Proofreading, copy editing, and developmental editing: What they are and when to have them done

When it comes to making your written piece of art — whether it be your novel, screenplay, business proposal, or even your Christmas newsletter — the best that it can be, it sometimes takes a village, as they say. You can't necessarily do it all alone. Bringing the written word to life does not happen in a vacuum, no matter what myth or legend you may hear about famous authors hiding away in a cabin the woods for months to produce their magnum opus. Somewhere along the line someone outside of yourself needs to read the thing and find the mistakes in the thing so that you can make it better. 

Sometimes, if you put the piece away for a while before looking at it again, you can do the bulk of this yourself. In fact, writers are known to go through several versions of a novel or screenplay or book before they consider it is "done." And even then, there may be more to do. And there are people, like me, who can help writers to the point where the piece is finally completed.

Typically, there are at least three different types of passes through a piece of written work or manuscript before it is published (or submitted or mailed out, etc.): the developmental edit, the copy edit, and the proofreading pass. 

The Developmental Edit

In writing and rewriting the various versions of their work, a writer may want someone with an objective eye to go through their work-in-progress (WIP) to make sure the plot, characters, flow, structure and form of their piece. Again, sometimes a writer can do this themselves by putting the WIP aside for a few months and then taking another look at it. But sometimes, it's better to hire someone else to do this. This is not proofreading or copy editing, though there may be some proofreading involved, since the editor will probably point out various errors they find. 

However, at this point, the editor and writer should have a conversation about the WIP and where the writer wants to see it go, what s/he is trying to accomplish with it, etc. Chances are, the writer has been living and breathing this WIP for months or even years, so that they can't see it objectively anymore. The editor, however, is coming to the piece with fresh eyes. As the editor and writer are about to become a team, the writer needs to let the editor in on what is supposed to be going on in the WIP. The editor then takes the notes from that discussion and reads through the WIP to see if the work accomplishes what the writer is working toward. 

Using a novel as an example, during the developmental edit, the editor pinpoints where the story works and where it doesn't work. They look at structure, plot holes, character strengths and weaknesses, and they may have ideas and make suggestions on where to make changes to a WIP. If the WIP is a Master's or Doctorate thesis, the editor will look at whether the argument works, is the logic sound, are the sources used strong enough to hold up the argument. Same if the WIP is a business proposal. The editor can't just be plucked from the ether. It is very important for the writer to find an editor who knows and understands their field of study or genre or area of expertise. Again, the editor and writer become a team at this point. The editor is helping the writer make the WIP stronger.

The developmental edit is a longish process and there may be much back and forth between the writer and editor after the writer gets the notes back from the editor. Again, the editor and writer are working as a team. 

The editor may quote a per hour charge with an estimate for the number of hours or a flat rate, but it will not be inexpensive or overnight. The manuscript may be in the editor's hands for at least three weeks to a month, maybe longer, depending on the manuscript. And again, it's not inexpensive. This is not something that you can just post on a job board and get done for $100. 

After the WIP is finished, it is ready for publication, right? No. Not quite yet. After the writer gets their manuscript back from the editor then they need to go through and make the changes that they have decided on (this is the writer's piece, they don't have to do what the editor suggests, they are suggestions). And this may spur the writer on to make at least one more set of revisions, or more, depending on the suggested changes. It's a process.

The Copy Edit

Next up is the copy edit. The writer has gotten the manuscript, whatever it is, into as close to "done" as they possibly can. Again. And now it's time for a copy editor to whip it into shape. 

A copy editor makes sure the copy itself (not the structure or plot or characters) is as good as it can get. They look for awkward sentences, the flow of words, as well as grammatical mistakes, typos, and missed or wrong words. They might check for too many long sentences or see too many short sentences, or too many ungrammatical sentences. They check for "word stacks" (when words line up oddly on a page), or if words are repeated too often and can make suggestions for synonyms in those instances. They also can do fact checking, number checking (for data and tables or phone numbers and addresses), whether a name is spelled consistently throughout a piece, or check to see of you meant Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri. They do a lot of nit picking on the writer's WIP. The copy editor is like the TA for your English Composition class. They don't care about your big ideas, they just want to make sure you said it well.

A copy editor also ensures that the manuscript is formatted correctly. Most people don't pay attention to format or style guidelines, but manuscripts, depending on what type they are, need to adhere to certain formatting rules and style guidelines. Most newspapers, for example, follow AP guidelines. A doctoral thesis for a Ph.D. candidate in the social sciences will need to make sure they follow APA guidelines. A Master's candidate in the fine arts will need to make sure their thesis project follows MLA style guidelines and formatting. Most books and novels follow Chicago style guidelines and formatting. Screenplays have very strict formatting guidelines, and their own programs for adhering to those guidelines, which are different from stage play scripts. 

The writer and copy editor have to discuss what rules the manuscript needs to adhere to so that the copy editor can make sure there is consistency throughout the WIP. For example, in AP, you spell out numbers one through nine and then write them as numerals beginning with 10. Chicago style, however, has you spell out numbers up to a hundred, and then write them as numerals after that. Different publishing houses and publications might have variations on that. It helps if the copy editor is knowledgeable in not just the genre/type of manuscript, but also the guidelines and formatting that need to be used.

The copy edit can also take some time to accomplish. Maybe not as long as the developmental edit, but it is a detailed process. Don't be surprised if a copy editor asks to have your manuscript for a couple of weeks, or longer. They could get it done more quickly, possibly, but then they might miss something. You don't want them to miss anything.  

So, finally, your magnum opus is done, right? You've made the changes the copy editor outlined, double-checked spellings and facts and it's perfect! Right? RIGHT?!

No. Because after you have made all those changes and can't see straight anymore, chances are you made fresh mistakes, or you (or the editor or the copy editor) have missed something. So, now it's time for the proofreading pass. It's the last chance to catch everything.

The Proofreading Pass

There are so many job boards I have seen lately that paste the proofreading label onto a job that includes everything from answering the phone to editing to data entry. Writers often make this same mistake, confusing what they need (a developmental or copy edit) with what proofreading is. There are some writers who have sent me their manuscript asking for a proofread and it's just their first draft. What they want is a developmental edit, and they should be on at least their third draft before they even try to find an editor for that.

There is no point in paying for a proofreading pass until you have your manuscript absolutely ready for submission. The proofreading pass is the final read through by someone other than the author to catch any misspellings, wrong words, mistakes, holes, dropped sentences, weird formatting mistakes, etc. The proofreader's job is to go through with a fine tooth comb and find all the leftover names that didn't get changed for example, or make sure that there aren't any half sentences that happened when the writer was making changes. 

This isn't something one asks for overnight, either, although it shouldn't take too long, depending on the proofreader's schedule.

So, again, finally, after the proofreading pass, the writer can go through and make what corrections they choose to make (again, this is the writer's WIP, so after the editor/copy editor/proofreader have pointed out mistakes and possible problems, it is the writer's responsibility to make those changes, or not, as they see fit). And then, the manuscript is ready to be submitted for publication.

But then, if, for example, the writer has submitted their work to a traditional publisher, the whole process may happen again, because publishing houses have their own style guidelines and editors.

Writing is a process. Bringing a WIP to the point where the rest of the world can read it can be a much longer process. So, don't hurry it. If you have WIP that needs an objective eye, take your time in choosing the right person for the job.