This is the season when a lot of people, including me, spend a fair amount of time thinking about our goals for the new year. Over the years, I’ve used various frameworks for thinking about what I want to do, what I want my business to do, and what I want my life to look…
When writing fiction, you’re likely to encounter problems with conflict—so the question is how to create conflict in a story. How to Create Conflict in a Story Conflict, as you probably know, drives the narrative. Consider this: Just now, I wanted a cup of tea, so I went and made one. So what, right? You…
Whether you’re a developmental editor, a copyeditor, or a line editor, avoiding scope creep is necessary so you can deliver your best work to clients. Avoiding Scope Creep for Editors When we edit novels, much of our work involves evaluating the problems in the manuscript and suggesting possible revisions for the author. If Joe’s character…
As a developmental editor, you need to know how to create defensible edits of a manuscript to help authors put out their best work. Tips for How to Create Defensible Edits When you’re doing a developmental edit—looking at the big-picture overview of a novel—you’ll generally be expected to provide two main services: The editing on…
The basics of developmental editing can be shared in a set of do’s and don’ts for editors. Here Are My Basics of Developmental Editing I generally begin any developmental edit with a quick read-through intended just to familiarize myself with the story. I make developmental notes for myself as I perform that first read-through, including…
When a new book editor is just learning developmental editing, I offer this advice for how to get editing experience. How to Get Editing Experience as a New Editor “I feel a little overwhelmed,” editing students tell me from time to time as they learn the craft. Mostly they’re worried that this means they’re not…
As we learn the craft, we go through stages of learning how to edit—I’ve decided there are four stages. When you’re first learning how to edit, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the learning curve and to wonder when it would be realistic to start charging for your services. The answer is at Stage #3….
Both editors and authors need to learn query letter basics to help with the best possible chance of book publication. Query Letter Basics For Editors & Authors If your author-client is interested in trying to have their novel published by a traditional publisher, you may be asked to look at the author’s query letter (also…
Here are my top tips for an effective manuscript assessment without having to read the entire manuscript to provide a quote. Use these questions to help you assess a manuscript in order to provide an editing quote—without having to read the entire manuscript first. In general, a developmental editor may be able to edit five-to-ten…
Here’s a rundown of basic editorial terms and their meanings to help you understand editing terminology. When I talk about the author’s work of addressing areas of concern, I call it revision to distinguish it from what an editor does, which is editing. Most people writing and speaking on the subject don’t distinguish between the two but since…