Editing

I’m not like most other editors.

What sets me apart? What it boils down to, honestly, is that my autistic, ADHD brain gives me editing and ghostwriting superpowers, such as the ability to hyperfocus on my work and notice details that others miss.

I work holistically and intuitively—slipping into your voice, looking at the big picture and the minute details all at once, polishing rough edges wherever I see them—and always with an eye to your overall goal or intended message. If asked to explain my edits, I usually have to look up the supporting rule because I work “by ear,” if you will. I’m more concerned with what sounds right and conveys the intended meaning than I am with rules and what’s considered technically “correct.”

Part of that comes from an ongoing effort to decolonize my editing (and my thinking). As a white, cis, hetero-passing, middle class US citizen, I hold a lot of privileged identities in this world. My US cultural conditioning has also embedded plenty of unconscious biases. This makes it my responsibility to educate myself about things like non-western storytelling traditions and diverse narrative structures (see my CV).

It’s hard to explain what I do without showing you. That’s part of why my process starts with The First Date. The other reason is, because of the way my brain works, I need to see the whole picture in order to assess where we are and where we need to go. 

Types of Editing

Developmental editing is often the first step in the editing process, and as the name implies, it helps writers develop a rough draft into a smooth, coherent, artfully crafted work. At the developmental stage, I look at the big picture of your manuscript, identifying scenes or sections that are working well, in addition to those that you might want to expand, reduce, or eliminate. I identify unclear passages, inconsistencies, and contradictions. I can also help with things like plot, character development, effective use of both showing and telling, pacing, composition, point of view, dialogue, organization, ensuring appropriateness for intended audience, and more.

“Editing” is really a misnomer for the way I approach this stage of the process, as I don’t actually make any edits, but rather leave extensive feedback in the form of commentary, questions, suggestions, and recommended resources.

Comprehensive editing is what I call everything that comes after developmental editing. This is where I get hands-on and use Track Changes to manipulate the text. This process includes at least two full rounds of back-and-forth between us, where I do a full read and edits and then send it to you for review and revisions. The final step is a cleanup round, where you keep Track Changes on and I review only those changes without reading the full text. I use the following terms to help explain what the process looks like, but most rounds include a mix of two or more of these levels.

• Substantive editing, also called content editing, looks at the foundation and the meat of your manuscript, evaluating what works and what doesn’t. Like developmental editing, substantive editing looks at the big picture, but in a more focused way. I evaluate your manuscript from a holistic standpoint, looking at the content, organization, and presentation of your complete text. I look at aspects such as continuity, repetition, and awkward, unclear, or confusing language, and I make sure your text is well-organized, readable, and intelligible.
• Copyediting, also sometimes known as line editing, provides a detailed line-by-line review of your manuscript, ensuring that it is clear, concise, coherent, and consistent. At this stage, I finesse your prose to ensure that it observes the conventions of “good” writing, whatever that means in the context of your chosen style and assumed reader. I make sure your text flows well and uses clear syntax, and I may suggest minor reorganization, revision, or clarification.
• Proofreading is the last step in the process, and it examines the text from a technical standpoint, checking for typographical errors as well as errors in spelling, grammar, and usage.

I strongly recommend that all clients engage an independent proofreader after our work together is complete. Although the comprehensive editing process will address many of the same concerns, you and I will both be too close to the material to effectively catch all the little things. This is because the human brain naturally sees what you know you intended to write, whether or not that’s what actually made it onto the page. This makes it very easy to overlook things like missing punctuation, misspellings, or minor errors in word usage.

Let’s Talk Pricing and Timelines

Developmental editing is billed in pre-paid blocks of $1500 per month. Depending on the length and complexity of the project, this process generally takes one to three months (timeline determined during the First Date). Comprehensive editing starts at 5¢ per word and is often a six-month process.

Last updated: February 27, 2023