What Type of Editing Do I Need?

Four levels of editing and when to use them!

So you’re working away on your manuscript, and you think to yourself, “fresh eyes could probably help me right now,” and you start looking for an editor. You quickly realize that there are a lot more types of editing than you thought and suddenly feel overwhelmed. “What type of editing is for me?”

Jump to

• Developmental editing

• Substantive editing

• Copy editing

• Proofreading

The frustrating thing is that industry standards aren't exactly standard. A lot of these terms are used interchangeably or can cover slightly different scopes depending on who you're talking to. Looking to see if an editor has a description of their services is best. But you need to get to an editors website first, so what do you search for? There are some basics we can consider. 

The first distinguisher of editing types is whether they are technical or creative/conceptual in focus. Technical editing will tend toward the nitty gritty of grammar and spelling, while creative/conceptual leans more toward word and structure choices; really it’s the difference between the black and white errors versus grey choices. Nothing is strictly one or the other (well, we get close to only technical), like many things, it is a spectrum. 

Because it isn’t cut and dry, there are terms that can be used interchangeably that others will define as the same thing. Take for instance developmental and substantive edits. They both look at the big picture in a more conceptual way but technically are used at different stages of writing. Many people use them interchangeably. (We’ll look at the difference below.) But likewise, copy editing and proofreading are small picture, technical types of editing that also take place at different points in the writing process. These ones being seen as interchangeable I blame on elementary school; they definitely didn't know what true proofreading is!

Let’s take a deeper dive into these four levels of editing (keeping in mind there are even more styles of editing to speak of!)

Developmental Editing

This is a weird one, and I understand why developmental and substantive get used interchangeably; I think it’s because people don’t like sharing such raw material with an editor. Developmental editing generally happens before your first draft is even complete! It can happen before you’ve written anything beyond an outline. 

This is the time where you look at an outline and think critically about where different scenes should be, where your climax sits and if it’s in the right place, are you even starting at the right part of the story? Taking advantage of developmental editing can save from a lot of writing and rewriting later while giving the author confidence in their story crafting. It doesn't mean you won't have to do any rewriting of course; no first draft is perfect.

You’ll know you’re ready for developmental editing if you have an outline and maybe a few scenes written. If you're a discovery writer you may be looking for a developmental edit when you have a few main scenes written or your first draft is done but no real polishing has been completed.

Substantive Editing

This level of editing is still “big-picture” like developmental but looks a little closer at the words written. While your editor at this stage may suggest moving some scenes around, taking some out, adding some in, they will also be looking for ways to tighten and strengthen your writing. Maybe they notice a theme that could be hammered home a little harder or notice a character that doesn't quite fit. Some of these things might be caught in developmental editing, but sometimes you need to see it written to truly know. 

Substantive editing may also touch on word choice. Your editor may suggest stronger verbs and adjectives or structure changes to add to the eloquence and evocativeness of your writing. This is where the lines blur between substantive and copy editing, sometimes called stylistic editing.

You’ll know you’re ready for substantive editing when you have a finished draft (could be the first but should be an early draft.) Your sense of the story is strong, but you should be open to suggestions of big changes. With our own writing sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. The draft should be readable, but it doesn't need to be perfectly polished; that step is yet to come.

---

At both developmental and substantive levels of editing you're looking at pretty big revisions (this is why you don’t want to spend too much time polishing the little details; they are likely to change.) There’s a big difference moving into the next levels of editing from big-picture narrative elements to closer line inspection. You might see stylistic editing as a stepping stone between these, I prefer to call stylistic editing a heavy copy edit. (But really, when it comes to me as an editor, I care more about the author’s goals than what term we use.)

---

Copy Editing (Heavy and Light)

Copy editing has a large reach with what might be considered under this umbrella. You may see heavy and light copy editing, line editing and stylistic editing all used to describe a copy editing service further because of this.

At its core, copy editing is perfecting the clarity, conciseness and correctness of the writing. Though stylistic and heavy copy edits may look at word choice for stronger more evocative sentences, in general, copy editing is focused on technical (objective error) changes. Your editor at this stage will be looking for things like comma splices, run on sentences and homonyms but may also be pointing out uses of active versus passive voice which is a bit more subjective, not in whether or not it's passive but in whether or not it would be stronger if changed. Copy editing is also the point where an editor will check for compliance with a style sheet if there is one.

You’ll know you’re ready for copy editing when your story is set and you’re down to final polishing of your manuscript. At this point no big revisions should be getting done; you’re just looking to tighten up your writing and be ready to start querying or moving on to your self-publishing journey.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the absolute last editing step. You’re reading the proofs, which is to say, your text has been typeset and is ready to be printed. This will not be a google doc or word doc; it’s likely to be a PDF. The important part is that the text can’t actually be edited! This stage is looking more at how the words are on the page than the content of the words themselves; it’s barely even looking at grammar and spelling (though those errors may be caught at this stage, they really should be caught in the copy editing stage.)

This stage of editing is making sure there aren't awkward spaces, weird hyphenations, images hiding text, or straggling lines at the tops or bottoms of sections. It’s almost better to look at proofreading as examining the manuscript for user experience. While sure, grammar and spelling mistakes get in the way of UX, not being able to see the text behind an image is far more intrusive!

You’ll know you’re ready for proofreading when your manuscript is complete, polished and fully designed/ formatted. This means if there are any design features, they're there. If you’re printing in tradeback, the dimensions of your pages, including margins and gutters, are present in the format. You are done writing; you are “off to the printers.”

---

I hope this has given you some insight into what different levels of editing might look like. Remember that the best way to know what you’re getting is to simply talk to your editor about their services and your goals. 

The big takeaway that I think you should walk away with is: know your goals, the terminology is just a search keyword.

---

A few quick questions to help get a handle on this:

• Am I looking for a structural (think story elements), stylistic (think evocative writing, tone, voice) or technical edit (think spelling and grammar errors)?

  • Structural = substantive

  • Stylistic = heavy copy edit (maybe substantive edit)

  • Technical = light copy edit

• Is my piece fully realized or do I need to work on the story still?

  • Fully realized = a more technical edit

  • Working on the story = a more stylistic/structural edit

• Is this my best work or am I seeking heavy guidance?

  • Best work and looking for a polish = copy edit (heavy or light depending on goals)

  • Seeking heavy guidance = substantive, maybe heavy copy edit if you seek guidance on word choice more than story elements.

Keep your eyes out for a blog post going deeper into preparing to hire an editor.