What book editing looks like behind the scenes

Kia ora, 

Last week I talked about a client who was initially hesitant to work with an editor because they didn’t really get what editing is and didn’t know what it would involve. (Here’s last week’s email if you missed it.)

This week I’m going to show you my process of editing a manuscript. I hope that this behind-the-scenes post demystifies what goes on when you work with an editor. This is going to be a long one, so let’s not dilly-dally.

The process of reading (and listening)

The bulk of my editing involves reading the manuscript, as you’d expect. But I also listen to it. I follow along as the dulcet tones of Microsoft David, one of the generic English voices in Word, reads aloud to me. This stops me from skipping ahead, and it helps me catch awkward phrasing, typos, double-ups, and odd punctuation. Plus, my over-ear headphones keep my ears warm.

Along with reading and listening, I’m also pausing to check anything and everything.

Looking up info

As I read, I keep an eye out for all sorts:

• odd grammar
• funky spelling
• names of places, people, huts and buildings, mountains, pets, animals, rivers, deities
• punctuation punctuating the way it’s supposed to
• awkward, loose, or flat sentences, descriptions, or phrasing

I pause a lot. I think a lot. Some changes are straightforward, but some take more time.

Straightforward changes can be anything like fixing dialogue punctuation, adjusting spelling, and tweaking grammar. But I’m also on the hunt for names, places, numbers, and facts, and that’s where Google comes in.

I do a lot of googling. Names, places, years, events, grammar conventions, distances, references to movies/books/TV popular and obscure. Editors have a saying: If you’re not sure, look it up. If you think you know, look it up. If you know you know it, look it up anyway. I have a cheatsheet for my how-does-this-word-work? situations: “licence” or “license”? Lay/lie/lying/laid??

And as I read and check, I chuck a lot of words into my style sheet. That’s the document that records key info and spellings. Did you mention your mum’s birthday during a flashback? The date goes in the style sheet. Your favourite wine? Into the style sheet. The huts you stayed in on Te Araroa? Checked against the Department of Conservation website, and into the style sheet they go.

Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries are permanently open tabs. So is Word Hippo.

Comments

Leaving comments is a big part of my work. I don’t like to tell you what to change, and I don’t make changes without a reason. It’s your name on the cover, so you’re in charge of the story. My goal is to enhance your storytelling and help you tell the story that you want to tell.

So, I leave a lot of suggestions, and I explain my reasoning. It could be anything from tightening up wordy phrasing (to make the writing punchier and stronger), or suggesting a more direct word (to make descriptions and scenes more precise), or resolving a continuity issue (so readers don’t get confused). Check out these examples:

When I encounter a sentence that could be clearer or tighter or smoother or stronger, I give you examples of what could work (unless something has gone so wrong with the sentence that I can’t figure out what’s going on, but that doesn’t happen often). That way you can compare the original against the suggestion and see the difference. If you like it, you can use it word-for-word. If you don’t like it, you can either ignore the suggestion or come up with your own recast.

I also leave comments from my perspective as a reader so you can see how I’m reacting and how your jokes are landing. These types of comments show you what’s working (so you can do more of it!) and, I hope, give you a boost as you work through the edit.

Putting it all together

So, we’ve covered my process of reading (and listening) to your manuscript, the kinds of details I look up and check, and the types of comments I leave. And that’s just the first pass! All that stopping and starting doesn’t make for a smooth reading experience. So once I’ve done all this, I start again.

This second pass is much faster. I can see how the changes to the text work with the surrounding sentences, and I get a clear idea of how the story is coming together. The second pass also gives me a chance to spot anything I missed the first time through.

Now it’s a case of checking that my comments make sense, tidying up the style sheet, and putting together my editorial report (I’ll save the details of this for another post). Then I send the manuscript bundle back to you and you finally get to see what I’ve been up to.

I hope this has helped demystify the editing process. Different editors will take different approaches to their work, but the central aim is the same: to help you tell your story.

If you want to see what copyediting looks like on your own story, apply for a free sample edit. I’ll mark up 1,000 words so you can see how I would approach your work, the types of changes I’d make, and the style of comments I’d leave. 

My adventure edit page shows you more about my editing process and philosophy, and it answers a few FAQs too.

Cheers,
Deborah

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📚 What I’m reading

I finished Thirty Below by Cassidy Randall just the other day. What a story! This is not a straightforward story of a historic first ascent. It’s complex and challenging, with a lot of strong personalties and difficult situations. Highly recommend!

My next read is to be decided. I’ll list it here next week!

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📅 Availability

Currently booking manuscripts from early November. 

If you’re thinking of getting your manuscript published early next year, reply to this email and we can set up a call.

I can give you a free sample edit, and we can jump on a video call to chat about the editing process too.

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✍️ Ways to work with me

Apply for a free sample edit​

Get your manuscript evaluation

​Get your manuscript edited

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