate copyeditors. But proofreaders, while only human, require something very close to perfection to be good at their job (and worth the cost of their time). If a proofreader averages more than one clear-cut error or inconsistency per five thousand words, I reckon I’d be better off self-proofreading. For someone else’s manuscript, I’d raise that bar to one oversight per ten thousand words. The realistic standard depends on your time, budget, and skill, and on expectations for the piece of writing in question.
For Instance
Developmental editing focuses on big-picture aspects like content selection and structure, story elements, and general or pervasive aspects of phrasing and style. You may get a lot of comments as opposed to direct edits. In some cases, developmental editing may involve adding (“developing”) new content in some spots, though I would contend that crosses from editing into ghostwriting. Sometimes, structural editing is listed as a distinct type of editing.
Substantive editing is similar to developmental editing. It may be more likely than developmental editing to go line by line (like line editing) and dip into copyediting territory. Goes beyond big picture to pervasive.
Copyediting—I make it one word, but two isn’t wrong. This is fine-tuning at the sentence level, including phrasing as well as mechanics (grammar, punctuation, and style). Line editing is sometimes used to mean copyediting.
Proofreading. A good copyeditor will preempt a lot of proofreading issues. But proofreading is the final search for outright mistakes. Ideally, the copyeditor and proofreader are two different people, despite the overlap in skill set. Sometimes, one person can do both jobs well for a given manuscript, but in separate passes; otherwise, it’s just copyediting.
Godspeed, and happy rewriting!
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