The decision to hire an editor is a big one, so it’s advisable to do a little research first.

Developmental Assessment. Line Notes. Proofreading.

Editors and editing houses all have their own systems and processes but, broadly, there are three main types of fiction editing. A Developmental Assessment looks at the ‘big-picture’ stuff like plot holes and character arcs, and typically occurs first in the editing process to allow for major rewrites in the reordering of chapters or cutting of entire subplots. Line Notes are a sentence-by-sentence review of the style and flow of your prose. Here, the editor will raise issues with or suggest solves for clunky phrasing, repetition, jumbled paragraph flow and inconsistency of voice. This phase of editing is most useful only after the big-picture structure is locked in and your story makes sense. Some editing houses will also offer a Copy Editing service, meticulously looking, in the final stages, at grammar, punctuation, syntax and the like, but there is a lot of crossover between this service and Proofreading, and a caring editor will already have reviewed those fine detail elements through Line Notes.

Specialism

Another point to consider is that editors have specialisms. Whether you write fantasy, thrillers or literary fiction, you want your editor to have the relevant knowledge and experience, so check their websites thoroughly and email them questions. Many will be happy to edit a small sample of your writing to demonstrate their service. My own specialism is broad but in one way specific. The service I offer is for newbie writers. (If you send me a very polished, close to professional, manuscript, I will return it with some alternative editor suggestions at no charge.)

Nurturing

Why might a newbie writer need a dedicated service? Some of the big editing houses won’t take on newbie writers because the process of finding one’s voice, however brilliant that voice may be, is messy. As you know – being a creative person – while we love our creative brains and the ideas, like gifts, that they drop on the doorstep of our conscious minds at five in the morning, or when we’re stuck in traffic, or generally whenever we’re furthest from being able to note that idea down! we’re also aware the creative mind jumps around. This is an obstacle because as writers, our goal is to write so fluidly that our readers forget they are reading. We want people to lose themselves in our stories. When a fledgling writer first undertakes a big project, they are still learning how to make their vision fluid. As an editor, it’s my role to coach a little, as well as edit. While big editing houses will be able to impart to clients what’s fashionable right now, which genres are selling well or are sought after by publishers, my focus is solely on my client’s emerging voice, on how to support that budding writer in getting the most absorbing version of their creative vision on the page.

I recommend starting with a Developmental Assessment and only paying for Line Notes (if at all) once you are 100% happy with your novel’s shape, characters and their motives, storyline, general dialogue, world-building, pace and voice. A huge amount of the fussy things that Line Notes pick up will be resolved through finessing those bigger picture elements, to the extent that you may come to find you don’t need Line Notes after all. Line Notes are super useful for the final polish but they’re expensive and not as important as other elements.

For a Developmental Assessment, I suggest hiring me before you reach the 90,000-word mark. If you send me between 30,000 – 40,000 words plus a rough synopsis, we can have a relaxed but in depth phone chat about character arcs, (along with world-building, pace, etc., as part of that discussion,) the goal being to solve any structural issues before they become baked into your novel and harder to tweak. From there, you may decide a second Developmental Assessment would be useful once you’re 60,000 words in, but play it by ear. For this service I charge £15.00 per hour, always being careful to keep those hours to the minimum. In addition to the phone assessment, I will email you a snapshot of Line Notes, which you can refer to as you write, thereby decreasing your potential need to pay for Line Notes once your novel is complete. I am hyper transparent and explanatory about my reasoning through every stage of the Developmental Assessment, so that after collaborating with me, you have the skills to become your own editor. An alternative route is to hire me to provide a Developmental Assessment of a short story, then take that experience with you as you embark upon a longer project. Click the links below for more information on each of the editing services I offer.

Your Project

Many people I’ve worked with have become published and won competitions. So for a relaxed, informal chat about your project, whether an editor might be right for you, please drop me a line.