The other day, I wrote a Facebook post about a challenge I encountered upon moving to Spain and someone responded, “You’re so lucky you live in Spain now!” And I just about sprained my eyeballs rolling them. Sure, some luck was involved. Luck is involved in everything. But moving to Spain wasn’t a random gift…
One key to identifying DE problems is understanding reader expectations, and reader expectations are closely tied to genre. Understanding Reader Expectations When I read a romance, I expect it to end happily ever after. I don’t care if you have a great idea for a heart-breaking ending. I don’t want a heartbreaking ending. I want…
Learning how to read is a crucial skill for developmental story editors. Years ago, I was teaching a university lit class that all new freshmen were required to take. For one reason or another, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” was on the syllabus. All of the students had encountered this poem before, and all…
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….