Choosing the right type of editing for your manuscript
Whether you're going with a traditional publisher or planning to self-publish, knowing the different levels of editing will help you navigate the path from manuscript to finished book. The problem is that different editors call the same type of editing by different names. Let's start with the definitions created by Editors Canada.
- structural editing -- assessing and shaping the overall narrative for purpose, genre, and audience
- stylistic editing — clarifying meaning, improving the “flow” of paragraphs and sentences, and ensuring an appropriate tone and reading level for the intended audience
- copy editing — correcting grammar and applying a consistent editorial style for things like spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, and documentation
- proofreading — checking material after its been designed and typeset
Think of these levels of editing as stages tied to the publishing process. First, you want someone to read the entire manuscript and assess how well the parts fit together. It doesn't make sense to pay an editor to fine-tune paragraphs and sentences if these lines don't make it into the final version.
In an ideal world, every manuscript would go through these four levels of editing. In practice, few authors can afford to pay for four separate passes. Stylistic editing -- also called line editing -- often gets squeezed by being combined with structural editing or copy editing. Stylistic editing combined with structural editing is called substantive editing.
These levels are related to the publishing process -- the order that things are done in a publishing house. Your manuscript may not need all four levels. Stylistic editing, for instance, is often combined with copy editing or not done at all. But if your manuscript needs stylistic editing and you skip this step, you can end up with a book that doesn't read as smoothly as you had hoped.
Structural editing
Most manuscripts go through a "big picture" edit. Structural editors look at the whole manuscript and how the parts fit together.
A structural edit is usually communicated in an editorial letter or report. Some editors prefer to talk through the edit by phone or Zoom instead of writing a long report.
A structural edit is usually communicated in an editorial letter or report. Some editors prefer to talk through the edit by phone or Zoom instead of writing a long report.
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A structural editor will focus on different things depending on whether your main purpose is to tell a story (memoir), present an argument or a new way of looking at something (scholarly books), or educate, motivate or inspire readers.
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Structural editing is assessing and reshaping the overall narrative for purpose, genre, and audience. |
A good structural editor will tailor their recommendations to your goals for this manuscript. So the editing process begins with a conversation: Congratulations on writing a book! What's it about? What compelled you to write it? How would you like to publish or share it? Is this a one-time project, or do you want to develop your voice and craft?
- different ways to organize sections for a more coherent structure and sequence, a logical progression of ideas, or a compelling narrative arc
- parts of the story or argument to add, expand, delete or tighten
- assess and deepen the exploration of themes
- With this understanding, the editor Once the editor has an understanding or
Some structural editors see themselves as "book doctors": they diagnose problems and prescribe solutions. I'm uneasy with this approach, because I believe that the best solution will come from you. Revising is just as creative and circuitous as writing; it's a way to discover things you didn't know before. I doubt that any editor can know, with absolute certainty, that a writer should do this or that. My role is to guide you in the right direction by asking questions, making suggestions, and giving you my perspective as a thoughtful reader.
Stylistic editing
examine every paragraph, every sentence, and every word “to clarify meaning, improve flow, and smooth language" (Professional Editorial Standards). To continue the metaphor of the forest, stylistic editors see every tree.
Stylistic editors refine word choice, vary sentence construction (syntax) to reinforce the meaning, eliminate wordiness, reorder sentences within a paragraph to improve coherence, and add transitions where needed. Good stylistic editors enter into the author’s vision for the text and adopt the author’s voice, so that the revisions feel natural to the writer.
Stylistic editing may be done by the structural editor or the copy editor. Publishers and clients can seldom afford to hire stylistic editors separately.
Copy editing
Copy editors peer through a telephoto lens. They focus on the details of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage. They examine the veins on every leaf!
Copy editors also ensure that a piece of writing has a consistent editorial style. As Carol Fisher Saller explains in The Subversive Copy Editor, “Style rules aren’t used because they’re ‘correct.’ They’re used for your convenience in serving the reader” (29). Copy editors make choices about editorial style and ensure consistency in capitalization, abbreviations, hyphenation, treatment of numbers, documentation, format of headings, and more. If a document is inconsistent in these small matters, readers may question its accuracy in general
Stylistic editors refine word choice, vary sentence construction (syntax) to reinforce the meaning, eliminate wordiness, reorder sentences within a paragraph to improve coherence, and add transitions where needed. Good stylistic editors enter into the author’s vision for the text and adopt the author’s voice, so that the revisions feel natural to the writer.
Stylistic editing may be done by the structural editor or the copy editor. Publishers and clients can seldom afford to hire stylistic editors separately.
Copy editing
Copy editors peer through a telephoto lens. They focus on the details of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage. They examine the veins on every leaf!
Copy editors also ensure that a piece of writing has a consistent editorial style. As Carol Fisher Saller explains in The Subversive Copy Editor, “Style rules aren’t used because they’re ‘correct.’ They’re used for your convenience in serving the reader” (29). Copy editors make choices about editorial style and ensure consistency in capitalization, abbreviations, hyphenation, treatment of numbers, documentation, format of headings, and more. If a document is inconsistent in these small matters, readers may question its accuracy in general