Editing
NOTE: As of January 2024, I am not accepting new editing clients.
“Good prose is like a window pane,” wrote George Orwell. As an editor, my goal is to help your meaning shine through.
From creating a document’s framework to the final spotless polish, I work with clients to develop clear, concise, consistent, and carefully considered writing.
Why do you need an editor?
What we think we’re communicating is not always what our audience takes away—and a single unfortunate typo can undercut your entire message. Errors, inconsistencies, and missing elements are often blind spots for the original writer. An editor provides the critical eye you need to ensure your project is presented at the professional standards your work deserves.
Writing successful fiction comes with its own challenges—you not only have to communicate clearly, but also craft sympathetic characters and tell an engaging story. A fiction editor examines the effectiveness of your artistic choices and offers concrete suggestions to help strengthen your structure, character, voice, and plot.
Services
Editing is much more than a glorified spell-check! I offer a range of services based on what stage your project is at and how much editorial assistance you’re looking for. NOTE: As of January 2024, I am not accepting new editing clients.
Manuscript Evaluations
A manuscript evaluation is a report outlining your manuscript’s strengths and areas of improvement, including examples from your manuscript and concrete next steps.
Copy Editing
A copy edit smooths out your writing, catching errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, consistency, and other mechanics of style. Copy editing includes some rewriting to improve clarity and reduce wordiness, but generally doesn’t provide detailed feedback on voice, writing style, or document organization.
Stylistic & Content Editing
Stylistic and content edits cover the same services as a copy edit but provide a deeper level of revision. While distinct, stylistic and content edits are often completed together.
Stylistic edits focus on the author's voice, clarifying meaning, improving flow, and adapting the language for the intended audience. Because this type of edit addresses writing style—not just correcting errors—a stylistic edit involves more extensive revisions than a copy edit.
Content edits pay attention to a manuscript's logic, organization of ideas, consistency of information, use of graphics, and accuracy of information. For fiction, a content edit focuses on plot, character motivations, and dialogue. This type of editing usually includes more queries for the author to consider or respond to, rather than rewriting.
Structural Editing
Also known as developmental editing, structural editing provides overarching advice on the structure, scope, and direction of a manuscript. For fiction, this means delving deep into story arc, plot, scene work, and character development. Structural edits do not provide line-by-line edits.
Proofreading
A proofread is the last editorial step before you publish, catching any errors that have slipped through the cracks, such as typos, page references, and image captions. Ideally, page layout should be completed before a proofread. Proofreading only corrects critical errors and provides no rewriting unless absolutely necessary.
