Developmental Editing & Manuscript Assessment

It’s editing that focuses on the structural and technical aspects of how your novel works, for example plot and character development.

This will be useful for you if you’re still at the stage of redrafting and working it out, and are looking for constructive criticism on your ideas.  I take your hard work and put it under the microscope. If something isn’t working then I’ll point it out, and offer solutions for improvement, so you get to test and rework your ideas through feedback and constructive criticism.

There is no one size fits all approach for developmental editing. Whatever your particular project needs guides the approach. It is always unique, but always equally thorough.

There are two methods: developmental editing and manuscript assessment. They both cover the same things but in different ways.

With a developmental edit, I will mark up your manuscript and provide an accompanying report, so you get really exhaustive feedback on your work.

A manuscript assessment is basically the same but with just the report, so it’s more of an overview rather than a page-by-page evaluation.

This kind of editing takes each area of craft in turn, and also shows how they relate and affect one another, drawing on examples from your book and finding ways to think about improving them where necessary. It is comprehensive but also practical, offering useful ideas for the next drafting stage. 

I try and make it as accessible as possible, taking the time to explain concepts and keeping the tone light. I maintain the balance between theoretical accuracy and being straightforwardly useful without getting lost in technical language and complexity.

So what you get is a comprehensive strategy for the next writing stages which is useful and quite a good read.

The actual nature of an edit will be specific to the book you’ve written. For example, some common and important things that a developmental edit will consider are:

Plot: Is the development coherent, rational and gripping? Does your first act set up everything efficiently? Is the ending satisfying? Do all the scenes you’ve written have a clear and focused function?

Pace: Does the narrative move at a speed appropriate for your readership? Are there points where it sags or wanders off?

Characters: Are they interesting and relatable? Are their actions consistent? Are their goals and motivations clear? Are their story arcs satisfying?

Point of View: Is it the right one for the story? Is it consistently applied? Is it being exploited fully?

Narrative Techniques: Is there too much telling and not enough showing? Does the dialogue sometimes feel unwieldy? Is the tone inconsistent? Is your voice as strong and confident as it could be?

These are just a few examples of areas that a manuscript assessment will look at. The actual report you receive will concentrate on the areas that you book will benefit from developing, according to me.

That’s actually quite a difficult question to answer, as each book is unique, and so it follows that each developmental edit is tailored to your particular needs.

I will make an assessment of the work needed from a sample of your manuscript, discuss it with you, and send you a detailed quotation.

Yes they are. I will provide a short assessment based on a sample of your work. This way, you can get a feel for my approach and see whether I’m a good fit for your particular project.

All questions will be answered if you contact me here.