Does My Novel Need Developmental Editing?: On Story-Level and Sentence-Level Editing in the Real World

Potential new clients often ask: How can I tell what kind of editing my project needs? Should I go right to a line or copyedit, or would manuscript feedback or a developmental edit help?
 
This post is a round-up of how I think about and respond to these very good questions. If you read it and have questions about your own particular situation, do be in touch!

levels of edit in an ideal world

First, let’s get the lay of the land. In a world where fiction writers had infinite time, energy, and money (hahaha, but bear with me for a moment), your full manuscript would go through these steps, in this order:

1. Some form of developmental editing—probably multiple rounds of it, to work though layers of revision. This kind of editing works with big-picture issues such as plot, structure, conflict, character arc, point of view, pacing, theme, worldbuilding, and the work’s conversation with its genre. (The services I call Manuscript Feedback and Developmental Editing both fall under this umbrella of story-level editorial support. So do services other editors may call substantive editing, manuscript critique, or manuscript evaluation.)
2. Line editing, which focuses on style, voice, flow, clarity, readability, point of view, precision—the music of your sentences and paragraphs. (This is also sometimes called stylistic editing.)
   
3. Copyediting, which ensures internal consistency, correctness, and adherence to any external or writer-determined style requirements. (I often combine line and copyediting as a single service; you can read more about that here.)
4. Proofreading, which is a final check for typographical and formatting errors in an otherwise ready-to-publish manuscript. This step happens after the manuscript has been formatted and restricts itself to actual errors (spelling, grammatical, formatting), because making changes can be costly in terms of time and/or money at this stage. A fresh pair of eyes (not your copyeditor’s) is best for this detail-oriented task.
   

 
I firmly believe that the vast majority of novels would benefit from story-level professional editing, then sentence/paragraph-level professional editing, then professional proofreading by someone who's never set eyes on the work. Especially for people who intend to continue writing fiction, the thoughtful, serious, holistic, big-picture analysis of a work that is (good) story-level editing can provide so much useful insight and perspective, regardless of how much revision that particular manuscript requires.
 
However, I also think it's silly to act like those best practices are necessary or reasonable across the board! How vital story-level editing is in any particular case depends on the state of the manuscript compared with the writer’s vision for it, the writer’s hopes and plans for connecting the work with an audience, and—very importantly—the writer’s personal budget of money, time, and energy at the moment.

But what should I do?

On one hand, I can’t really say what a manuscript needs without a) reading the whole thing and b) kind of being you, the writer—inhabiting your life situation, vision for the work, brain, etc.
 
But on the other hand, I do have thoughts that may help you make a more informed and confident decision!
 
Here are a few questions to ponder:

• Do you feel enthusiastic and confident about the manuscript in terms of plot, structure, pacing, flow, character development and arcs, worldbuilding, point of view, thematic work, and big-picture consistency and wholeness?
• Are you open to making significant changes in those big-picture story areas? Sometimes the answer to that question is no, for a variety of reasons, and that is important information to have.
• Have you gotten feedback from other readers—critique partners, beta readers, or suchlike—on the manuscript as a whole (as opposed to either isolated sections or the whole thing but one scene/chunk at a time)? If so, how has that been? What did people say, and do you feel like they’re right?
  

 
Here are some specific reasons you might want to pursue story-level editing:

• You can identify problems—or maybe one big problem—in the current draft but can’t figure out how to resolve them.
• Some parts or aspects feel weaker than others. Or maybe you’re not sure all the components are working together effectively.
  
• You feel so close to the story that you can’t tell whether it’s working, and taking time away isn’t helping.
  
• You want to know how an informed, careful, engaged reader who is not you—and who does not know you personally—experiences the text.
• You want to learn more about writing and are able to afford the cost.

But wait, Developmental Edit or Manuscript Feedback?

If you decide you'd like to pursue story-level editing with me specifically, the next decision is between these two services. The main difference is the type and quantity of feedback you’ll receive:

• Manuscript Feedback includes a detailed editorial report (generally around 20 pages long, though the length is determined by what needs to be said, not a predetermined goal). The report touches on major storytelling areas and offers concrete feedback to support your storytelling vision, which I'll ask you loads about before I read the text.
• A Developmental Edit includes the editorial report plus in-text comments on the manuscript itself. There are also behind-the-scenes differences—primarily that I read the entire manuscript an extra time for a full developmental edit, one pass on my ereader and then the second leaving those in-text comments—and of course the difference in cost.

 
The Developmental Edit’s in-text comments can be super helpful for a writer who’s not sure how to apply bigger-picture feedback. However, there is such a thing as too much feedback all at once; consider where the sweet spot of enough information but not overwhelm sits for you at this point in your process.
 
Revision coaching is another option for support after receiving story-level feedback (from me or from others). It can be a great source of scaffolding, encouragement, more granular advice, and creative problem-solving over time.

Also on the topic of coaching ... sometimes you do need developmental editing, but not yet. If you're in a place where you already know major changes that you need to make in your draft, but you're struggling to actually do the revisions, coaching can be an excellent next step there too. That's also true for writers who know they need more instruction and knowledge in some particular craft area such as plotting, structure, character development, etc.: We can do some exploration and learning together, and you can take that back to your draft and everything you go on to write!

Lots of options ...

Good luck with your next steps!