Turning Manuscript Jungle into Reader Adventure: How Your Editor Helps

Sometimes a writer’s best ideas land on an editor’s desk looking like a jungle: sentences as tangled as low-hanging vines, paragraphs that wander through the green depths, and words that only deepen the darkness there. This is when editors get excited. It’s not that editors particularly like swinging a machete through a manuscript. But they do delight in clearing the way for a great message to reach readers with all its inherent power.

For all the red ink editors sling, they actually work to protect your message: its purpose, impact, precision, and presentation.

Deep in that manuscript jungle, the editor knows, there lies a compelling adventure for the right audience. With a little slashing of underbrush and streamlining of the path, the manuscript could take readers on a fascinating trip to the writer’s intended destination.

How do editors do that? Well, what does your manuscript need? Editors can approach your manuscript on different levels. Each level has its own role to play in polishing your writing. When you prepare to hire an editor, start the discussion with which level of editing your project needs.

Levels of editing your manuscript may need

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing takes an aerial drone’s view of the manuscript. It surveys the landscape you’ve set out to cover, checking for milestones like these:

• Organization: Can the reader follow a clear path to get to your planned destination? Or do detours distract them from the logical progression of your narrative or argument? Developmental editing evaluates the entire through-line, examining how well chapter arrangement and structure equip readers with the understanding needed to trek from one idea to the next.
• Completeness: Does the manuscript deliver satisfying payoffs to the promises made or implied at the beginning—even in the title? Readers signed up for this expedition with expectations. So those expectations need to be met (or pleasantly surprised and surpassed) by the end of the trip.
• Coherence: Does the manuscript hold together like tightly braided rope or leave readers holding a handful of loose, dangling strands that were supposed to mean something significant?

Developmental editing protects your purpose in writing by strengthening your manuscript’s structure.

Line Editing

Line editing takes a closer look at the words and sentences that bring vividness to the reader’s pathway within your manuscript. What developmental edits do for the overall piece, line editing does for every chapter, page, and paragraph. Line editing assesses:

• Construction: Are the sentences arranged in the best order to walk readers through this section? Are the parts of this sentence arranged to emphasize the most important aspect of this idea?
• Linguistic Beauty: Is this the most compelling word choice? Or has overuse deadened its force? If you’ve led your audience to a thundering waterfall, do your words leave them breathless in wonder or staring in boredom?
• Readability: Are you consistently speaking the language of your intended audience? Are they skimmers who love the stepping stones of bullet points or ponderers who enjoy hiking through long blocks of rich text? Do your tone and your rhythm carry readers forward? Your line editor can protect your message from a failure of style.
• Flow: How do the sentences flow? When read out loud, are they easy to say? Does one sentence lead to the next, or does their arrangement feel jarring?

Line editing protects the impact of your writing by refining its style to resonate with readers.

Copyediting

Copyediting is the level of editing that scrutinizes the more technical aspects of writing. Like roots popping from the path, readers stumble over them (even if only subconsciously) when a writer gets them wrong.

• Grammar: While line editors remove grammar errors that impede the writer’s style, copyeditors go further. They align the writer’s grammar with accepted rules, and especially with any appropriate style guide for the field in which they plan to publish.
• Punctuation: Copyediting corrects punctuation to match conventions of clarity and precision. Your audience, like a band of semi-experienced jungle explorers, knows enough to recognize trouble: in this case, places where punctuation errors muddy the message. Even if they can’t recite all the rules for comma usage, their reading experience improves with proper punctuation.
• Syntax: Following established rules of word and phrase order in sentences can make all the difference in a reader’s understanding. Copyediting catches syntax errors to keep your meaning clear. (This is not to say your unique voice can’t intentionally stray from the rules. A good editor will help you determine when it’s safe to break a few linguistic regulations.)
• Citations: Writers whose credibility depends on citing their sources can rely on copyeditors to check that their citations adhere to accepted guidelines.

Copyediting protects the precision of your writing by removing some of the most subtle stumbling blocks from your readers’ path.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final level of scrutiny, usually performed after the manuscript is formatted for printing. It aims to catch any errors introduced during the formatting process, as well as any small errors or typos that escaped notice during copyediting.

Proofreading protects the professional presentation of your writing.

Engage an editor to protect your writing

When you have written the best project you can, you’re perfectly positioned to give an editor’s fresh eyes a look at your work. Taking them into your jungle can turn your manuscript into a satisfying adventure for your readers.

Tips for vetting editors

Explore possibilities with several potential editors to find one who will be the best fit. You may even wish to use different editors for different levels of editing, since some have more expertise in one level than in another.

You can expect to send each editor you're considering an excerpt from your project to help them discern which level of editing would benefit the manuscript most. They will usually offer a sample edit of this excerpt; some charge for this service but many do not. And don’t be afraid to inquire about their overall rates. Rates will vary with level of edit requested and the editor’s  experience.

Having someone turn your tangled jungle of words into a fascinating reader experience can be emotionally challenging, especially the first time. Choose to work with an editor who will both boost your confidence and help you work through the harder parts. Pick someone who will care about preserving your voice while protecting the purpose, meaning, and precision of your writing.