Ink & Imprint Studio: Editing

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Every writer, no matter how skilled, needs an editor. The fresh eyes and insights an editor offers can take good writing and make it great. At the same time, the best editing ensures the final product sounds like you—only better. Editing needs vary depending on the type of project and the point in the process when you engage an editor. Below, we describe common types of editing. Often, more in-depth writing—think book manuscripts, research articles, reports, or proposals—benefits from multiple rounds of review, so a package that combines more than one editing service may best ensure your writing is ready for publication. 

Developmental editing occurs soon after a complete draft is ready. At this stage, we focus on the big picture, examining structure, plot, pacing, character, and organization in-depth. For fiction manuscripts, we also look at dialogue and world-building. For nonfiction manuscripts, this stage helps ensure your message aligns with your purpose and target audience. When we complete a developmental edit, you will receive an editorial letter that offers our assessment of your manuscript and our recommendations. We also provide detailed notes throughout the manuscript, highlighting what works, what doesn’t, and our suggestions for strengthening your draft.

Line editing generally happens between developmental editing and copy editing. If your story and structure is in good shape but your writing could use some help, this is the type of editing for you. With line editing, we closely examine all of the sentences and paragraphs that comprise your manuscript. Rather than focusing on grammar, we study and seek to improve style, voice, clarity, flow, and word choice. Line editing is when we rewrite awkward sentences, remove repetitive phrases, and tighten wordy paragraphs. 

Copy editing is the most technical type of editing. Consistency, correctness, and the mechanics of writing are the focus of this stage. We’ll work line-by-line through your manuscript, improving word choice; ensuring consistency in formatting, tenses, and style; and correcting grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, and capitalization. Moving beyond rewriting or big-picture suggestions, copy editing takes a solid manuscript and moves it a big step closer to publication. 

If you’ve already gone through the writing, developmental editing, and copy editing processes and your work is laid out in whatever its final form will be, you’re ready for a fresh set of eyes to catch what others have missed—formatting errors, typos, repeated words, or minor errors that have been introduced since copy editing occurred. Done at the page proof stage (or before you hit “publish” for online text), proofreading is the final check prior to publication.